There are now two vacuum sealers on the market, one by Ziplock and one by Reynolds. Has anyone used these?
Jeannie from Wbrg. PA
I just bought the Ziplock brand because it was cheaper ($6.00 cheaper) and it does not require batteries. I tried when I got home & love it. Only a couple pumps & the air is gone. Try it, you won't be disappointed.
Bad News for Reynolds Vacuum Lovers. They have stopped making them. "We have made the difficult decision to discontinue manufacturing and distributing Reynolds® Handi-Vac® products. Reynolds was proud to have developed this breakthrough product for food storage but, regrettably, Handi-Vac is one of those great products that was unable to generate the consumer demand and profitability required to keep it in our product portfolio."
However I am using Ziplock and I am quite happy although you have to keep pumping to get all the air out of the hidden areas. But once It's properly sealed, pfft they can last for months.
I purchased both, only because Reynolds had discontinued manufacturing the battery operated one. The hand-operated Ziploc brand was awful. I make homemade pumpkin pies every year for Thanksgiving and rely on my vacuum bags to keep my pumpkin fresh for me. I used my last Reynolds bag in November of 2008 to seal up the remaining pumpkin I had left over. It is still in my freezer to this day, and is still "fresh." The pumpkin that I packaged up this past November (2009) in the Ziploc bags is already freezer burned. I have thrown 2 bags of the 3 I sealed out already because the pumpkin inside is freezer burnt.
All in all the Reynolds battery-operated out performed the Ziploc 10 to 1. It was probably one of the best ideas Reynolds could have come up with and now it seems like you can't get them anymore. Well, that has changed also. Debbie Meyer (of Debbie Meyer Green Bags and Containers) has joined with Reynolds and together they have re-launched the Reynolds battery-operated vacuum sealer with both the quart and gallon sized bags.
They can now both be purchased through www.HSN.com. I can't wait to stock up.
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Has any one tried the new Reynolds Handi-Vac Vacuum Sealing System?
