New vac machine

[Tony]

Just picked up a new VacMaster Pro380 and was wondering if this is going to be a good unit to do what I need it to do for my UmaiDry meats. I haven’t opened it up yet, so I could exchange for a better suited unit if necessary. Thanks for any input.

[Ron Pratt]

Otis,
I just did a search of the forum archives and found no mention of that unit other than your post. I also checked Amazon and I see you must have spent nearly $400 for that unit. Speaking for myself and probably numerous others here I am quite happy with a far cheaper FoodSaver brand and model. $100 or less can buy a fine unit, plus if you are a shopper FS units are regularly on sale at chain retail stores.
Ron

[Tony]

Thanks for the response. I found good reviews of this item before taking the leap. I thought I might try something different from my food saver, which was dead, so thought I’d give it a try. As long as it will do the job I’m going to roll with it, unless I get some negative reviews before I need it next saturday. Thanks again.

[David]

There is no reason why it shouldn’t work. Only thing I’d keep in mind is the temperature of the sealing bar may be hotter and may melt the bag too much if you keep it down too long from what I have heard about those sealers from others.

[Jim]

If I can put my 2cents worth here. This unit has a 16 inch sealing bar, which will make sealing big bags (i.e. 16 x 28 short loin bags) easier. However it also doesn’t have a latch like the Foodsavers and relies on vacuum suction to force the lid down, which could “choke” the Vacmouse. Let us know how it works please.

[David]

What if he were to double stack them? One right on top

[Jim]

That you can certainly do. It may not be necessary, its a trial and error kind of thing. The Weston sealer is of similar design and lots of people are using them with UMAi Dry.

[Ron Pratt]

Permit me to climb on my soap box once again…Rather than to trim your first UMAi Bag use the excess material as a practice to see how your unit will react to the sealing the bag. Personally I must have sealed, cut and resealed my first bag 6 or 7 times until I got the hang of it. Ron

[Tony]

This unit does let you set the amount of time the bag is in the seal mode. Suggested time is 1.5 seconds. Hopefully that’s not long enough to melt the bag. Can always go lower if that is the case. Also there is no latch, you put pressure on the handle until the vacuum begins and the let go and let it do it’s job. Sounds like there will be a learning curve, with the UmaiDry bags, but am confident I’ll figure it out. I’ve used the unit on a few different items with regular bags and it has worked excellent. I’ll be sealing my first capicola Saturday. I will post how things go.

[Tony]

I sealed my first capicola Saturday. A few trial runs and I think I finally got it. Not as tight of a seal as regular vac bags, but I’ve read that is usual. Contact with whole chunk of meat and no loss of seal yet. I’ll keep posting on progress and maybe try and get a photo. Thanks again for the help.

[Bob Zador]

I think that you will be pleased with your VacMaster Pro380. Yes it costs more, but I think it will last longer. I have owned 4 Food Savers. Now I have a VacMaster VP215 chamber machine. The only time that I take out the Food Saver is for my Umai bags.

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