Avid Armor USV32 Chamber Vacuum Sealer Machine for Foods, Soups & Liquids

This was out of stock for several months when I went to buy it, and I'm glad I waited it out rather than settling for something else. It's top notch, and honestly I reach for it a lot more than my regular vacuum sealer now. For liquids especially, it's a total game changer. Soups, sauces, anything with real moisture in it seals cleanly instead of getting sucked into the machine like a standard sealer would do. i like the size, as it accommodates for large bags easily. its built like a tank so it will last a while, and the suction of the vacuum is configurable based on your needs. One thing worth knowing, and I only found out the hard way because I'm the typical guy who skipped the instructions, is that hot liquids will actually boil once the vacuum pulls the pressure down. That's just basic physics and not a flaw in the machine, but it means hot soup or porridge can splash up near the area that needs to seal, which can mess up the seal if you're not careful. It's not a big deal once you know about it. Just let hot liquids cool down a bit before bagging and sealing instead of going straight from the pot. It works exactly as advertised and then some. If you cook a lot of soups, sauces, or marinate regularly, this thing earns its keep fast. It lets me freeze leftover soups and BBQ meats for another day.

This is hands down the BEST vacuum sealer I’ve ever used. I am enthusiastic about cooking and do a lot of sous vide and grilling/smoking. I tend to meal prep by making large amounts of proteins and sealing them into individual portions for quick and easy home dinners. Due to the volume and frequency in which I cook, I’ve used a lot of vacuum sealers. I would burn through a “home grade” food saver in less than a year. I got sick of buying disposable sealers and started looking for something more commercial quality, without the commercial price tag. I’ve used all 3 of Avid Armors vacuum sealers. The a3100 model (least expensive) is perfect for the average home cook. It’s got all the bells and whistles you need, and a great price. The a100 model was probably my favorite sealer I’ve ever had the pleasure to use (until they released this chamber sealer). It was high quality, had a nice wide seal, and could perform consecutive seals time after time (I’ve done as many as 75 bags in a row without ever waiting for it to cool). That brings me to this bad boy, the USV32 Chamber Vacuum Sealer: Differences between chamber sealers (USV32) and traditional sealers (a100)- Traditional vacuum sealers work by sucking the air out of the bag, and then sealing it to prevent air from getting back in. Chamber sealers create a vacuum inside the bag, but also the chamber around it so there is no suction created in the bag itself (the pressure inside the bag, and in the surrounding chamber is the same), it then seals the bag and allows the chamber to re-pressurize. Since the pressure inside the bag was lower, and it’s sealed now it collapses around the food inside creating a perfectly sealed package. There are pros and cons of each type. The biggest pro of a traditional sealer is they are usually smaller, and the size of the item being sealed is only limited by the bag. This means it’s great for roasts or long items like tomohawk ribeyes. Traditional sealers struggle with things like liquid, because they pull air out of the bag, they tend to pull juices along with it. This makes it hard to do wet foods such as fish, but also hard to get all the air out of liquids like soups etc. The chamber sealer surpasses traditional sealers in almost every other way. They excel at wet foods and liquids because the air is removed from the bag and the chamber, liquids stay put. They also create a much tighter vacuum on odd shaped items. The bags are significant less expensive (they don’t have to use a textured side to slow down liquids, so are less costly to produce). They also allow for a marinate cycle, which infused meat or whatever else you’re marinating by cycling through vacuum stages without sealing. This drives the marinade into your food without having to let it sit for hours in the fridge. This also allows you to infuse things like fruit, cold pickle items, or infuse liquors like lemoncello (so good). This USV32 chamber sealer was extremely high quality. It has to weigh close to, or more than 25 pounds. The lid is a very nice thick glass and the sides are full stainless steel. The front has very nice soft touch buttons and the entire thing just FEELS premium. It’s a nice change of pace after handling food saver sealers... I’ve run almost 100 bags through this machine in the time I’ve had it, and haven’t had a single bad seal, or failed vacuum. The seal bar creates a DOUBLE seal, so even if one fails or you have a piece of food stuck in it you’ve got backup. They also go the extra mile and send a spare seal bar- yes you can actually REPLACE parts without having to buy a new machine, unlike many popular brands. I’ve had questions over the time that I’ve had my avid armor products and contacted customer service via email. They are always very prompt, polite and super knowledgeable. In addition to the extremely high quality of their products, their CS team is another big plus. Bottom Line: if you use a lot of bags, and seal liquids or wet foods often... this is the machine for you. If you like science (if you’ve never seen water “boil” at room temp go watch a video of someone sealing water in a chamber sealer) and impressing your friends at a dinner party... this is the machine for you! You likely will make up the difference in cost between a traditional sealer in the cost of bags, and gain all the additional features like marinade mode and ability to seal wet and liquid items. If you’re a more casual user, or don’t seal liquids then take a look at the Avid Armor a100, it’s the best traditional style vacuum sealer out there. Either way you’re going to end up with a vacuum sealer that will last longer and perform better than anything else you’ve used.

If you’re searching for an honest review, here it is. I’m not a bot, and I wasn’t paid to write this. A few years ago, I started a business called Meat Priest, where I sold fully cooked, individually portioned proteins to gyms and health food stores. During that time, I put this Avid Armor USV32 through thousands and thousands of vacuum seal cycles. This wasn’t a machine that sat on a kitchen counter and got used once a month—it ran seven days a week, day in and day out. I can honestly say it has never let me down. It has never failed, never had a hiccup, and never given me a bad seal. I’m still using the original heat bar and sealing gasket today. Avid Armor even included replacements with the machine, and after all these years, they’re still sitting in the box because I haven’t needed them. I know there are chamber vacs out there that cost $1,000 to $1,500 with bigger names behind them, but from my real-world experience, I honestly don’t know what more they could offer. This machine has been an absolute workhorse. It just keeps running. I still use it today, and it performs just as well as it did when it was new. If you’re considering a chamber vacuum sealer, stop overthinking it. This machine is worth every penny. I personally wouldn’t buy anything cheaper, and after putting this one through years of commercial-level use, I can confidently say the USV32 is one of the best investments I’ve made for my kitchen.

For all those who can afford the price of entry, you should get this vacuum sealer. At 5 to 10 cents per bag for bags for any chamber vacuum sealer, compared to 50 to 75 cents per bag for your ribbed-bag sealer such as a Food Saver, you will more than make up for the price in very short order. One maker of a sealer that uses ribbed bags suggests you can save $2700 per year using their sealer. My own experience was that I saved far, far, less because, more often than not, the value of the thing I might seal was approaching or even more than the value of the bag. For example, I buy 1/4 pound hotdogs from a local big-box club store for $3 per pound but they come in 3 pound packages, or 12 hotdogs at 75 cents per hotdog. We eat two for a meal so when we open them, it's eat hotdogs every day for a week or package some to go in the freezer. So if I take two hotdogs at 75 cents and put them in a bag that costs 50 cents, that adds a dollar per pound to the cost of those hotdogs. If I seal them in bags that cost 7 cents, that's 14 cents additional cost. Or what if I have leftover broccoli from dinner that's worth about a dollar. If I have to spend 50 cents to vacuum seal them, I'm more likely to just toss them. But if I can save them for lunch next week at a cost of 5 cents for a 6x8 bag, it's a great deal for a quick vegetable to go with lunch. With the price of chamber pouches, I never consider whether the item I might freeze is worth the price of the bag; the only question is whether I would eat it after I freeze it. So, if a ribbed-bag vacuum sealer saves you 2700 per year (it sure didn't save me that much), consider how much more a chamber vacuum will save you. When I bought my Avid Armor sealer, I started a spreadsheet to track my real savings - savings on food I was able to buy in bulk and divide, or food I would have otherwise tossed but kept - and inside of the first month (it's not been quite a month yet) I have saved $127.03. Will you save that much every month? Probably not, but it's certainly possible. But when it costs 5 cents instead of 50 cents to take advantage of vacuum sealing, you're much more likely to do it and the cost of a chamber vacuum will return beyond what any ribbed-bag sealer could ever dream of saving you. So hopefully I've made a good case for the chamber vacuum sealer. The next question is why Avid Armor? Well, it's all about quality and cost. There are other companies, companies that used to have good sealers in the price range of the Avid Armor, but all of those other companies, in my opinion and experience, are companies that have been around for very short periods or who put their brand on sealers made cheaply overseas and don't really have anything to do with the design, yet they charge far higher prices than does Avid Armor. The Avid Armor sealer provides a quality vacuum and seal at a price that let's far more cooks afford a chamber vacuum sealer. The USV32 has some great features like very easy and clear settings for vacuum time and seal time. It's not perfect, though; some things for Avid Armor to consider in their next design would be a larger chamber for up to 12 inch wide bags. It would also be better if it had a wider seal but I haven't had any issues with the sealer as it is. One good thing is that with standard 18 inch height between base and upper cabinets in most kitchens, the USV32 fits perfectly when you open the lid; using all available space without being so big you have to pull it out. My coffee maker is 20 inches high with the water compartment lid open so I know the frustration that would be. Avid Armor did it right. The bag retention set up, that bit of the mechanism that holds the bag in place for the heat seal bar, leaves something to be desired. It doesn't hold as easily as my last chamber sealer from another company. It holds ok but it's trickier to get it right. Over all, though, I'm very happy with the Avid Armor UVS32 sealer and I'm glad that, when I needed to replace an older model from another supplier, a model no longer made and nothing in the sub $1000 space from that supplier, I'm glad I chose the Avid Armor.

I'm sure many of you have used some sort of vacuum sealer over the years, and they're great tools. This, however, is a Chamber Vacuum Sealer. It uses pouches. I also have a FoodSaver sealer that uses pouches, or roll stock. It was my third sealer. The difference is that the pouches lie mostly flat in the chamber (horizontally) while being vacuumed and sealed in the USV32. The main reasons I bought this unit, was the ability to seal "liquids" like soups, sauces and such. When I do Jambalaya for example, I make about 10 quarts, so I can freeze the leftovers for future use. I was using 32 Oz plastic containers for that, with snap on lids that I'm certain don't provide the same seal, nor were they "Vacuum sealed." Soups, stews and chili that I will cook and seal with the Avid, will be better shaped for optimum freezer organization. I can also "repack" things like bulk chicken pieces, to a smaller quantity more suited to "cooking for one." Individual "meals," like a quart of chili, can become boil-in-bag conveniences. If you Sous Vide cook, this can be a big help. You can package your protein, aromatics and marinade together, Vacuum, seal and freeze for future cooking. Things like lasagña leftovers, etc., can be well sealed for future use. I'm excited to put this machine to work. When I got it setup, I sealed three one-pound portions of ground beef. I left the default setting of 50 for Vacuum and 5 for seal intensity. I pressed the Auto Vac/Seal button and watched the countdown timer. Noise level seemed less than my FoodSaver. When it got to zero, I could hear a little hissing, but it appeared nothing was happening. All of a sudden, it went FFFOOOOOMP, all the air was vacated from the pouch, which then tightly surrounded the little brick of ground beef. When I examined the seal, it was professional looking and tight. It's built like a tank, and has a glass lid that allows viewing of the sealing process. It's adjustable in the length of both Vacuum time (0-99 seconds) and sealing intensity, depending on pouch material thickness. It can be used to seal one end of roll stock to create a pouch. It can be used to quick marinate proteins. It comes with an extension hose used to seal plastic canisters of dry ingredients, or connect to marination "tubs." I got the bundle, which included packs of two sizes of mylar pouches. The machine itself comes with a sample pack of a small quantity of 3 different sizes of pouches. It's finished in stainless steel and black, has a heavy glass lid, and a heavy duty 6' 3 prong power cord. It's also furnished with a replacement chamber gasket and sealing bar. It's not small, at 14" W X 15" D X 9" H (with lid closed), and weighs 25 pounds. It could be left on a counter, under upper cabinets, but would have to used in the clear, to get the lid all the way open. The specification "height" shown in the listing of 3-½" is the height of inside the chamber. It has convenient grab handles on both sides. Also comes with a filler plate of foam rubber to use with smaller amounts of foods being sealed. A professional piece of gear!

After using a FoodSaver for years, I debated for a long time about whether spending more on a chamber sealer like this would be wise investment. If you cook a lot - it's one of the absolute best investments you can make. As mentioned, I started my foray into vacuum sealing with a pretty basic model foodsaver. It did what it's advertised to do, but the bags were expensive, the quality of the seal and strength of the vacuum varied a lot based on multiple factors, and due to the effort involved - it spent more time in my pantry than being used. Enter the chamber vacuum sealer. Now I can not only buy super cheap pre-made plastic bags in various sizes, I can seal soups, chicken stock, and other items that would have been impossible with the FoodSaver style of sealers. (You really need a chamber-style-sealer to effectively seal foods with any modest amount of liquid) Chamber-style sealers do a far better job of removing the air - once you try it you'll understand what I mean. This thing has *MORE* than paid for itself in food savings. I can buy things like ground beef in bulk, portion it out into bags, freeze it, and I never have to worry about it getting freezer burnt. Gone are the days of opening the fridge to find mold on cheese - I have a block of cheddar I sealed months ago that's every bit as good today as the day I bought it. One area that I never thought of before buying this is how it helps with leftovers. Seal them up in a vacuum bag and they'll last in the fridge for months instead of days. And if you do sous vide, this device is the perfect complement. (Typically I'll reheat leftovers by putting them in a sous vide bath at 155 - preserves flavor and texture) I keep this on my countertop right next to the fridge - and hardly a day goes by that I don't use it multiple times. The only things that get used more in my kitchen are the stove and the fridge. The build quality is solid - I've never had to do any maintenance (other than simply cleaning) and have never had any issues with it. Yes: this is a big investment....but it's one that will save you a lot of money in the long run. If you're at all on the fence like I was - trust me when I say - for serious/passionate cooks - this is a must-have. You'll use it a lot more than you think. Pros: Build quality, excellent vacuum, ease of use, super cheap bags, Cons: Initial price, a little more counter space than a foodsaver

This chamber style vacuum sealer is a game changer. We have had it for about 2 weeks and have used it for fresh tuna steaks, chicken, and venison. It did take some trial and error with suction setting to get the right suction time but now seals with very little air left in the bag after processing. Definitely a much better quality job than our traditional vacuum sealer. The unit is pretty big and moderately heavy, but the chamber fits a lot! We haven’t tried the marinading or sous vid options, and haven’t vacuumed sealed soup yet but excited to see how those come out! It also has an external hose suction for mason jars/plastic jars which we will be trying this weekend. It is slightly noisy in our small kitchen, but not any more noisy than the traditional vacuum sealer we have used in the past. It seems well built and sturdy, clean and sleek looking. Overall great purchase so far!

I bought my first vacuum sealer back when the home suction style sealers first started becoming popular. I primarily used it to package food for the freezer and it has served me well for many years. In the last few years I, like many others have discovered home sous vide cooking and my use of the vacuum sealer has taken on a whole new life. Regardless of the end purpose, there has always been one major inconvenience with the suction style sealer – liquids. My old unit does have a “moist” setting to reduce the vacuum level but depending on the food, it can be impossible to actually pull a vacuum without extracting at least some liquids and they always require some planning. With the suction type sealer I could (1) freeze the food/liquid before packaging, (2) just let the liquids get pulled into the sealer and hope the drip tray was big enough (this made more cleanup and also ended with liquid in the unsealed part of the bag that needed to be cleaned up) or (3) I could fold a paper towel and insert it into the bag between the food and where the bag will be sealed (this works for freezing but not sous vide). Enter the chamber vacuum sealer. I wasn’t even aware that home chamber sealers even existed until I started watching sous vide YouTube channels. As soon as I saw the first one, I wanted one. The only problem was that these things are big and expensive. For a home user that doesn’t need to seal huge amounts of food, it can be hard to justify the price. In my case, this was something I wanted but I don’t “need” it. You can sous vide without a sealer at all and my suction sealer worked fine for my purposes. For me, this is a luxury. The USV32 does strike a good balance though. It’s not as fast as the bigger, more expensive units but it is more affordable, smaller and virtually maintenance free. It weighs far less than the other units that I’ve looked at and this too is a big bonus. It fits under my cabinets but it’s more convenient to move out onto the counter so I can fully lift the lid. The lid does not have a nice raised section for larger items but it is curved and made from a heavy, solid glass. I don’t predict I will run into an issue with lack of space very often – the chamber is deep enough for a good sized roast. The build quality appears solid while keeping the size and weight down. The unit comes with a one year warranty with the ability to extend it to two years. I just received the USV32 a few days ago but I had a London broil in the refrigerator and wanted to play with my new toy as soon as it arrived. It came very well packaged and includes brief but complete instructions, a nice selection of starter pouches, a spare gasket, a spare seal bar and a neat little test sealed fake avocado to show that your new unit was tested at the factory. All very nice touches. After breezing through the instructions, I was ready to try it out. I put the London broil into one of the large bags, added Worcester sauce, and started the first cycle with the default settings. I didn’t video the first suck but it was a beautiful thing! The first time you see the vacuum get released and that bag form to the pouch contents – liquids included – you’ll be convinced this thing is the coolest invention ever! The attached video and pictures are from the results. I cooked the London broil for 16 hours sous vide @ 132°F. I then cooled it in the freezer for about 20 minutes before slicing it for future sandwich meat. I of course needed to vacuum seal the sliced meat and the video/pictures are from that process. I have absolutely no buyer’s remorse. Well worth the price and all the positive reviews!

Does the job very easy to use

Esperé algunos meses para poder hacer una reseña basada en el uso y ahora puedo decir con toda claridad que es el mejor electrodoméstico en el que he invertido. Tener una cámara de vacío tan práctica cómo está me ha permitido ahorrar mucho dinero y tiempo ya que puedo cocinar, empacar porciones más pequeñas y conservar en refrigerador o congelador e irlo usando con base en mis requerimiento. El envío y atención al cliente de esta empresa es de primera.

I absolutely love this machine. Works as expected for everything I have used it for. I do like the effect on marinating that it does. Wish I had bought it years ago. A lot faster than using my other machine which required to be held shut the entire time. Start the machine and go fill the next bag. 😍

This is amazing. I use this when we process our meat from the animals on our farm. Also making lunches to freeze, soups, spaghetti etc… it changed my life. Best machine ever. Suction power is out of this world and it’s a perfect seal. I’ve tried other machines and wasted my money on those. Should of got this one from get go. This is a purchase you will not regret, worth every penny.

Sealing has been incredible so far. Vacuum has been powerful as well. Have only used Avid Armor bags but will update if anything changes with others.