Let’s say you end up with tons of leftovers after a big family party; worse yet, leftover meat. When you use standard storage methods, bacteria metabolize oxygen and break down organic enzymes to leave behind harmful ammonia, amines, sulfides and acids. Sealers, on the other hand, remove oxygen from the storage bags where you keep your food, and by removing oxygen – especially from easily spoiled meats – vacuum sealers prevent bacteria from metabolizing the food and reproducing. A vacuum sealer will preserve the life of your food 3-5 times longer, and the best commercial vacuum sealers are particularly good at this, as they involve placing your food directly into a chamber for the air to be extracted.

In the following review of the best commercial vacuum heat sealers, we have strictly examined each product and its many features. The most important features include: airtight bags and seals (important for minimizing spoilage over extended periods of time), machine size (for larger foods in medium to large bags), vacuum power and strength (best for fast sealing time), and the vacuum design itself (essential for extracting all oxygen from an environment). We also considered the design, warranty and price of each product, in order to extract the best of the best.

For your convenience, we’ve summarized the best features of our favorite products in the table below. Keep reading to find out the detailed descriptions, facts, pros and cons of the seven best vacuum heat sealers. Each model was chosen based on research into not only the products themselves, but also the brand and general use of commercial vacuum heat sealers. This research includes verified reviews, professional opinions, and comparisons between the various models and their operation. We then give some tips on buying the perfect model in the buying guide and answer frequently asked questions.

Weston Pro-2300

Our top pick among all the commercial vacuum sealers we’ve found is an edge sealer made of sleek stainless steel with a clear acrylic lid so you can follow the sealing process every time and make sure the bagging goes smoothly.

Built with a fan-cooled motor – to eliminate heat damage and allow for repetitive use – this HG vacuum sealer with a 5mm Teflon bar will seal even moisture.

The sealing bar is an extra-long 15 inches, allowing you to seal a variety of small to large bags – especially useful for thick winter meats that you want to seal and store in the freezer.

Sealing is fast and efficient with one-touch automatic operation and a powerful dual piston vacuum pump. An additional manual mode allows you to seal softer foods, photos or delicate items. When you’re done, simply unplug the power cord and store your sealer in a pantry, closet or drawer.

Weston 65-0501-W

Built with a heavy-duty stainless steel design, this edge sealer with an 11-inch bar is perfect for your small business or home kitchen. With a commercial grade pump and built-in cooling fan, this machine not only vacuum seals all bags, but can easily seal multiple times without overheating.

It has a manual sealing option for better control of sealing delicate foods. In addition, this vacuum sealer has versatile controls for marinating foods and removing air from cans in addition to vacuum sealing. The vacuum chamber assembly is easy to use, with manual adjustments to both prevent food from being crushed and to eliminate air entirely. This unit is a true competitor to all other commercial sealers. Especially considering its compact size, which allows it to be used anywhere.

VacMaster PRO350

This sleek, more modern looking edge sealer is designed with a dual piston pump and clear cover, making it easy to check bag placement on the sealer bar before selecting your vacuum setting, which will get the job done every time.

The sealing bar is 12 inches wide Teflon, which allows you to securely seal small to medium sized bags. For your convenience, this model features a unique and convenient digital control panel, allowing you to choose the settings for each bag you’re compressing.

For delicate liquid foods or even precious memories and photos, you can easily adjust the vacuum level and sealing time. To seal food quickly (when you’re in a hurry to marinate meat or cook sous vide), you can easily increase the power, press the “accessory” vacuum button or decrease the normal sealing time. This commercial sealer really lends itself to your needs, whatever they may be.

FoodSaver FM5200 2-in-1 Automatic Vacuum Sealer

One way to keep your customers coming back is to make sure the food you sell them doesn’t spoil. You do this by sealing meat and other food items with a device like the FoodSaver FM5200 2-in-1 Automatic Vacuum Sealer.

This eliminates freezer burn and air that would otherwise cause food to spoil within days. One of the advantages of this unit over most of its competitors is that it can detect the moisture level in the bag. Thus, it can change its mode according to the needs of the moment. Therefore, a tight seal is guaranteed every time the device is used.

You also have an easy-to-see vacuum window. So there is no question of guessing where you should place the second seal since you can see everything. In addition, indicator lights guide you through the sealing process.

Also, thanks to the open roll storage design, you can easily replace old vacuum seal bag rolls with new ones when they are finished. In addition, an express bag machine uses a secondary heat sealing bar to reduce the number of steps required to make sealable bags.

It can also be nice to know that this tool comes with a few accessories to help you get started.

LEM Products 1253 MaxVac 500 Vacuum sealer with bag holder and cutter.

Despite its high price, the LEM Products 1253 MaxVac 500 vacuum sealer with bag holder and cutter deserves to be considered one of the best choices.

It can withstand 5 hours of continuous sealing, which is one of the reasons buyers are so enthusiastic. In addition, the aluminum housing offers a little protection from accidents in the kitchen.

In addition, users will have no trouble using this tool since it has a one-handed locking mechanism. There is also an automatic shut-off function that activates when the vacuum is complete. However, know that you can turn it off and use the manual option to vacuum and seal your food if you wish.

The vacuum sealing bag material also comes with this purchase. Make it a point to purchase an extra roll so that you can continue to seal once the free roll is finished.

Since this is an electronic device, the built-in circuit breaker will probably come in handy. You also have a cooling fan to prevent the machine from overheating when you use it.

NESCO VS-12

The NESCO VS-12 Deluxe Vacuum Sealer with bag starter kit and viewing cover is another unit suitable for commercial needs. However, you will need to stop using it after 100 consecutive seals. This will allow the tool to continue to provide the service you need.

The 130-watt dual vacuum pump is one of the highlights that most buyers of this vacuum heat sealer will look forward to using. It ensures that all the air in the bag is extracted, regardless of the size of the bag. That being said, the maximum width of the sealing bar on this tool is 12 inches.

You also have well-marked buttons that you can use to activate different settings and sealing choices. This gives you complete control over how you use the device and how you seal your food.

You also get hands-free sealing and dual line sealing with this purchase. The latter ensures that your seals are stronger than those provided by other machines. In addition, you can create your sealing bags with the help of the machine’s bag cutter.

Benefits of using a commercial vacuum sealer

Most home kitchens now have external vacuum sealers or portable vacuum sealers, or maybe yours has neither, and that’s even better. The main difference between these common sealers and commercial machines is that a commercial machine has either a chamber that you put your bags in, or a large slot (rim) that you put the bag in. When your bag is ready to be vacuumed and sealed, rather than having to do it yourself and not remove all the oxygen, the entire chamber (or edge sealer) sucks out the oxygen with a pump. During this process, your bag(s) are sucked and sealed, and rarely do breaks or leaks occur.

Manual sealers run the risk of tearing a bag or not venting all the oxygen, and small tears reduce the shelf life of your food and can cost you exorbitant amounts of money by constantly buying new bags to seal. Another advantage of commercial models is the amount of bags you can seal at one time or throughout the day. In restaurant kitchens in particular, where steaks (for example) are constantly being ordered, one of the fastest ways to marinate meat is to put the steak and marinade in a single sealable bag, then vacuum seal the two together. Another reason to seal packages quickly may be if a stormy season is coming and you are concerned about leaks or flooding in your home.

Features to consider before buying a vacuum sealer

First, ask yourself if you are buying a sealer primarily for food storage, cooking, or storing dry goods. Depending on how you will be using your machine, you will need to consider where it will be stored (size of the machine), how often you will use it (how long it will last/if it will need to be repaired), and how quickly you will need each vacuum to be done (power, pump, cooling time, etc.). A chef who needs to marinate multiple picks quickly should consider a vacuum sealer with a larger chamber and no cooling time, such as the VacMaster VP215. In addition, on-board sealers have an excellent sealing bar for getting a marinade into your meat; consider the Weston 65-0501-W.

Someone with simple needs and a smaller amount of storage should choose an affordable, easy-to-store and easy-to-use option, like NESCO VS-12.

The features you need are what you should focus on when purchasing a vacuum packer, as there are many different features for each machine on the market. Most of the following features are listed and explained below to help you make your decision.

Type and pump

There are different types of commercial sealers, and depending on your needs, you need to know about each type and how it works.

Full chamber vacuum sealers are the type where you take your bag to be sealed (containing freshly picked vegetables) and place it inside a full chamber with a closing lid. Most of these machines have very simple knobs and settings, which allow you to choose the amount of time or amount of suction applied to each bag. For your vegetables (in this example), you can reduce the amount of time the chamber sucks in oxygen. Some machines even have a “pulse” option that slowly removes most of the oxygen, but reintroduces some, so you don’t turn your wet vegetables into a thin paste. A great example of a deep chamber sealer is the VacMaster VP215, which not only fits larger bags, but works with an oil pump instead of a piston pump (see below).

Edge sealers have a side bar with a handle that almost looks like the beginning of a chamber. However, the edge bar only clamps the edge of your bag – which you insert into the bar, and then a pump inside your machine (often a double piston pump) will remove the oxygen with the rest of the bag there on your table. Typically, this process takes 20 seconds or less with a high-quality vacuum sealer; one such machine is the Weston Pro-2300, which seals a bag very tightly and does one of the best jobs of getting a marinade into the muscle fibers of a steak, chicken, or any other meat you’re fixing.

Acceptable bags (seal bar width/chamber size)

The size of your machine will directly correlate to the size of the bags you can use, because while some sous vide machines can connect to a hose, not all can. If you’re trying to marinate a whole chicken, you’ll need a bag that fits the chicken – about a 2-gallon bag, or 15 by 18 inches. Then you’ll need a commercial vacuum sealer, which either has a chamber large enough for your bag and chicken, or a sealing bar long enough. For example, the only sealer above that is large enough for a whole chicken is the Weston Pro-2300.

However, for steaks, a 12 to 10 inch bag should provide more than enough room for the meat and marinade. In addition, there would be enough room for vegetables, fruit, bread, etc. One of the best vacuum sealers, which also has a sufficiently long sealing bar, is the 1253 MaxVac 500 vacuum sealer from LEM Products, with bag holder and cutter. For bags containing primarily liquids (soups or stews), you will either need to freeze your food and then vacuum pack it, or use a commercial vacuum chamber.

Vacuum resistance