Knife-Fork-Spoon

Taps for a Vac–and a Handi One at That

I am the queen of kitchen gadgets, although space and finances limitations have forced me to curtail my collection of said items. Yet, when I found the Reynolds Handi-Vac in a local supermarket, I couldn’t resist adding it to my collection.

Ours was a beautiful relationship from the time we met. Oh, this wasn’t my first food sealer, as I have one of the first home versions of the Food Saver. But while it was almost too large to keep on my limited counter space and bags could be purchased only online or locally at Walmart (which limited its use), I could pick up the Reynolds bags at almost any grocery store in the area. The Handi-Vac could fit easily in a kitchen drawer, but I preferred to keep mine in easy reach on top of the refrigerator. You might wonder if a $10 Handi-Vac works as well as my more than $100 Food Saver. I found it did, so I was a happy camper.

Fast forward.

For the past few months, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to find the bags for my Handi-Vac. There were plenty of the starter sets on the store shelves, but no bags in sight. Since my usual market had been purchased by another chain and its selection had suffered greatly since, I assumed that was why I couldn’t find the bags. But then I went to another store, and there it was: a sign on the shelf by the starter set. Imagine my shock and heartbreak when I read that dreaded word, “Discontinued.”

I couldn’t believe it. How could something so integral to my cooking life be discontinued? Is there no justice in the world? Is this a joke? As soon as I got home, I rushed to the computer and called up the Reynolds site. It was there that I learned my culinary life would no longer be the same. Why? It was true. Reynolds had decided to discontinue my beloved Handi-Vac. And who was responsible for this? The U.S. consumer. According to the notice on its website, the Handi-Vac didn’t catch on with the consumer.

That is a tragedy, an outright tragedy. Did consumers automatically assume that such an inexpensive product couldn’t work as advertised–or as well as the Food Saver and other similar products? Were consumers taken in by can-crushing demonstrations of the Food Saver? How sad, how very sad that consumers will not have the opportunity to get to know such a wonderful product as the Handi-Vac.

Now, don’t get me wrong. The Handi-Vac wasn’t perfect. Well, the bags weren’t. First, I could only find them in the quart size. I would have loved a bigger size. And though they were advertised as reuseable, I seldom used ones in which I stored meat more than once. It could be difficult to get the liquid from the meat (OK, the blood) out of the waffled section at the top of the bag. Still, it was a product that I used almost daily. Oh, and the vaccuum is extremely durable. Mine has survived several drops to the floor.

I saw where Food Saver is now offering a handheld version. And for now, at least, Handi-Vac bags are available on eBay. Still, it’s not the same. For me, losing the Handi-Vac is like losing a sous chef.