VacMaster VP215 Chamber Vacuum Sealer

This vacuum sealer is big and heavy. Make sure you find a permanent home for this thing. Only problem I had was vac master supposedly enlarged the oil reservoir for the motor. So when I added all the oil I had, it still wasn't enough to come up half way in the fill window. I gave customer service a call, and they answered all my questions. Newer units take more oil then is stated in the directions. Make sure you don't run it with low oil! I got a free quart of oil for calling, so I could finish filling my unit. This thing works amazing. It's fast, simple, and quiet. Plenty of space for sealing servings for a family of 4. The double bag seal is excellent, just make sure the bag sits perfectly flat on the seal bar for a perfect seal. If you see crinkles on the edge after sealing, it will most likely leak. It's expensive, but is worth it. Now we plan on doing some sous vide cooking.

Heavy... Big... Commercial Kitchen Appropriate... All True!!! But still, for our home we use it daily and it works AWESOME! Find a good accessible place for it and USE IT. Vacuum packed bags store excellent in fridge/freezer. Works super well with sous vide... Bags are very cheap at around .05 cents. Works great with liquids like soups, chili, marinades (just make sure liquids are cool before you press the button since they boil like crazy if warm and can make a mess). Not sure I'll ever use our traditional (external) vacuum packer again. One odd thing I noticed initially was a light vapor that came out of the exhaust of the unit. Did a little research and evidently that happens initially with the oil pump model (VP215) and not to worry about it. I would still go oil pump for sure... easy to fill and I understand the operation is quieter and the vacuum is stronger.

Best purchase ever. If your looking for a bag sealer this is so easy, never fails. Have never had a bag not seal properly or come unsealed.

I am completely happy and satisfied with the performance of this vacuum chamber , I wish I would’ve done it a lot sooner. I am able to do wet brines and liquids with it. Machine is heavy, make sure you order a rolling card with it if you are not going to leave it in one spot. I process a lot of fish and it makes it so much easier even if the fish has some moisture, where my old food saver always have troubled the bag seal properly. The cost of the machine is high , but you will save a lot of money on the bags. I had a food saver for over 10 years, it worked great, but I was spending a lot of money on the rolls .

Edit 10/18/2025 - Still going strong. I changed the oil earlier this year, which was the first time since original setup. Nothing further of note. Edit 8/17/2022 - added video of bagging a 10lb brisket in a 16"x18" bag. Edit 5/14/2022 - I've been using it a lot lately, and it always does a nice job. I'm way over-due for an oil change, but no matter. I've taken to placing the cutting-board spacers on top of the bags in the machine in order to get a better vacuum. It prevents the bags from puffing up, forcing more of the air out. I regret not buying a bigger model. This VP215 does 99% of what I want, but once in a while the chamber is just too small- e.g. packer briskets, pork butts, hams, etc. I added 2 stars this time because my unit has been doing lots of good work. Edit: 8/31/2021 - My unit is still going strong. It gets light to medium use. I've had no malfunctions or breakdowns. I discovered you can seal extra-wide bags by folding the mouth of the bag to fit. The seal-bar has enough heat to seal through the fold, but the outside of the bag doesn't stick to itself so the sealed bag unfolds after. Useful trick for large chunks of meat that max-out the chamber volume. Original Review: Stars removed for the cheap-garbage vacuum pump, and the annoying controls. Details below. 1. The lid latch design is stupid, and a hazard. They should have used a toggle latch. The lid always wants to spring open and the latch doesn't hold the lid down all the way. So, if you accidentally bump the latch the heavy lid swings open unexpectedly. Its especially concerning when moving or carrying the appliance. Its not a deal breaker, but definitely disappointing considering the price. 2. The control interface is fiddly, and cycling through the options every time I want to make a change is tiresome. Separate buttons for each of the three settings (vac, seal, cool down) would have made adjustments so much easier. Fine if you're doing twenty of the same thing, but if you're doing a bunch of different things that require frequent changes, < groan>. 3. An hour meter on the back would have been a nice way to keep track of oil changes. 4. From the outside it looks and feels like a commercial grade appliance. However, the vacuum pump is the cheapest piece of garbage they could get to do the job. At least it should be easily replaceable aftermarket even if VacMaster goes out of business. 5. Definitely change out the first oil fill after about 10min of run-time to flush the pump of dirt. My first (second, and third) oil came out dark gray with a lot of fine magnetic particulate settling out of the oil. (Apparently other reviewers have experienced this too.) Typical of cheap Chinese made equipment is poor machine work finishing, like they didn't bother to clean the machined parts before assembling. (If you're especially mechanically inclined, pull the whole pump right away for tear-down and cleaning. It will probably last a lot longer.) I'll update if I notice anything else as I put some hours on the machine.

Although expensive by some definitions, the vacmaster is a game-changer and actually saves money. The ease-of-use, quality of vacuum, automatic double seals, and speed makes it easy to use as part of everyday kitchen activities especially when doing meal prep, providing meals for the elderly and overall efficiency. It dramatically reduces food wastage and is used several times each day. The oil is easy to add and results in quiet and powerful operation. For me, it is SO much better and more versatile than standard suction machines. It is very heavy, takes up less room than one might expect, build like a tank, and does look a bit industrial - perhaps worth considering. Amazon's delivery was terrible and cost me money. They missed their "Guaranteed Delivery Date", twice. Because a signature was required, I took time off work both days only to learn it wasn't delivered and no notice was provided. Having to reschedule work, I could not be available on the third delivery day, I called Amazon and they assured me it would not be delivered on that day. To my surprise, on the agreed-to 'do not deliver' day, it was delivered first thing in the morning and was left on the front step, outside, unprotected without a signature. Having received the 'your item has been delivered' email, I had to make a call to a courier and pay a premium to have the item retrieved. I ended up being out 2 days of work and pay for premium courier charges [~$200]. Amazon dropped the ball on this one.

For most people the choice will be between the VP112S and the VP215. Both are great choices for home users. I chose the VP215 because it was the same price as the VP112S when I was deciding between the 2. The VP210 is the same as the VP215 but has the same dry pump as the VP112S. The oil pump of the 215 is amazingly quiet, almost half of the volume of my FoodSaver unit. It requires occasional oil changes but it is much better for those in humid areas than the dry pump of the 112. It is also better if you plan to do longer sealing sessions such as processing a lot of fish/game. You can keep going with the 215 while the 112 might need to cool down occasionally. The 215 is also slightly faster than the 112S The height of the 112S with the lid open is about 12 inches. The 215 is about 24" tall with the lid open so it requires a lot more clearance which is the major downside to the 215. The 112S weighs around 46 lbs while the 215 weighs 84 lbs. If you are looking for a unit that you can store and bring out when needed, the 112S is for you. I personally bought a little 3 shelf rolling cart that I put my 215 onto. This allows me to easily move it around if needed With the 215 you can order spare parts including the pump, motor, electronics, filters etc. From what I have seen with the 112S you cannot so it is not "user" serviceable, you will have to pay to send it in for repair. My 215 included wires to repair the seal bar should it ever wear out. It is possible to do the same with the 112S but I do not know if it includes a spare wire or not. If the seal bar on food saver or seal a meal sealers ever goes you you have to buy an entire new machine. I love my 215 and I have barely used it so far. The ability to seal liquids as well as the cheaper bags is a huge boon over suction sealers.

The unit is heavier for its size than anticipated, but its solid heavy duty footprint is good. I bought a stainless steel cart to wheel it in and out of the kitchen when moving is required. Fill the pump with oil as recommended, plug it into an electrical outlet and it's ready to go. Once you cycle the pump a few times, you’re ready to begin vacuum packaging your goods. I used it initially for an entire batch of Smoked Salmon which was enough to fill my Bradley Smoker. I used 6" x 8" and 8" x 10" inch bags for my sockeye packages, and had absolutely no issues with any of the pouches made! I did shorten the vacuum cycle time since it took less time than the initial preset. This is a good solid product which I hope to use for many years and would recommend it to anyone wanting better quality vacuum packages than traditional suction sealers provide.

Very expensive, but very high quality. I hope some of the money goes toward ensuring I can buy replacement parts like oil, gaskets, and sealing mesh for 10+ years. 15+ would be right for this price, honestly. Sometimes you want to do 40 bags. That's 40 minutes vac time. I desire the bigger models but with some clever design, they could have made it so I can do multiple bags at once within the space of this chamber. Still pretty good

My VacMaster is for home use. I bought it in 2020 and found it really does the job well. I love the product! I bought it based on all the positive reviews from people who actually used one. I found it very pricey and thought about it for a good while before I went ahead on it. One can buy a lot of food for that amount of money... There are very similar ones for a quarter of the price however, you usually get what you pay for. I figure I have children who will be very happy with this sealer when I no longer choose to use it. (I am 78 years old). I use it in my kitchen...a working kitchen where it would be the most practical and handy place at all times to be used. Ideally it would be great to have it in a pantry... It cannot be moved easily unless you have a lower cart ( for ideal work height) and a space to place it. If you put it on a kitchen counter, it needs to have at least 24 in. bare minimum head space to allow the lid to be oppened properly. You also need 26 in. minimum counter wdth to be able to turn it around to access the back so you can drain or add oil but the heavy weight of it would make that very difficult to manoeuver so I would not recommend that - unless you have access to very strong arms :). An island situation works if you bon’t mind the height as well as the bulkyness depending on the size of your kitchen workspace or wether you have a no clutter kitchen or a working kitchen....a case of esthetics... I tried to cover everything (read the rest from VacMaster or check it out on youtube) I hope this can be helpful in your decision making.