How many of you guys use these to prep meat for storage? I send my deer tot he processor but am looking for options for things like ducks, geese, or rabbits that I do myself. So I don't need a super industrial model.

Do you have any recommendations on brands/models? What features do you find useful?

I have 7 geese in the cooler, need to figure this out soon!

thx

I have a Food Saver Silver that works great for fish, birds, rabbits, back straps etc. It seals small batches of soft/kinda soft game well. It doesn't do well with larger more difficult packages like ribs, large bags of cubed meat, whole hams/hind quarters etc and will over heat after a while when bagging large quantities of link sausage . So, I bought a Weston Pro 2300 Commercial Grade when I am processing bigger batches. It has dual pistons and is fan cooled, doesn't overheat like the Food Saver when doing large batches and it really sucks..the air out. For your use I would get a good Food Saver, will work fine. A lot cheaper too.

Food saver will work for the lighter duty you are talking about. Have sealed lots with one. Like said above might have to take a break sometimes for it to cool but it will get the job done.

I've been through numerous Food savers over the years & wound up getting a Weston - PRO 2300 that is great. The only drawback is that it is rather large & heavy, so storage may be a challenge. Regardless it is well worth the money & will last forever.

Do NOT get the Ziplock brand sealer! I have to redo all of my bags of ground elk/hog "hamburger" Couldn't get a good vacuum or seal, but had to leave for work. Will be re-doing all of them next week when I get home.

Food saver, get bags at SAMs, let it cool, and you're done.

Same here. It is bulky.

I have the 15" Cabela's Commercial sealer. Weston makes these for Cabela's. I bought mine about 3 months ago. I have had a few issues with it sealing properly but other than that, when it works, it works good. I am going to take this one back and exchange it for another one b/c of the sealing issue

What's the issue? The manual seal stinks, I have to hit start then seal on mine. It also took me a while to figure out the right amount of pressure to hold the lid down for it to work the best.

I have the Weston Pro 2300 also and it says in the directions that is how you are supposed to manual seal. Press on lid, hit start to begin suction, then manual seal for suction to stop and seal to begin. That's how it works, (and how I manual seal). The Food Saver has an "open/store/close" slide lock that distributes different amounts of pressure, the Weston doesn't have that you use your hand. You only need to push on lid at first, after you hit the start button and runs for a second or 2, the suction will keep it closed tight while it is sealing.

I use the foodsaver gamesaver silver I think it is. Its the one that you can also plug into your car or boat via 12v DC.

I have that one too, it works great for small stuff especially if it's soft.

OP here. I ended up getting the gamesaver 2050 and used it to pack up the geese. it was the perfect size for the breasts. I can see me using it lots, so it seems like a good value.