LEM Vacuum Sealers: Everything You Need to Know

LEM MaxVac vacuum sealers are heavy duty sealers that cater mostly to hunters, fishermen, gardeners, and other people looking for high-volume sealing. How do they compare to other commercial brands like VacMaster and Weston? And is their consumer model as good as a FoodSaver? We'll take a detailed look at the LEM line of MaxVac vacuum sealers to help you make your decision.

LEM MaxVac Vacuum Sealers at a Glance

LEM

About LEM

LEM is an American company headquartered in Chester, Ohio. They are best known for their meat and game processing equipment, including grinders, sausage stuffers, canning supplies, food dehydrators, grilling equipment, kitchen equipment, and of course, vacuum sealers. 

LEM products tend to be heavy duty and geared toward serious home users: hunters, gardeners, fisherman, and others interested in preparing and packaging their own food in bulk.

back to TOC

Why Buy a Vacuum Sealer?

The biggest reason to get a vacuum sealer is to save money on food.

Americans waste up to 40% of all the food they buy. This is an astonishing statistic, but true. 

Vacuum sealed food lasts longer in the fridge, freezer, and pantry. Removing air from the bag means removing potential pathogens; this is why vacuum-sealed food lasts up to 5 times longer than food stored in other containers.

Also, if you have a vacuum sealer and a freezer, you can take advantage of lower prices at big box stores, from local farmers and farmer's markets, and sales at your grocery store. 

One fabulous aspect of vacuum sealing is that because air is removed, you don't get freezer burn. This allows you to keep frozen food much longer than in non-vacuum sealed containers.

Overall, a vacuum sealer can help you save hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year on food. In general, a vacuum sealer will pay for itself in the first year of ownership, regardless of how much you spend on one.

back to TOC

Do You Need a Vacuum Sealer for Sous Vide?

Sous vide cooking, which involves cooking food sealed in bags in a low temperature water bath, has become quite popular. "Sous vide" translated from French means "under vacuum" because original sous vide always used vacuum bags.

The truth is, you don't need a vacuum sealer to cook food sous vide. You can use the water displacement method to remove air from a bag. However, vacuum sealed food cooks more evenly because a vacuum sealer can remove more air from a bag than any other method (air pockets are the enemy of good sous vide). 

Vacuum bags are also sturdier than zip top and other plastic storage bags, so you have fewer worries about a bag not surviving a whole cook (this is especially true for cooks longer than 6 hours).

In fact, for long cooks, you may want to use extra thick vacuum bags (more about bags below).

Also, there are so many other uses for a vacuum sealer in your kitchen, and you will save so much on your food budget, we strongly recommend getting a vacuum sealer whether you use it with sous vide or not.

Finally, you do not need a special "sous vide vacuum sealer." Any vacuum sealer will work with sous vide--though more powerful ones may provide slightly better results because they can remove more air. 

For more info on sous vide, check out our sous vide articles.

back to TOC

Edge Sealers Vs. Chamber Sealers: The Differences Explained

When people think of vacuum sealers, they typically think of edge sealers, also called external or channel sealers. The bag sits outside the sealer and you insert the top of the bag into the sealer, and the air is removed from the bag. 

Edge sealers require special bags that have a textured lining, which is required to "push" air out of the bag during sealing. 

Edge sealers are best for solid foods because they will draw liquids into the vacuum pump if you're not careful. there are workarounds, such as freezing or using a "Gentle" setting, but neither is ideal; you will never be able to effectively seal liquids with an edge sealer.

With the growing popularity of sous vide (as well as other things, like harvesting your own food), chamber vacuum sealers have gained popularity in recent years. Chamber vacs have traditionally been extremely heavy (around 100 pounds) and heavy duty machines, with heavy duty vacuum pumps that will run for hours on end without requiring a cool down. They've been considered a commercial product made for heavy use in restaurants and other food-oriented businesses, though there are some home users sold on their virtues.

There is now a new generation of vacuum sealers that are geared to the home user that are as light as 25 pounds or less, yet they can still do all the things a heavy chamber vac can do and have similar robust pumps. They are an ideal choice for home users. For more information, check out our article Chamber Sealers: The Best Deals on Amazon.

Why would anyone buy a big, bulky chamber sealer? We can give you three excellent reasons:

• They pull more vacuum
• They seal liquids
• The bags don't need to be lined, so they're cheaper (actually quite a lot cheaper).

If you're an enthusiastic vacuum sealer and realize how much they can reduce your food waste and allow you to buy in bulk, you might want to consider a chamber vacuum sealer. LEM's chamber vac is an old school sealer that weighs almost 100 pounds, so there are other options you may prefer--but the LEM model has a rotary oil pump which will pretty much run forever.

back to TOC

Pros and Cons of Edge Sealers

Pros:

• Less expensive than chamber sealers (though good ones are a few hundred dollars)
• Easier storage
• Come in a wide price range and with a variety of options and settings.

Cons:

• Must use embossed bags, which are more expensive than chamber sealer bags
• Inexpensive ones (under about $200) are throwaway items that may only last a couple of years (depending on use and care)
• Can't seal liquids.

back to TOC

Pros and Cons of Chamber Sealers

Pros:

• Can seal liquids
• Very strong vacuum pull
• Can seal liquids.

Cons:

• Heavy
• Expensive
• Chamber size limits the length of bag you can use.