ARY VacMaster VP215 Chamber Vacuum Packaging Machine with 10 1/4" Seal Bar

Item purchased new but it defective from the start. After several concerned calls to the manufacturer (Ary) about the condition of the oil in the pump, all within the first 30 days of use, the motor finally seized. Ary will only fix and not replace with new. So I am stuck with a factory defect after paying for a new unit.

Barbara C. Posted on 03/19/2014

Bought this unit in November 2014. We use it 100 cycles/month on average. I had to replace the key that connects the motor to the pump in the summer of 2015. Since then we've changed the oil religiously on the first of the month using ARY oil. That same key just broke today. I"m so mad. We barely use this thing any more. The oil is clean. And it will still break. The filters can be clean and it will still break. It's worse because ARY doesn't care. Obviously webstaurant isn't at fault here, but ARY's service sucks. Their tech is grumpy and assumes that you are an idiot, even after you've shown him that you can take the whole machine apart and put it back together again. They just wanted to charge me for another vacuum pump today. But they won't have pumps in stock for another 3 weeks at least. No thank you! I'm gonna buy a different brand! Anyhow, I"m disappointed. It worked for a bit. Then it didn't. Didn't work for long enough IMO for the price. I don't have time to fix it. I"m gonna sent it to the scrap yard unless one of y'all wants it!

John G. Posted on 10/12/2016

We have had our VacMaster now for about 3 years and have used 6 cases (6000) bags and sealed several hundred jars. It has NEVER failed to perform flawlessly. We have suck all sorts of stuff; soup, meats, veggies, grains, clothing, money, and other stuff. The only thing you have to be careful of is that whatever you are sucking does not puncture the bags and you MUST be careful and take your time to place the bags properly to get a good seal. The machine is fairly quiet and VERY easy to use. Changing bag thickness is as easy as adjusting the sealing time, which takes less than 5 seconds. We typically run the unit on a 35 second vacuum cycle, 2.3 second seal time, and a 3 second cool off time. The cool off time gives the bag a chance to "re-solidify" before the vacuum is released in the chamber. If the cool off time is not long enough it will tear the seal some. The unit came with a new sealing heater strip and cover and in the three years we have used it, we have not needed it! Bottom line: If you are going to use a vacuum sealer more than just a few times a year, this is the unit you want. Thousands and thousands of bags sealed flawlessly. What more could you ask for?

Jim A. Posted on 04/01/2013

We use the heck out of ours. It has literally changed how we do everything at the restaurant. We bought it initially to be a part of our sous vide program but are also using it to help keep and store perishable products as well as accelerate infusions and marinating. Very simple maintenance and has, thus far, been entirely reliable. If you're going to go down this path, don't skimp and buy a cheaper unit. Just get something pro like this. Research it, the ones that just suck air out of the bags are not as versatile as these chamber units.

Roger D. from Juju Restaurant Posted on 07/30/2015

First, Webrestaurantstore had the vp215 on my doorstep within 3 days of ordering. The unit arrived in great shape. Great service. Second, the machine is easy to use and I love it. But to be honest it may not be right for everyone. It is heavy and it takes up a fair amount of counter space. Not everyone will want to do the maintenance (oil changes) on the vacuum pump. The pump is is easy to get at and and oil changes will probably take less than 10 minutes when needed. If you can live with these factors you will definitely like this machine. For sous vide cooking the pump only needs to run for 18 seconds for me to get to the proper vacuum level. You will find lots of other things to use this for. For instance a half onion comes out of a vacuum bag after four days looking like you just cut it. No more worrying about liquid that may be in the pouch!

Nick S. Posted on 10/20/2016

Having used chamber vacuum sealers in many restaurants, I decided to get one for myself for home (and work-from-home) use. I was already familiar with this model/unit/brand, and Webstaurantstore has by far the best price I've found, so I decided to buy myself one for my birthday. Although shipping was a little bit of a pain (it got shipped over a holiday weekend, so tracking got a little confusing), it came in decent time. Everything was good out of the box and I did a bunch of random experiments to test it (compressing peaches, vacuum packaging cheese, infusing watermelon, etc.) and every time things worked out perfectly. This is a seriously solid machine thus far.

Mark N. Posted on 09/10/2016

BE ADVISED: Heads up if theres a problem its YOUR problem. Webstaurant will not help you, they pass the puck on to the manufacturer. We've had this product for 1 day it was received as damaged/defective 1DAY and webstaurant tells you to deal with the manufacturer retreating to the "manufacturers warranty." Called manufacturer, to trouble shoot over phone. Now have to ship to manufacturer (3days lead time) they'll look at and repair (no idea how long that will take they don't work weekends) then 3days of shipping lead time for them to ship back to us. So bought a product I needed for my business and I will have to wait weeks to be able to use it. As for shipping back to webstaurant to return the item, they told me I'd have to pay the shipping and a 30% restocking fee.

Thaddeus K. from 1kept Posted on 08/17/2016

Awesome tool and super functional cooking aid (rapid infusions, sous vide, etc.) and toy. We love this thing and it has been flawless after 16 months with use several times a week, up to an hour at a time. In retrospect, we should have purchased 4 mil bags instead of 3 because we pack some poky things sometimes and the 3 mil bags don't hold up to much abuse.

Mike B. Posted on 03/14/2016

An excellent chamber vacuum packer for home use, although it's way too heavy to move around constantly, or even infrequently. You'll want to have a space set aside where it will be accessible. Functionally it's been perfect for the year or so I've been using it. No issues at all.

Peter K. Posted on 05/14/2015

My interest in getting a vacuum sealer began with getting into sous vide cooking. Initially I planned to get an external vacuum sealer, quickly migrating from a FoodSaver product to either a Weston or VacMaster Pro 350. I read the reviews and watched the videos on both the external and chamber vacuum sealers. It was hard to justify spending 3 times the price for a chamber sealer, but in the end it came down to the following: • Absolutely no problem with vacuum sealing products with liquids present • An oil lubricated vacuum pump over a dry one • Much less costly chamber vacuum sealer bags • It is very quiet • It is very durable; it is definitely commercial quality I also considered the less costly VP 113s; however, it looks rather flimsy, has a dry vacuum pump, and is something I thought I would regret saving money on. I was somewhat deterred by the reviews that state unless you are going to use it a great deal, get an external sealer. I doubt I will fall into the category of meeting the standard of using it a great deal, as I have only sealed 25 to 30 bags so far, but having bought it, I am glad I did and didn’t settle for an external sealer. I am very impressed with it and can see we will use it much more than I had envisioned; however, that means it must be readily accessible in your kitchen, rather than out in the garage as some have it. You need to have a dedicated space in your kitchen, just like your microwave. As others note, it isn’t easily portable at 84 lbs. Fortunately we have plenty of counter space, hence having it readily available was easy, though we set it on a lower height counter to accommodate the lid. There are plenty of videos adequately showing how the unit works, so no need to add one. Probably the biggest thing to remember is that if you want to leave the sealer with the lid down you need to turn it off since it automatically begins the sealing process when the lid goes down. One use I hadn’t expected was resealing jars like Cheez Whiz. Simply lay the jar in the sealer with the lid on a bit loose, set the sealing time to zero, and the jar is sealed as good as from the processing plant. The same is true of products like sour cream or whipping cream whose shelf life can be extended by putting them in ½ height mason jars and vacuum sealing. The only problem I experienced, which I gather is not that unusual, is that the oil/gas separator was broken off in shipment. It results from tipping the vacuum sealer on its side, perhaps accompanied by a jar. When the spring mounted vacuum pump tips, the oil/gas separator, which is mounted on top of the pump, hits the very sturdy hinge casting on the sealer and the connection to the vacuum pump breaks. When I contacted VacMaster about the damage, the technical rep said it regularly happens and while they were initially going to forward me a replacement, since I bought the sealer from WebstaurantStore, they forwarded the claim to them. WebstaurantStore contacted me immediately and shipped me a replacement oil/gas separator without any hassle and in record time. I had no difficulty dealing with them. The damage; however, is totally preventable if VacMaster made an extremely simple change in preparing the sealer for shipment. The vacuum sealer itself is packed very well, as shown in various videos, with double boxes and the sealer unit set in foam supports. However, if VacMaster was to simply insert a block of solid foam between the vacuum pump and the side of the vacuum sealer case so that the vacuum pump could not tip during shipment, the problem would be entirely eliminated. Alternatively, the vacuum pump could be secured for shipment with removable cable ties. The cost for either option would be minimal and easily covered by eliminating the cost of replacing oil/gas separators. VacMaster warns against tipping the unit on its side, but the fact is, it is pretty much impossible, once these units are individually shipped, to control that from happening. The incremental cost to ship the sealer secured to a pallet so it can’t be tipped adds much more to the expense of shipping than the minimal cost of inserting a foam block or using cable ties. It would require some planning since it would be easiest to do this at the factory, something done with a multitude of appliances and equipment. The foam block or cable ties would be easily removed by the purchaser when they take the back cover off to fill the pump with oil. If VacMaster doesn’t do this at the factory, it would still be possible for firms like WebstaurantStore to do so. I had some reservations about buying the sealer from WebstaurantStore after reading some negative reviews regarding potential shipping damage and some purchaser’s difficulty in resolving damage issues. In the end, because WebstaurantStore had the best price, and they had the sealer in stock, I purchased it from them. They shipped it immediately and I had no difficulties in dealing with them about the damage. They treated me extremely well and without any hesitation or push-back. They promptly forwarded a replacement oil/gas separator without charge, which also meant sending it to Canada. I would not hesitate in dealing with WebstaurantStore in the future and highly recommend them and commend them for their service.

Clifford B. Posted on 05/18/2017

I'm writing this review after 9 month of use. It still works, though there are some noises, while pumping air out. I can say that it is small beast. Sometimes, I use it continuously for 2 hours (closing 140 bags in a row) and it makes it. It works great for me. Never had an issue with it.

Anatoly V. from Cured and Cultivated Posted on 05/14/2017

While this item costs quite a bit, I have used to vacuum package over 1000 items. We use it when splitting up large packages of meat. We also use it to portion out large make-ahead dishes. It works so well during hunting season to preserve the meat. We also use it for sous vide cooking.

Warren S. Posted on 04/18/2017

We have recently ventured into Sous Vide at my restaurant and this has been a tremendously great investment. We are a high volume operation and this absolutely has no issue keeping up. The main reason I purchased this unit was the oil pump, it gives us the opportunity to pack continuously unlike the cheaper units. Extremely happy!

Anne J. from Shasta View Lodge Posted on 03/29/2017

I ordered the vp215 after looking for best value being offered by several different manufacturers. After trying to order the same unit from grain store in Nebraska (bad customer service) I found webstaurantstore and in a few minutes the unit was ordered w/bags and shipped the next day. Started using day I received it and wonder why I waited so long to order. This unit is perfect for home or work. I process several deer and game thought the year and lots of fish. And buy bulk at grocery stores ect. I have boasted about it to several friends (who now want to use it) that the price and machine are fantastic and recommend they buy one. Or they can pay a 1.00 a bag for me to shrink there stuff lol Bottom line, great unit, very good price and good customer service

John S. Posted on 03/05/2017

This machine is incredible. Well built and is light years better then normal vac machines. I owned the pro 350 and stepped up to VP215 chamber sealing . Worth the extra $$ bags cheaper and seal is better. Un pack it follow simple instructions and your sealing 15 minutes later

Ronald P. from AC Plus Posted on 02/19/2017

I received the vacmaster vp 215 about a week ago , I have found something to vacuum pack almost everyday, re packing freezer meats , making salads in advance, etc ... this machine is amazing , I also use it for sous vide cooking as well ... LOVE IT

Thomas L. from N/a Posted on 01/27/2017

This is an amazing vacuum machine! We love it. No more freezer burning and unsealed packages. Fast, simple and fun to use. Well worth the money.

Joanne E. Posted on 01/12/2017

Very happy with this purchase. Price much better than competitors. Delivery was fast considering it is 100lbs and cheap. Machine looks sturdy and well built. Functioning well out of the box. I feel that with the oil pump it should be a longer term investment. It seems easily serviceable at home when out of warranty. Plenty of easy replacement parts online with the site. It is amazing how the vacuum preserves foods. I think the sealer will be paid off by the food we would not be wasting anymore. We like to shop at other retailers but we always overshop on spoil-able food. We have used it for marinades as well and it works great. You cannot make a great seal on a regular out of chamber sealer when you have liquids inside the bag. Plus the bags will run less for vacmaster bags. If you reuse them once or twice, can go under a cent for the small ones. The packaging box came pretty beat up but after opening, I think this product has some of the best packaging I have ever seen... Fairly quiet overall if you care. I researched other similar machines from different companies and was very excited about features like not having to change the oil, all the electronics and the side port for canning. I feel that this unit is so much simpler and of course will have some learning curve to achieve similar results but will pay off in the long run in terms of simplicity and reliability once you get the know-how. Overall, an amazing solution to your everyday kitchen problems. Now, the bad. This thing is big, heavy and pretty much an eye sore in your kitchen. Cannot hide it and move it around when not needed without herniating your disks. While I find that the quality and reliability of things are generally directly proportional to weight, be prepared to deal with it if you use infrequently.

Ciprian N. Posted on 01/06/2017

I use this daily in a small butcher shop. It is a beast of a machine. Very heavy. It performs flawlessly. One of my favorite toys.

Matt H. from Hinckley's Fancy Meats Posted on 11/27/2016

I have wanted a chamber vac for a while and this is the one to buy. With the oil vacuum pump you can get as much vacuum pressure as you want. Great for making compressed fruit or anything else that you can use a vacuum for. It is very high quality and very easy to use. The controls are easy to adjust for amount of vacuum, sealing time and seal bar cooling. This is the best price you will find anywhere. And if you want to talk about service, you will not find better service than Webstaurant, I ordered on Monday and it arrived Tuesday, I was amazed how quickly it arrived. It weighs 85 lbs and shipping weight is 105 lbs and the shipping was included at this price. OUTSTANDING customer service!

John F. from Fisher Security Posted on 09/01/2016