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Oct 14, 2024

The 6 Best Vacuum Sealers of 2024, Tested and Reviewed

We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. These are the smartest way to extend the life of your produce and proteins. In This

We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation.

These are the smartest way to extend the life of your produce and proteins.

In This Article

Food & Wine / Kevin Norris

Finding ways to extend the shelf life of groceries is a great way to reduce food waste at home. Most people spend a lot of time, money, and effort grocery shopping, and there's nothing worse than reaching for a particular ingredient and realizing it's spoiled before you've even had the chance to use it. One of the easiest ways to keep food fresher longer is by investing in a high-quality vacuum sealer.

These handy tools remove air from bags or other food storage containers, which protects from freezer burn and keeps bacterial and mold growth at bay. Vacuum sealers are useful in all kinds of ways, but they're particularly helpful if you prefer buying products in bulk, doing a lot of meal prep, or preserving food you've grown or caught yourself. A vacuum sealer is, of course, also a near-necessity for sous vide cooking.

"Once you learn the basics of vacuum sealing, there is no limit to the number of uses you will find around the house for these machines, says Lauren King, brand director for FoodSaver at its parent company, Newell Brands. "Beyond food storage, vacuum sealing is a great way to simplify meal prep, sous vide cook, and marinate faster,"

To find the best vacuum sealer, we tested a few leading models to assess their ability to effectively preserve food without crushing even the most delicate of ingredients. Read on to find out which vacuum sealers made the cut.

We loved the double-seal function and how well this sealer removed air from moist foods.

You have to wait longer between sealing sessions than with other machines.

The Nesco VS-12 sealer did exceptionally well at removing all air pockets during our tests, even with moist foods and bags full of liquid. In our sous vide cooking test with carrots, the seal was solid, with no air pockets or leaking of any kind, and the sealed bag of marinara stayed intact when we dropped it. This is thanks to the double-seal option, which is really effective with liquids and other tough-to-seal moist foods. The pulse and gentle settings were helpful when we sealed Chex Mix; there was significantly less crushing than with other sealers we tested.

We couldn't find much wrong with the Nesco. Our only real complaint is the 2-minute refractory period, which is a bit longer than most other sealers we tested. If you have a lot of bags and containers to seal it might take a while, but they will all be sealed effectively.

Dimensions: 15.75 x 8 x 4.5 inches | Settings: Dry, moist, double-seal, gentle pressure, pulse | Bag Storage: Yes | Bag Cutter: Yes | Includes: 8.6 x 9.85–inch bag roll, 11.8 x 9.85–inch bag roll

This powerful yet inexpensive model makes a tight seal every time.

It doesn't have a lower-strength setting for delicate ingredients, nor integrated bag storage.

The Inkbird Vacuum Sealer Machine passed the majority of our tests with flying colors while being foolproof to operate. After 5 days of storage, our sealed avocado showed minimal signs of oxidation. It's among the best ways to keep coffee fresh, and it has an accessory port and handheld suction hose for extra versatility. Its powerful motor can remove the air from lots of different containers with ease, and it costs less than half as much as the Nesco above.

This sealer only faltered with delicate foods; it crushed our Chex Mix more than any other model we tested. You can't adjust the suction strength, so there's not really a way to fix this. Thankfully, most of the meats, produce, and other ingredients you'd typically be vacuum sealing aren't as susceptible to crushing. Another, more minor, issue is that it doesn't have onboard bag storage — though it does have a bag cutter. The low price and small size make the Inkbird perfect for first-time buyers or as a gift.

Dimensions: 15.04 x 4.09 x 2.44 inches | Seal Settings: Dry, moist, manual seal | Bag Storage: No | Bag Cutter: Yes | Includes: 5 vacuum bags, 1 bag roll, hose

Beautiful minimalist design and multiple seal settings make this vacuum sealer worth the price.

Though the manual pulse setting was effective with fragile foods, there’s no automated delicate seal option.

The Anova Precision Vacuum Sealer Pro has a sleek design that won't look obtrusive on the countertop. It also features various seal settings: moist and dry, pulse, and an accessory port with included hose. It did the best with liquids: We got a great seal on marinara and carrots with olive oil without any backflow. The integrated bag storage hides an entire roll in the base of the machine, and there's even space to tuck the cord away on the bottom.

During our tests, the Anove sealer crushed our Chex Mix on the regular setting but fared better when we used the manual pulse control, which gives you more precision than other machines' pulse modes. It’s a splurge, but with such a high score from our testing, it’s perfect for a more advanced home cook looking to level up their vacuum sealing game.

Dimensions: 14.75 x 7.0 x 4.3 inches | Seal Settings: Dry, moist, pulse, external pulse | Bag Storage: Yes | Bag Cutter: Yes | Includes: Hose, 1 bag roll

The design of this model makes it extremely easy to store vertically or horizontally.

It has no delicate setting or pulse control.

Few people have endless storage space in their kitchens. While keeping all your appliances on the countertop would be nice, looking for a model with easy storage options might be right for you. The FoodSaver VS0150's small size makes it convenient to start with, but it’s also designed to flip sideways and store vertically, something you can’t say for most vacuum sealers.

It's not just the FoodSaver's space-saving we like; it also performed exceptionally in testing. All the vacuum bags we sealed were tight enough to leave no air bubbles and stayed sealed throughout our tests. It has a refractory period of only 20 seconds, meaning there's almost no wait between sealing bags. The design also features a removable drip tray that's easy to clean. If you’re looking for convenience, this is a perfect vacuum sealer for your kitchen.

It does not, however, offer any kind of manual control. The dry and moist settings are both automatic, and the only option you have for a lower-strength seal is to stop the machine partway through.

Dimensions: 15.94 x 6.26 x 2.71 inches | Seal Settings: Dry, moist | Bag Storage: No | Bag Cutter: Yes | Includes: 3 (1-quart) bags, 2 (1-gallon) bags, 1 bag roll

This inexpensive model made durable seals with wet and dry items, and offers many setting options.

It's not recommended for sous vide.

The Geryon vacuum sealer is a great bang for your buck. It's geared towards pure vacuum sealing for freshness and freezing, with fewer bells and whistles. That also means the price is lower than the others we tested. This model performed the best in our entire test when it came to preserving an avocado half, and its marinara seal survived the drop test fully intact. It has wet and dry options, gentle mode, manual seal, and an accessory port — the full suite of settings any vacuum sealer can offer.

While our test bag of carrots remained sealed through an entire hour in a sous vide bath, Geryon advises not to cook in its plastic bags. It's a great budget choice, though, for those who want vacuum sealing capabilities and have no plan to cook sous vide.

Dimensions: 14.6 x 5.67 x 3.3 inches | Seal Settings: Dry, moist, gentle, canister, manual seal | Bag Storage: No | Bag Cutter: Yes | Includes: 5 bags, 1 roll, hose

We were impressed with how much air this sealer could remove, and we loved its high level of customization.

It's expensive, and the many combinations of settings available can be confusing.

Chamber vacuum sealers are a type often found in high-end professional kitchens. Rather than sucking the air from one end of a bag or the top of a jar, they remove air from the entire chamber at once, which enables a better seal on a wider range of items. The Anova was the best vacuum sealer we tested at removing all the air from bags, even getting all the bubbles out of the ones filled with liquid. Not only did our carrots stay sealed throughout the sous vide process, they also didn't float thanks to the near-complete vacuum inside, which makes for the most even cooking possible. We ended up crushing the cereal on our first few tries, but since the degree of suction is customizable, you'd be able to get the right level with some trial and error.

Thanks to the chamber setup, the Anova can do a wider range of things than a standard vacuum sealer. It has separate settings for rapid-infusing liquids and for compressing or pickling solids, as well as a dry/cool mode that uses the suction to remove heat and moisture without forming a complete seal. Unfortunately, all those functions make it pretty complicated to use, especially for a beginner. The included "quick start" guide definitely isn't as comprehensive as we would have liked.

The other downside of the Anova — or any other chamber vacuum sealer — is price and size. This is an expensive machine that takes up a lot of room. It's for the cook who's serious about sealing.

Dimensions: 13.6 x 11.2 x 8.9 inches | Seal Settings: Strong, infuse/extract, compress/pickle, dry/cool | Bag Storage: No | Bag Cutter: No

The Nesco VS-12 Vacuum Sealer was great at removing all the air from our bags, and its handy double-seal option made it perfect for moist foods. For beginners, the Inkbird Vacuum Sealer is exceptionally user-friendly, inexpensive compared to competitors, andone of the most effective models we tested for getting a tight seal every time.

Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore

To determine the best vacuum sealers for any occasion, we rated more than 20 handheld and countertop models — from the most basic machines to professional-level beasts — across two sets of testing. We evaluated the ease of initial setup for each machine, noting any difficulties and comparing the accessories and bags included. Then we put them through a series of identical performance tests.

After testing, we revealed the prices to assess the value of each vacuum sealer. At the time of testing, the least expensive vacuum sealer we tested was $33, and the most expensive was $349, with an average of about $123.

Most vacuum sealers have separate settings for dry and liquid ingredients. The moist setting adjusts the level of power and the seal mechanism to avoid sucking any liquid into the machine, which can create a weak seal or damage the electrical parts. Some models also have a gentle mode, with low-power suction that helps protect delicate items from being crushed. Other helpful options include a double-seal for increased security. Another feature to look for is an auxiliary hose. This plugs into the base to seal Mason jars, bottles of wine, and other vessels rather than just bags.

Countertop vacuum sealers are the most common for home use. These work with bags that come in many different sizes, by removing air from the top of the bag and then heat-sealing it. These are smaller and cheaper than chamber models but also less powerful and less versatile.

A chamber vacuum sealer pulls the air out of a chamber, into which you can put a standard bag, a jar, a bowl, or anything else that will fit. This type of vacuum sealer is more powerful and can be used for advanced culinary techniques like rapidly infusing oils or making unique pickles in addition to preserving and storing food. But it's also larger, heavier, and more expensive.

There are also handheld vacuum sealers, small units that attach to a jar lid or special bag with a valve in it to remove air. They're space-savers, but none of the handheld options we tested was powerful enough to make the list of winners.

Most countertop vacuum sealers include at least some bags to get your started, but not all of them give you a place to hold them. Models with integrated bag storage can be very helpful, as can a built--in cutter to slice a heat-sealed bag off the roll. However, some included cutters we tested aren't the best, and a sharp pair of kitchen shears could be necessary.

The powerful pump in a vacuum sealer isn't meant to run continuously. In between sealing sessions, it needs some time to cool down, called a refractory period. The machine won't let you seal another bag until the time is up. Some vacuum sealers have a refractory period of as little as 10 seconds, while others need upwards of 2 minutes. If you're considering a vacuum sealer for big projects like meal prepping or large-batch preservation, all that waiting between bags can really add up, but if you only ever need to seal one or two at a time, it's less important to worry about.

Food & Wine / Nick Simpson

A vacuum sealer is a highly versatile tool for your kitchen. It allows you to prolong the shelf life of food, prepare food for immersion circulator cooking, and prevent freezer burn and dehydration. It can also be a great way to make rapid pickles and infusions. If you like to buy in bulk or meal prep, a vacuum sealer is particularly helpful and worth purchasing.

"Place your food in the vacuum sealer bag, open the machine, place the open end of the vacuum sealer bag inside the drip tray, and you're ready to go," says King. When you close the lid and run the machine, "the air is then vacuumed out of the bag, and the bag is perfectly sealed so air, moisture, and freezer burn can't get in."

Once you get the hang of regular suction and sealing, you can start to customize your sealing process. "On models with variable modes, users can select the best vacuum mode for their food. For example, pulse mode is great for delicate foods like crackers and baked goods, which can then be vacuumed without crushing the food," says King.

"By completely removing the air from bags and containers, you can keep food fresh for up to five times longer than ordinary storage methods," says King. "This applies to products that go into your freezer, fridge, or pantry. For example, when vacuum sealed, beef and poultry can be frozen for up to 3 years, hard cheese can keep for up to 8 months in the fridge, and baking essentials such as flour and sugar are good for up to 2 years."

"Some foods you should avoid vacuum sealing include soft cheese, bananas, mushrooms, whole apples, and raw onions," says King. Bananas and mushrooms will actually go bad much faster when vacuum sealed, while soft cheeses need to breathe and release gasses to keep them from developing off-flavors. Raw apples can be vacuum sealed, but you should slice them first. Raw onions and garlic can actually be dangerous when sealed; in the oxygen-free environment of a vacuum bag, they can quickly develop colonies of the bacteria that cause botulism.

Liquids like soups, sauces, or brines can be tricky to seal. They can backflow into the machine, at best making a giant mess and, at worst, damaging the motor. The best way to vacuum seal liquids is to freeze them first in a standard zip-top bag, then transfer the frozen liquid to a vacuum seal bag and seal as you normally would.

In addition, you should always let hot food cool to room temperature before you vacuum seal it. Heat and steam will make the bag puff up and can break the airtight seal.

Unfortunately, no. Vacuum sealer bags are made of a special plastic that's extra-strong, and they often have channels embossed in the inner surface to help all the air escape. Standard plastic bags, even freezer bags, won't be able to make a good seal and are more likely to leak over time. Look for bags made explicitly for vacuum sealing; there are lots of brands and sizes available.

Food & Wine / Nick Simpson

Mueller Vacuum Sealer ($70 at Walmart)

The Mueller performed well and is a great price for the quality, but came up short for versatility since it crushed the cereal in our tests for delicate foods. If you're not storing berries or tender produce, this sealer will still be a good pick.

Nesco VS-02 Food Vacuum Sealer Starter Kit ($80 at Amazon)

This cheaper cousin to the Nesco VS-12 above is a good option for beginners but isn't ideal for delicate foods. It also needs a 2-minute wait period between seals to cool down.

LEM Products MaxVac Vacuum Sealer ($110 at Amazon)

We thought this vacuum sealer performed reasonably well, especially with delicate foods, but we felt that using it wasn't very intuitive.

The baker's dozen of other vacuum sealers we tested didn't live up to our expectations for a few reasons. While we can leave some leeway for sealers that don't have a delicate setting, the tools that couldn't seal proteins with any amount of moisture, took far too long for refractory periods between seals, or had extremely oxidized avocados at the end of testing did not make our top picks list.