I'm a long-time fan of the FoodSaver vacuum pack gizmo. That's saying a lot, since I have a generally cynical view of gizmos and gadgets. Most of the gadgets I've seen tend to be a 'solution in search of a problem' that shows up on late-night TV infomercials. You've seen all the choppers, slicers and dicers. Sheesh! Learn to use a knife properly!
That does not describe the FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer. It's legit.
Actually, I wore out my original FoodSaver and was forced to replace it after about a decade of hard use on the first one. I couldn't believe how much money it saved. Really. I could buy when prices were low, bag and seal in portions that were right for us. Toss into the freezer - or right into the pantry with dry staple items.
FoodSaver has come out with resealable, ziplok bags! I love 'em! It works really neat. I'm using them for items like ground flaxseed (which I use in so many dishes in order to get the beneficial Omega 3 fatty acids) or frozen vegetables.
The clear bag allows me to see just what it is a a glance, and how much I've got left. I'll buy a large bag of frozen vegetables and dump them into one of these clear bags as it cuts down on 'losing' multiple bags of vegetables in the freezer. You know what I'm talking about - you buy two bags of frozen green beans and one sneaks down underneath everything else, so you buy another and the original 'magically' appears. Sigh.
I bought a couple pounds of bulk bin (at my local Winco Foods) ground flaxseed, and dumped them into one of the gallon resealable bags like shown.
It takes seconds to pump the air out of the bag - which makes it far smaller and easily storable.
You can pull these bags out, take what you need, reseal and pump the air out in about 2 minutes. Flat. I keep my FoodSaver under the counter because I use it that much.