I stood in the Department store isle for 20 minutes looking at the store brand bags. I googled and found too many having issues with the much cheaper product and decided the old cliche was reliable; you get what you pay for.
That being said, here are some tricks I've learned: 1. Before and after use, completely clean the long oval seal, top and bottom. Before use and during prolonged use, clean the seal and keep it moist. 2. After moistening the seal top and bottom, use a paper towel to completely dry the flat heat element and top press. 3. When you seal a bag the light comes on and goes out when done, leave the sealer clamped for an additional 3 - 4 seconds. 4. Pressing down lightly while the bag is vacuuming and sealing seems to help. 5. Remember to keep the oval seal moist and the heat element dry. 6. I recently started using clear plastic wrap on steaks before vacuum sealing. I'm not sure if this will help prolong shelf life but one thing I have noticed, it keeps the inside of the bags from becoming wet with meat juice and fat. This greatly improved sealing capability. 7. Try to avoid ant sharp bones against the out bag. These will cause pin prick holes in the bag. Try putting foil over bones. 8. Double seal the bags if all else fails. 9. Avoid throwing the freshly sealed bags around. Let them cool. Hope this helps
