Do vacuum sealers actually work?

[zxcvbob]

I have a Foodsaver, but don't use it often.  I mainly use if for meat (other stuff doesn't justify the high cost of a bag), and when I seal the bags meat juice gets sucked into the sealing surface and the seal (plastic weld) fails in the freezer.  Maybe I need to freeze the meat first on a cookie sheet and then bag it.

I saw on THR or TFL where someone buys cheap 4 mil (?) poly bags and seals ammo in them.  The Foodsaver should work just fine for that -- it'll suck most of the air out and then weld the bag shut.  It doesn't really need a vacuum, sucking some of the air out just makes the bag smaller for storage.

[lupinus]

Yes, make sure meat is nice and dry and/or frozen (semi frozen also works) before bagging. I ran into that issue multiple times until I figured this out.

[zxcvbob]

BTW, those expensive Foodsaver bags are reusable, which mitigates the cost somewhat.  They just get shorter each time you use them.

[French G.]

You can also partially freeze the meat in a bag, then seal. I use the cookie sheet freeze method for soft fruit also.