FoodSaver FSFRSH0063-035 FreshSaver Handheld Vacuum Sealer, Fuschia

I was surprised to find out both how fast coffee loses its flavor, and how good fresh can really taste. I got into roasting my own green beans (available HERE on Amazon: Costa Rica Dota Estate, Green Unroasted Coffee Beans, 1lb) with one of the poppers still on Amazon that will do so (they are HERE: Toastess TCP-713 Hot-Air Popcorn Popper and HERE: Toastmaster Hot Air Popcorn Popper TPC2), then brewing them in the inexpensive little Bialetti Italian moka pot (available HERE: Bialetti 6800 Moka Express 6-Cup Stovetop Espresso Maker) for AMAZINGLY fresh coffee I'd never experienced being American!All the barista sites I've surfed (source aapbr dot org) told me that: green coffee beans, when cool and dark, last a year or two in storage, and some (Arabica) even get better with age. Once you roast them, after three or so days of CO2 release, they start to lose flavor within TWO WEEKS! Once you grind the beans, the grounds start to lose flavor in FOUR DAYS. This is all trumped by the correct storage techniques. Here are the ones I've tried on Amazon that work GREAT, and don't cost a fortune like the vacu seal machines that can be over $200 US!Green beans: I use the "pseudo vacuum" of the COFFEEVAC (see it here: Tightvac Coffeevac 1 Pound Vacuum Sealed Storage Container, Solid Black Body/Cap) which isn't a vacuum at all, but works fine for green. Does NOT work for new roasted as it doesn't have a co2 release valve.Freshly roasted beans step one: For the first 3 to 4 days you need a container with a CO2 release system. One (the Friis, see it HERE: Friis 16-Ounce Coffee Vault, Stainless Steel), is more expensive and has replaceable filters. The other (The bean safe, see it HERE: BeanSafe "The Coffee Storage Solution", Polypropylene -MOCHA) is cheap, and only has a small valve, but doesn't require replacement filters.Freshly roasted beans step two: Best is to use right away after the three day roast period. Roast just enough for your next few day's needs. The normal popcorn popper will take 81 grams for roasting green beans (about ½ cup or about 5 tablespoons green). These yield (bigger) roasted beans of about 9 tablespoons. Since a tablespoon of ground is roughly the same as a tablespoon of roasted beans, and the moka takes 3 tablespoons for 6 cups of espresso/moka each pot, that gives you roughly three days of roasted beans. I keep the roasted (since they will be used in a few days) in the next "step up" of vacuum: a semi-true vacuum with the airscape sealer (see it here: Planetary Design Airscape 64oz Chrome). This gets close to a "real" vacuum, and just enough to let a little extra CO2 escape over those 3 days.FINALLY, for fresh grounds, the most vulnerable, you'll need a true vacuum to extend the life. I use the handheld freshsaver from foodsaver (10% of the cost of the foodsaver system, see it here: FoodSaver FSFRSH0060-035 FreshSaver Handheld Vacuum Sealer with Starter Kit, Red) with the little "Tupperware" reusable foodsaver tubs. In the cool/ dark (don't refrigerate) this vacuum will keep fresh grounds fresh for over a week, close to the taste when just roasted.For background, I'm not a coffee snob, but as a throat cancer survivor I have barely any taste buds left and coffee is one of the few great tastes that still work. Also, the above is FAR less expensive than either buying drip or certainly Starbucks. Amazon has green beans of very high quality (see link in first paragraph). These can be (eg. Sumatran Arabica) over $40+ a pound roasted, not very fresh when you get them, and you can get them for under $10 at times on Amazon GREEN, REAL savings. Enjoy!

I really love this. Have been using it for several months now, and the past couple weeks started using it a lot. The pump is amazing. It really sucks! lol OK, no more puns, it's really great and it really pulls a very strong vacuum. Also, the bags are first class. I made the mistake of thinking their bags are too expensive so I bought ZipLoc bags that seemed comparable but are cheaper. BIG MISTAKE. Avoid ZipLoc bags. Every one I used leaked and the next day had lost its vacuum; they were no better at that stage than a non-vacuum zip bag with most of the air pushed out. In contrast, the FoodSaver bags all hold their vacuum and look shrink-wrapped until you open them. This bag comparison held true for both freezer and refrigerator applications, and for both quart and gallon size bags. So, stick with FoodSaver brand bags and you'll be much, much happier.The only bad thing I'll say about this product is the size of the container that is included with the kit. I haven't found much of a use for it. It's so short! The only things I've been able to fit in it without crushing them are items that would have been better in a bag anyway. Remember, you'll get a much better vacuum (and therefore much better preservation) with a bag than the container. No pump is going to pull a complete vacuum on a container, so you'll still have some oxygen left inside to deteriorate the food, albeit more slowly. The bag, however, can form fit the food and allow for much better air removal. So unless a big doesn't work, bags are the way to do. I would like to see a container that is much larger so it can actually store something meaningful, but I'll have to buy one separately. The one that comes with the kit can hold something as tall as one slice of pizza or a fairly thin brownie. I put some Ghiradelli brownies in it that are baked in a 9x9 pan per instructions. They fit in the container OK at first, just touching the lid. But when you pull the vacuum, the container compresses: the bottom arches up and the top arches down. Result: brownies that are well preserved but that have a rib pattern embossed on the tops! It's OK, it was just an experiment. Ghiradelli dark chocolate brownies don't last long enough in our house to need vacuum sealing! But some foods do.Despite my slight disappointment in the shortness of the included container, I'm still rating this 5 stars. I feel like I really got my money's worth with it. If the container wasn't included, I'd still feel I got good value, would have nothing to whine about, and would have still rated it 5 stars, so I won't downgrade review because of a short container; I'll consider it a free bonus.One last note: I have a Vacu Vin wine saver (which is really pretty useless, it turns out - if you want to preserve open wine for any length of time, you need an argon gas unit). I tried using the FoodSaver vacuum pump with the Vacu Vin rubber corks, and although it takes some trial and error sometimes to get the pump positioned perfectly over the cork, it works! Saves a bunch of pumping, and it sure seems like it pulls every bit as strong a vacuum as the Vacu Vin hand pump. And with a lot less work!

I've always wanted to try a vacuum sealer but couldn't justify the cost of a big unit for a small amount of work. I don't have a need to buy large quantities of food for a large family. Our primary use is to store coffee beans. We usually buy 2 pound or larger bags on sale, and then grind a 1/2 pound at a time. Still this means the remaining beans are exposed to oxygen and losing flavor. We bought this unit, a wide-mouth jar sealer accessory as recommended by others, and some mason jars. This thing works exactly as advertised, and works great for dry goods like coffee beans. We also tried it with the included one-way valve bags and some fresh bagels. After a week, the bag was still sealed airtight and the bagels were as fresh as the day they were bought. We haven't tried with anything "wet" as this shouldn't get contaminated with food liquids. As an experiment, we rinsed off 4 ripe fresh strawberries, popped them into a mason jar and vacuum sealed. We left it in the refrigerator for two whole weeks, watching every couple of days for the mold growth that you will always see on strawberries after two or three days in your refrigerator. After two weeks, there was nothing, they looked as fresh as ever. We opened the jar and they smelled fine. We didn't dare eat them, but they did look good. I might seal fresh strawberries again in a mason jar if there's a good sale and keep them at most a week, but not longer.