Avid Armor Chamber Vacuum Sealer Machine USVXL Ultra Series 11.5" Seal Bar for Liquid-Rich Wet Foods, Cooking Sous Vide, Infusions. LARGER Size Chamber Sealer Black Color Great for the Countertop

I've been making/packaging sausage for years. A friend shared a link to a review of the top 5 vacuum sealers. I was unaware that there were now some chamber vacuums available in the $329-$500 range. I went to whatever web sites I could find for each one and prepared a spreadsheet of the top 8 chamber sealers based on my criteria. They are Price, Weight, chamber dimensions, seal bar length, bag sizes.I chose the Avid Armor USVX- Price thru Amazon was $450. With returns accepted .- Weight of the machine was just under 20lbs. I was concerned about this because if the unit is too light it may skitter across the counter. Turns out in testing that the unit is not unbearably loud.- chamber dimensions are perfect for me. 95% of what I package is either 8x10, 8x12 bags. I do have some 10x15 bags that I'll cut down to 13"L- seal bar length was the toughest choice. I really wanted a 12" bar, but I can't recall ever using a 12"W bag.Final notes on choosing the Avid Armor USVX:- The weight is perfect and will be easy to move the unit from kitchen to pantry.- The $450 cost is more that I wanted to pay. The $330 units were just too small to work for me.- The seal bar length of 10" is not a problem. I was able to prep a pork loin for sous vide. Worked perfectly. There were a couple options for a 12" seal bar, but I rejected them on cost and/or weight.- The sealer works perfectly. I don't find it unbearably loud. I've been able to get 15-20 second cycle times- I like the clear glass lid so I can watch it perform.- BONUS. The unit has a marinate function. It's really neat. The air extraction makes it appear to be boiling. but it's the process whereby the marinade is pulled into what you are marinating. I sliced some cucumbers and placed them into dish, then covered with Clausen pickle juice. Ran 2x marinate function. Results are great, but I will let them sit for a week the next time I marinate.

This vacuum sealer is definitely on the pricier side but if you already have a "more traditional" vacuum sealer you know that sealing up anything that has any sort of liquid in it, it's nearly impossible to keep that from getting sucked in to your vacuum sealer. You can also forget about doing things like chili, etc. unless you freeze it first then seal it up. I really didn't want to turn my food saving into a multi-step process after I've already spent most of a weekend making up meals for next couple of weeks. That is why we invested in this vacuum sealer. This thing works like a champ! It's definitely noisier than some other countertop vacuum sealers but it's not deafening. Your vacuum cleaner is likely far louder than this appliance. This device is a lot larger than other counter top vacuum sealers as well so you will need to plan for counter space. It also on the heavier side so getting in and out of a cabinet may not be something you want to do either. Both of these are small annoyances given the benefit of this appliance. I can make up a couple week's worth of meals and seal them up for the freezer and it doesn't matter what it is. Chili, steaks, mac and cheese, soup (yes, soup), it works like a charm. Avid Armor also designed this device with ease of use and maintenance in mind too. Spilled some food in the vacuum chamber or overfilled your bag and made a mess? No sweat. The chamber is smooth with practically zero crevices for food particles to get into making cleaning it out super easy. The heat element also pops out very easily to both clean it and also clean under it. I imagine that if that element ever burns out, replacing it will be as easy as changing the batteries in your TV's remote control (maybe even easier). I'm super glad we have invested in this appliance. 5 stars all around except on the value because the device is very expensive by comparison BUT the time this is saving us with cooking meals during the week is going to save us money in the end. We are a very, very busy family of four and after working 10-12 hours a day Mom and Dad are not in the mood to spend another hour in the kitchen cooking. Instead of ordering take-out (which has become a habit since the pandemic) we are just heating up food we've cooked ahead of time on the weekend. Given that, we expect this appliance will easily pay for itself in a couple months and we will start saving a lot of money after that. If you have the budget for this and are ordering take-out a lot like we were then I *highly* recommend this. An added bonus, we are no longer filling our trash can with all the packaging that comes with ordering take out either!

This machine is the coolest. I have been able to vacuum seal liquids and it is probably the funnest thing to watch. Very easy to set up, very easy to use, easily adjustable settings. The quality it vacuums is way better than the standard vacuum type machines. Highly recommended. Inside of the machine is much deeper than imagine. Machine makes very good seals on the bags. I have not had a single issue with a bag seal.