Foodsaver 3800 Series - Product Review Pt 1

A few weeks ago I was contacted to see if I would like to try out the FoodSaver 3800 Series vacuum sealer.  I've actually been looking at these systems for years but never really knew if it was worth it for us, so I was really psyched to get the opportunity to find out.

Since posting it's arrival to my Facebook page, I've learned that a LOT of you are just like me, and are anxious to hear my results, the rest of you already have a FoodSaver product and love it.

The 3800 Series has a sleek stainless and black finish, which I love because it fits in with my other small appliances.  There is storage for the FoodSaver Rolls that you make bags with right inside the unit (which can be used with the door open or closed).

I took a day recently while I was home all alone (ahhh!) and cooked and baked all day.  I made a slow cooker full of pulled pork, a huge batch of pasta sauce, then used it to make two lasagnas and then lastly I baked two banana breads. That day had 'FoodSaver testing' written all over it.  Excuse my photos though, there was no daylight left by the time the oven was turned off.

I used some of the smaller FoodSaver bags and did up packages of pulled pork enough for a meal (or a pizza, or nachos).  

I was really impressed at how fast and simple it was to use and that there isn't a lot of prep work involved, you just plug it in.

Sealed pork goodness, ready for the freezer.  Next up, lasagna (minus a few slices).

For the lasagna, I wanted to freeze it in pieces, so I cut it, and popped the whole dish into the freezer for a couple of hours, so that I wouldn't squish them when I sealed them in meal-sized portions.  I was brave and made my own custom-sized bags for the lasagna, and it was really, really easy.  Sadly, I forgot to freeze my banana bread before sealing it.... ah well, it will still taste good.  That was totally my fault, the users manual says to freeze baked goods before sealing so that they don't lose their shape...

We have a really small deep freeze and I love how many meals I am going to be able to double up on and freeze with the space we are saving using the FoodSaver instead of conventional containers.  This, along with meal planning is going to free up a ton of time for me... so I'm very happy about that.  I also can't wait to seal up some other things, the odd piece of rarely used silver to keep it from tarnishing and even documents like our passports and birth certificates to keep them protected.

As for how well the FoodSaver 3800 Series preserved my day's work, we'll all have to wait and see.  I also still have the marinating canister to test out.  So far though, I am loving having the FoodSaver in my kitchen.  While writing this post, I was reading the FAQs on the FoodSaver website and was excited to find out that I can use the FoodSaver to seal chip and pretzel bags! This has totally ruined my 'I don't want them to go stale' excuse, but may have saved my waistline...

Stay tuned.

Disclosure:  I received a complimentary FoodSaver 3800 Series System to test/review.  Opinions, as always, are my own.