Food vacuum-sealers are one of the bigger-ticket kitchen appliances that raise the question, Are they worth it? I gave two of the more popular versions a test run and was impressed at how easy they make it to preserve fresh vegetables, fruit, and meat. They also reduce waste from spoiled food and make buying in bulk worthwhile.

How they work:Oxygen is the reason most foods spoil or go stale, and these machines work by simply removing the excess air from heavy-duty bags or plastic containers. Both of the models I tested excelled at extending the life of refrigerated and frozen fresh fruits and vegetables. They also prevented freezer burn on raw meat and poultry and kept cereals and cookies from going stale. I found them particularly useful at keeping refrigerator staples like hummus, lemon curd, and broth from spoiling before I could use them. Both systems also offer plastic lids that fit Mason jars, which you can then vacuum-seal. The major difference between the two is the way they operate.

FoodSaver

手术：The FoodSaver is a long, heavy appliance with a flip-up lid. You raise the lid, insert the opening of a bag into the slot, and then clamp down the lid. Then you push a button for the FoodSaver to vacuum out excess air and automatically seal the bag shut by heating a strip along the opening. To vacuum-seal FoodSaver canisters, you insert a plastic tube onto the front of the appliance, hook the other end into the canister, and press a button to vacuum out the air. A light tells you when vacuuming is complete.

优点：

• It can be used to seal cereal bags, potato chip bags, and plastic bags.
• Available rolls of bag material let you custom-size a bag to fit oversize foods, such as big cuts of meat.
• Bags can be reused, although each time you open one you must cut off the top, leaving you with a smaller and smaller bag.

缺点：

• Sealing the canisters requires the extra step of attaching a plastic tube to the appliance.
• 食品保护罐不是冰柜安全的，因此只能用于冰箱中的剩菜或食品储藏室。
• Several designs are available, but they all eat up quite a bit of counter space.

What’s included:FoodSaver appliance, 2 canisters, 10 bags, two 10-foot rolls of bag material. Jar lid is an extra $9.
价格：$ 140，加上$ 19的运输和Foodsaver.com的运输和处理。

吸尘器

手术：袋子和罐子都通过使用固定在设备上的魔杖来密封。您可以将魔杖放在真空之或袋子上的绿色端口上，按下按钮，并开始真空。当所有空气被拆下时，灯都会亮，然后再次按下按钮以关闭真空。

优点：

• Sealing freezer-safe canisters is simple and fast.
• The appliance’s small footprint takes up little counter space.
• 它带有一个小型的手动旅行泵，该泵可在办公室，汽车或任何您无法获得电力的地方使用。

缺点：

• The appliance can be used only with VacuWare bags and canisters.
• 密封袋子是一个两步的过程，需要一些练习。
• Bags can’t be reused.

What’s included:FreshStation appliance, travel-size pump, 3 containers, 2 jar lids, 12 pouches.
价格：$160, plus $20 shipping and handling from VacuWare.com.

Bottom line

两种型号的性能都快且密封很好。两者也很大声。如果它们处于朴素的视图中，您将使用它们更多，因此请选择与您的柜台空间一起使用的设计。食品储备器在袋子方面特别好，因此，如果您的目标是冰柜，请选择此产品。为了在冰箱或冰箱中保存罐子和罐子的蔬菜和剩菜，真空软件是一个不错的选择。