I tested out a mattress in a box recently, which needed to be vacuum sealed to fit into a box, and even more recently, I’ve dabbled in the world of food vacuum sealers. Here I was thinking vacuum sealers were reserved for wardrobe storage. Little did I know!
I was sent the Russell Hobbs RHVS1 Seal Fresh Vacuum Sealer to try out and I’m not lying when I say, I was amazed by the entire process. After using it once, it took serious restraint to not vacuum seal everything in the kitchen – all for the experience of watching it alone.
Please, brace yourself for this food vacuum sealer review, which just may open you up to a whole new world.
So, how does it work?
![](https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2021/07/28/vaccuum-sealer-box-300x202.jpg)
This particular product seals whatever you put inside the sealer bag by removing all air. This process makes it harder for bacteria to thrive and gives your food longer shelf life, especially compared to Tupperware or wrapping in Glad Wrap.
The Russel Hobbs Vacuum Sealer included two 28cm x 3m rolls, five 5 x 20cm bags and give 5x28cm bags – meaning I was ready to go as soon as I received the product.
Now, plug it into a powerpoint. From there, you put your food into the vacuum bag, open up the device by clicking on the two buttons to the side, and place the bag where you want it to seal across the sealing strip.
Don’t stress, it comes with an instruction manual and there’s also this handy thing called YouTube (which I absolutely resorted to).
You then push the lid back down, especially to the sides, until you hear a clicking sound that lets you know everything’s locked in.
![](https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2021/07/28/sealfresh1-300x225.jpg)
After that, choose your food type: moist (items with moisture for an extended heat sealing time) or dry (items without moisture for a shorter heat sealing time). You can also choose between ‘normal’ or ‘turbo’ vacuum pressure, but to this date, I’ve only used ‘normal’.
Now, you vacuum seal!
The cool thing here is that you can seal without vacuuming, like if you want to eat it fairly soon but have run out of sandwich bags or something. This is done using the ‘Seal’ button
I did this accidentally once when trying to vacuum seal, but it wasn’t a waste – I just cut the seal open and reused the bag to vacuum seal, as there was enough bag space to still do so.
If you want to vacuum seal, you choose the ‘Vacuum + Seal / Cancel’ button. I don’t think I have to explain what this does. The experience, as I’ve already banged on about, is brilliant.
![](https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2021/07/28/Pizzasealing-300x169.jpg)
What’s good about it?
For me, it’s made food prep fun. I regularly post my food vacuum sealing escapades to Instagram Stories, simply because of how fun it is to watch.
It’s also super quick – around 10 seconds to get all the air out for pizza and meat patties, for example.
Obviously, it’s great to preserve your fresh food for longer but for me, the real takeaway has been storage. I’m someone who takes up most of the fridge with bulky containers or meal delivery services. With the food vacuum sealer, I can fit so much more in my fridge and freezer.
Speaking of storage, it’s been an easy device to tuck away after use. It also has a neat little compartment for you to tuck the plug away into, which, for a product that promotes storage solutions, is very on-brand. The design is also super sleek, so even if you do leave it out, at least it looks good.
Russell Hobbs RHVS1 Seal Fresh Vacuum Sealer price and warranty
The vacuum sealer has an RRP of $149.99 but is currently available from Amazon for $81.28 at the time of writing. It also comes with a two-year warranty.
If you love home cooking, want to better preserve your leftovers or just appreciate fitting everything into the fridge, hopefully, this food vacuum sealer review has opened you up to the possibilities.
Buy the Russell Hobbs RHVS1 Seal Fresh Vacuum Sealer ($81.28) from Amazon here.
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