04/29/04, 01:40 PM
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We have a Foodsaver Professional II, which we bought at one of the sporting goods stores. Costco sells a cheapie version that doesn't hold up that well. The one we bought is well worth the money (I think it was about $200 or so when we got it), especially when we want to do a lot of sealing all at one go. It is one-finger operation, no holding down the sides with both thumbs nonsense. You can walk away from it while it seals.
We reuse the bags you buy for them, except when it's meat--much harder to wash them properly unless you want to run them through a dishwasher), and you can also buy canisters. We use one canister for coffee beans only, for example. The bags and canisters you can get at Costco too.
There is a difference between using regular bags/ziplocs and their cut to fit bags, and that is freezer burn issues. If you are really good about using your stuff in a week or two of freezing it, using regular bags probably isn't too bad. However, if stuff tends to get lost in your freezer, or you shove it around a lot before you eat it, the stronger cut-to-fit bags hold up a lot better, and don't get holes in them.
One thing that we do that cuts down a lot of the bagging/resealing is that for cheese I grate up about a week's worth or two and stick it in one of the ziploc plastic containers, and it keeps just fine in the fridge for when we want to sprinkle cheese on omelets or whatever.
Just my observations.
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