Avid Armor Vacuum Sealer Machine - A100 Stainless Construction, Clear Lid, Commercial Double Piston Pump Heavy Duty 12 Wide Seal Bar Built in Cooling Fan Includes 30 Pre-cut Bags and Accessory Hose

The media could not be loaded. I take an annual trip to Alaska to fish for Coho salmon along the Prince William Sound and have used local canneries, Food Saver vacuum sealers and others “kitchen” vacuum sealers to safely vac seal my salmon prior to freezing and have always been unhappy with the cost of sealing with the canneries, the result of sealing by myself with a kitchen sealer and most importantly the time it takes to seal my catch myself (two fish filleted into 6 steaks would take ~15-20 minutes). The other kitchen vacuum sealers are cheap feeling, time out easily after running continuously (and you’d have to wait 2-3 minutes between seals), would not recognize when a bag was inserted to be sealed, or would just stop working at all which led me to find a better solution.The Avid Armor A100 is the solution. While I’ll caveat I have not put it through the TRUE paces yet, I’ve successfully vacuum sealed 5 bags back to back (with 20s breaks between per instructions) without the seal heating element overheating which is more than I can say for the cheaper alternatives. Rest assured during my time in Alaska this upcoming summer I will be using this sealer to its practical limits. I am also very excited about the external hose attachment and vacuum seal canisters that Avid Armor also sells as it allows me to vacuum seal 4oz speciality mason jars which I fully intend to use to bring back cured salmon roe (caviar) this year. I intend to make gifts of the caviar and it was important to me that the mason jars be small serving sizes (who wants to eat a regular size mason jar worth of caviar in 2-3 days after opening? That can’t be healthy). The combination of the A100, a strong and portable vacuum seal, and the Avid Armor vac seal canisters will make bringing back the caviar possible. I am particularly excited that Avid Armor included extra foam seals and an extra heating element for the A100 as it will allow me to service the sealer should anything bad happen when I am in Alaska instead of being stuck there without the replacement parts I am most likely to need should anything go wrong. While it may be a bit early to say this sealer is the ticket, I feel very good about my odds as compared to the alternatives I have tried.Will also note that Avid Armor offers a 2-year extended warranty for leaving an honest review, which is not the sole motivation of my review but a welcomed bonus nonetheless. I also appreciate that the company welcomes an honest review as quite frankly many Amazon businesses only offer perks for positive reviews. I am a proud patron of Avid Armor and hope to return after my trip to Alaska this summer with some end result pictures of the salmon and caviar!

Dislikes:1. The suction tube attachment. BUT, I think it is just me and the particular equipment I have, I cannot get it to work. But again, I think that is with my current accessories I have.Likes:1. This has Great Suction. It could be a "little" better, but overall, it has GREAT suction. It outperforms 60.00 to 150.00 models.2. Sealing: I can't think it could get better. You have the option to set the "sealing" time. This is perfect depending on what bags you are using. You can set it longer or shorter. I found initially I set it to high, and the seal melted though. I put it on like 9 seconds. then I tried 1 second, and the seal broke. It did not fully seal. BUT, with the bags I have now, a 2-3 seconds is PERFECT.3. Juice Tray. Initially, I did not put any marinade in the bags. I tried it with Goya Mojo tonight after several months. It did not suck ALOT of the juices out, and what it did, it deposited in the reservoir.4. Ease of Use. Until today, I was doing only meat and no marinade. You just out it in the bag, put the bag in, close it, press it, and hit start. It detects if it is sealing or not. And as long as it is, it sucks out the air, Seals it (According to your specifications) and then waits and does a beep when it is ready and sealed.So, overall, I first purchased an ABOX sealer. It was about 50.00. the main reason I wanted a sealer was for Sous Vide. I used this one like 3 times. EVERY TIME, it was a pain to "SNAP" it closed, just to get it to run, and the seal was ok. The problem with this OK seal was, it still did not suction out all the air, so it was not really sealed, even with this "semi" Seal.I read alot more reviews after this, and settled on the AVID, as quality and cost effective. there are better ones out there. MUCH better, but 3 times the 299.00 price.I got my Avid on 09/24/2019, and until today, have used it for mainly a family pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts every two weeks.Today, 01/01/2020, I REALLY put it to the test. I sealed (All with Goya Mojo):20 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts10 lbs of Bone in Pork Chops15 lbs of Flank Steak,The CATS went CRAZY as soon as I opened the chicken. (Never thought cats would go for raw chicken! But all three of them go nuts every time I use this machine!. They are not even afraid of the loud sound, they are nuts over the chicken smell!!!Well, either with or without cats. I opened the meat, washed the mean, and got it ready, then just put each piece in the bag. After it was bagged, and had the mojo poured in, it was so routine, Basically, Place it and seal it.It could not have been easier. Took me abut 45 minutes to open, wash, marinate, and seal 45 lbs of meat.I am not a "restaurant" level user. Maybe I am a bit more than a regular home user, BUT, this product fits the bill. I would buy another tomorrow if this one died today,