I have a gamesaver unit and love it. It definitely cuts down on freezer burn and seems to be holding up well. A little tip: You don't necessarily need to pre-freeze, but you do need to watch the seal and if once the air comes out juice starts to flow towards the opening you can hit the manual override button which stops the vacuum and seals the bag immediately. If some juice did reach the seal location and you're not confident of the seal, just move the bag down a bit (hit strip moving towards the open edge) and double seal it.

I love my vacuum sealers. I have a commercial-grade unit that I keep at home, and also have a smaller, lower end sealer that I take when I hunt or fish out of state. It's perfect for sealing up meat prior to packing on ice for the flight home, especially since the vacuum-packed meat takes a little less space than wrapping or bagging. It also helps to keep the ice water out of the meat during travel.

The bonus is that properly packed meat stays fresh and usable longer than any other method I've used.

I have been using one for venison for a few years now. What a difference in taste when freezerburn is nonexistant. I've eaten venison well over a year from the date of kill, and it tasted fresh. With butcher paper i think the taste and texture are changed almost immedeatly after freezing. You can actually keep meat fresh, unfrozen, for a long time too, up to 4 weeks. I have eaten vacuumed never frozen backstraps a month later, yummy. Works for fish too. We all know freezing changes the taste and texture of fish. I don't usually freeze befor vacuuming as stated in the blog, but i do break the seal before defrosting, otherwise the vacuum sucks the juices out as the meat defrosts. Agreed there are other nifty uses, but i stick generally to food.

What I use works just fine, freezer paper and tape... and I don't get any freezer burns and it comes out tasting better than ever. I mean it would be nice but the price for the food saver along with the bags and such sounds like it would cost too much. Also, having to freezer all the meat sounds like a pain in the a$$. I might be old fashion but I'll just stick to my method... and it sure as hell does not cost me $3oo.

I wash and reuse the bags to help cost effectiveness. I feel mine is well worth it, but it was a gift. I might feel different if i had to pony up the benjamins, but i'm glad i have one.

i deer hunt in spots that i must ride in a boat for quite awhile , in nasty weather some times . i vacuum seal a spare pair of long johns , socks , shirt ,and fleece jacket , and lighters with some tinder.in bags , that i store in a dry bag as well. in case of a capsized boat. thankfully i have never had to use it for an emergency . but it is nice to have a dry long johns top for the ride home after sweating up a storm dragging a buck back to the boat .
and its great for the buck after he hangs a bit in the garage

I have a game savor,been using it for years,as far as freezing meat first before putting the seal on it is bogis.We put ribeyes thawed right from the store into the bags and actually have kept them in the freezer for more than a year;they are just as fresh as if I had put them in the freezer 2 weeks ago.We do fish the same way,with no problem with blood.I highly recommend this product to anyone.