FoodSaver Urban Series Cut & Seal VS6100

Incredibly disappointing machine – My son bought me this as a Chirstmas present and I was so delighted as I've been wanting a Food Saver for so long. However, I was so disappointed when I started using it. I am an older female and the machine requires two push downs to lock it. The first push down to close is easy but the second one is really difficult, even my husband has… Read more

trouble with it. It requires so much effort and is ridiculous for an electric machine.

The second problem is the instructions explain how to take care of the rubber gasket to prolong it's life so I wondered how much they cost to replace and they no longer sell this spare part. It's brand new and there is no way to get parts for such an expensive appliance.

I do not recommend this machine and am really disappointed with Sunbeam that used to sell quality items.

Brand new today and does not power on – Yes we double clicked. The power button simply does not work. If my husband puts some weight on it a green light will flash but that's all. This is the 3rd Sunbeam product I have purchased in the last couple of years that is faulty. Sunbeam used to be a good brand but, like every other manufacturer that has gone to China to have things made… Read more

cheaply, the quality has diminished greatly.

I will not purchase anything with the name of Sunbeam on it again.

Don't! – Don’t! Don’t buy this product. I bought it because I love to eat nice food. I wanted to use it for sous-vide cooking. The first one I bought, I bought with a voucher I’d won in a lottery. I couldn’t get it to work. I took it back to the place of purchase and the sales lady asked me, “Are you double clicking?” I thought about it, and… Read more

replied,”Well….no.” She explained that I had to close the lid, not once, but twice, to get the unit to work. I’m assuming the genius who came up with this idea was a big fan of his computer mouse! Anyway, I took it away, and with my new information, managed to get it to work a couple of times. However, I found that I had to close the lid increasingly more forcefully, to the point where I was belting it! Naturally the unit no longer worked. I thought, “I really liked the steaks I managed to cook, when the unit worked, I’ll try again.” I had more vouchers that I’d won at golf. Don’t ask me how, I’m swinging like a rusty gate at the moment. Hoping for a different experience, I bought another unit, from a different outlet, with the golf vouchers. It’s just as hopeless. Honestly, if you’re thinking about buying one of these units, take 4 x $50 notes out of your wallet/purse, and set fire to them. It will save you a lot of grief.

Hopeless sunbeam product – We purchased this product and the first one had to go back as the vacuum and seal did not work. Exchanged and bought home 2nd one as really wanted something to avoid freezer burn on meat! Same issue, will not work in vacuum and seal. It to is going back this time for a refund. Only good thing has been the good customer service at Harvey Norman Thomastown ... Show details

Great Product. Tips & Tricks – I have had my machine for 10 months, LOVE IT ! It is said that 'a bad tradesman blames their tools', ( no offense intended ). At first, I made mistakes and blamed the food sealer. I do find the 'double click' for sealing a bit difficult, but now I am used to it. I would like the wet area catchment to be a lot deeper or bigger. Tip 1: Make… Read more ·  2

sure the there is at least 60mm of space at the top of the bag. The more space, the easier to seal. It is important that the opening of the bag can lie smooth and flat, inside the jaws of the machine, prior to sealing.

Tip 2: "Wet don't Seal". I cut my bags a bit longer than needed. Fold the plastic at the opening, outwards, to form a double layer lip. This makes it easier for food to be placed into the bag. Refold the plastic bag back to normal. The sealing area should still be clean. I then double check that the sealing end is very clean, and often use a paper towel to absorb any sign of moisture.

Tip 3: I find the quality of plastic bags / rolls can vary. This will alter seal. I often double seal, 5mm apart, thicker bags. It all comes down to trial and error.

Tip 4: Marinated meats and/or liquids. This is always messy, for me. I sit my food sealer on a shoe box or 3 or 4 chopping boards. The bag is then sitting below the sealer. It is more difficult to suck fluids vertically. So, I get a vacuum seal, before my machine gets drowned.

Tip 5: I like to flatten the food in the bag, after it is sealed. It makes stacking so much easier in the fridge / freezer. A flat bag of food defrosts quicker and more evenly.

Tip 6: Use a permanent black texta, and label the contents. Include a date and perhaps weight of the food.

Tip 7: I enjoy 'Souv Vide' cooking. I double seal the bags, 5mm apart. It can get really messy if the bag opens or leaks into the SV water bath cooker.

PeterM

Absolute struggle to close the lid – I bought this machine just over a month ago to replace my very old sunbeam food saver. Went to use it and could not get the lid to close. Watched the demos from sunbeam and was still unable to close the lid so I returned it to Harvey Norman where I purchased it. I wanted to upgrade it to the next model which has the closing knob at the side and… Read more

very easy to close but as the young sales assistant managed to close it I was informed that it was in good working order and after a consultation with her manager, I was informed there was nothing they could do to help. Very disappointed with the outcome as I have been going to the same Harvey Norman store for years.

Junk. Do not waste time & money on this – Bought about 18 months ago. Barely used it as it was fiddly to use and the bags always lost their seal within a few days. Bought some containers last week to try out the hose function, and the unit won’t even turn on anymore! It’s only been used a few times and is out of warranty. Horrendous waste of money. Stay well away. Show details

Wanted to like it, but disappointed – Okay, soooo....bought this product believing it would be better than the cheapie I got years ago. (The cheapie had served me well for several years of constant use with 4 kids...) However, I was very wrong. This product is very hard on the wrists to close, has to double click. It didn't always seal properly, & worked when it felt like it. I tried… Read more

different types of bags etc & tried to persevere, but to no avail. Returned it to Retravision, they were great, swapped it over for a new one out of the box. Got it home, used it straight away only to find new one wouldn't seal either. Took it straight back (100km round trip). It didn't seal for the retailer either. I was given a full refund. I was really disappointed with this product. Back to Spotlight for another cheapie for me.....

It works well enough for me – As a first go at vac sealing it is good enough. I'd say it is an entry level unit and if it dies I may well upgrade to a more pro version that would handle wet sealing better. I don't think it's as bad as many of the other reviews here make out - but this is just my experience with my machine. I don't find it hard to use, it goes in a cupboard… Read more

when I'm not using it. It doesn't really do wet sealing so if that's what you want it for I'd look elsewhere but for sealing stuff for sous vide it's a damn sight better than ziplock bags

Poor sealing function – Purchased the product from Goodguys when it was on sale on June 2019. I was hoping to utilize sous vide cooking method to try things like Chicken breast, and Thick cut pork chop, ingredients usually difficult to cook to perfection. My thought was, a little bulky and hard to operate. I am a professional chef by trade and familiar with how vacuum… Read more

sealing machines works but I had to get manual out to actually get this machine to work. Especially when using the provided sealer roll and use of the inbuilt roll cutter is extremely confusing, also it requires decent amount of pressure to "Double click" the locking mechanism then I can finally vacuum and seal it. The force require to this is a little beyond reasonable as I was not sure if the plastic body will take this much of pressure from two hands. The down sides don't end here. Many of my sealed meats are later found not sealed properly. Often failed at the either side of the bag, and many happens to moist products. So this could be a design flaw. Basically this sealer is good for sealing dry items, however even with "Moist" vacuum function they advertise, this machine has very little tolerance towards wet products like meats or seafood. If the protein is marinated with liquid, failure rate is significantly increased, I'd say almost 4 bags out 5 will fail. When sealing is failed, I tried repeating the process and seal again, but the sealing power of this machine is just not adequate and will not do much even after multiple attempts.

Having this product for a few weeks, I am not sure If I will be using so often, knowing the sealing function will fail with most of the moist product which I wanted to use for, the purpose of the machine is now questionable, and It is quiet bulky too! Taking quiet a bit of space on my kitchen bench. If the Goodguys allows, I will seek for return of the product and will purchase something else.

Doesn’t seal well – Ok for dry food, but not for wet. The seal is not good, and even after multiple sealing cycles, many times the seal is not perfect. Would have been better off with a more professional product. I used the bags/rolls that were supplied with the unit. I guess you get what you pay for.  Show details

Poor product – Purchased this from David Jones, thinking it was a good product for the money; however it has poor vacuum sealing ability with air still trapped inside the bag, and defiantly not worth the money. Spoke to David Jones and they basically don’t want anything to do with it, expensive mistake.  Show details

Works great plus easy to use – I got this on sale at DJ’s for $129. I am a bit of an amateur butcher and like to make my own sausages and small goods. The vac packer works great for packaging up meal-size portions of meat, storing jerky or sliced salami and putting cuts of meat on rubs or marinades. I also went a bit nuts when I first got it and packaged up stuff in the… Read more

pantry like lentils and the millions of open spice packets..

The internal roll and cutter works really well and it’s easy to make your own pouches etc with the seal strip.

Most recently I’ve used it to sous-vide a brisket, and it worked out great.. The seal was rock solid and never even looked like leaking.

I’d like to get some of the containers to try next, so I can do wetter marinades, or even just to keep rice fresh in the cupboard. Note that with this model the tube you need does not come with it.

I’m yet to go so far as to vac-pack all the crap in the second drawer like the million window keys.. but I’m not making any promises!

EDIT - I recently went to throw the box away, and found the tube do do the containers inside. - so this is definitely included.