After seeing me on the Today Show, the friendly folks at Reynolds sent me a Handi-Vac vacuum sealer to test. Never one to shun freebies, especially those that might prevent food waste, I set out to do some experimenting.
This weekend, I began testing a Handi-Vac against a Ziploc bag. I stored green beans in a vacuum-sealed Handi-Vac bag and a regular old sealable one (as the control). 
I chose to use green beans as the research subject, partly because I had some lying around and partly because I’d hate to waste a nice cut of meat or fish–even in the name of future waste avoidance.
My working hypothesis, as Mr. Smith taught me to make in 7th grade, is that the vacuum sealing will delay decay.
While I won’t be sure how it works until then, here’s a quick comparison to the Frisper Freshkeeper, another vacuum sealer that I was sent:
–The Handi-Vac is much cheaper. It’s $10, compared with $80 for the Frisper.
–The Handi-Vac is smaller, but less powerful. As a result, it takes a bit longer to seal items.
–Unlike Frisper Freshkeeper bags, the Handi-Vac ones are not reusable. Frisper bags can be reused up to 20 times and gallon bags sell for about $1 each. Then again, Handi-Vac gallon bags sell for about a third of the price.
Stay tuned for the results, in about 10 days. While you’re waiting, here’s a little Handi-Vac game to kill some time.
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