Finishing at the very back of the entire group, the Hamilton Beach NutriFresh is far from our favorite when it comes to vacuum sealers. This product couples a decently high price tag with plenty of mediocre to poor performances in most of our tests, making it easy to not recommend. There are tons of other products that are vastly better and cost significantly less that you would be much better served by.
Hamilton Beach NutriFresh 78213 Review
Pros: Decent suction strength
Cons: Horrible with delicate foods, not the easiest to use
Manufacturer: Hamilton Beach
Our Verdict
Compare to Similar Products
![]() This Product
Hamilton Beach NutriFresh 78213 | |||||
Awards | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ||
Price | $90 List $86.99 at Amazon | $100 List | $60 List $53.27 at Amazon | $65 List | $52 List |
Star Rating | |||||
Pros | Decent suction strength | Great with delicate foods, fantastic sealing performance, easy to clean | Fantastic at delicate foods, great value | Good with delicate foods, fairly good value | Cheap |
Cons | Horrible with delicate foods, not the easiest to use | Doesn’t have the strongest vacuum, no built-in bag storage | Can’t seal a ton of bags successively, bit on the slower side | Not the most convenient, average sealing performance | Subpar sealing performance |
Bottom Line | Earning the lowest score we have seen so far, the Hamilton Beach NutriFresh is more of a NutriFlop in our opinion | If you are looking for the best when it comes to vacuum food storage, the V2244 is your best bet | If you are looking for an excellent vacuum sealer without breaking the bank, this should be your first choice | This kitchen appliance did fairly well in our tests, but not quite well enough to win an award | While the Geryon is quite inexpensive, its overall performance is quite mediocre at best |
Overall Score ![]() |
|||||
Rating Categories | NutriFresh 78213 | FoodSaver V2244 | NutriChef PKVS18BK | KOIOS VS2233 | Geryon E2900-MS |
Sealing Performance (40%) | |||||
Convenience (30%) | |||||
Delicate Foods (20%) | |||||
Suction Power (10%) | |||||
Specs | NutriFresh 78213 | FoodSaver V2244 | NutriChef PKVS18BK | KOIOS VS2233 | Geryon E2900-MS |
Measured vacuum strength | 16.5 -inHg | 15.1 -inHg | 18 -inHg | 17 -inHg | 16.5 -inHg |
Measured weight | 3.7 lbs | 3.4 lbs | 2.9 lbs | 2.8 lbs | 2.2 lbs |
Included air suction hose | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Removable tray | No | Yes | No | No | No |
Built-in roll storage | No | No | No | No | No |
Built-in bag cutter | No | No | No | No | No |
Measured seal thickness | 2 mm | 2.5 mm | 2.5 mm | 2 mm | 2 mm |
Measured average seal time | 12 seconds | 12 seconds | 7 seconds | 13 seconds | 6 seconds |
Our Analysis and Test Results
This vacuum sealer finished at the back of the entire group, right behind the Nesco VS-02 and the Gourmia. The Gourmia is quite a bit cheaper, is much better with delicate food items, and is a bit more convenient to operate, though it doesn't pull quite as strong of a vacuum as the Hamilton Beach. The Hamilton Beach and the Nesco are both priced quite comparably and both do equally poorly with delicate foods, but the Nesco is a bit easier to use and pulls even more air out of the bag compared to the NutriFresh.
Performance Comparison
To begin our process of picking out the best vacuum sealer that you can buy, we compared and researched dozens and dozens of different models, then decided which ones had the best shot at winning an award and bought them all. We then tested them out side-by-side until we had some clear winners, which the NutriFresh was not, but its results and the reasons why are elaborated upon below.
Sealing Performance
Initially, we looked at how fast each product can seal various types of food, the strength — judged by the thickness — of the heat seal, the number of bags that can be sealed one after, and if the machine maintains constant pressure when you hit the "Seal" key. The NutriFresh gave an overall average performance, meriting a 5 out of 10 in this rating category, which accounts for 40% of the overall score.
The NutriFresh is actually decently fast, doing average or faster in each of our four speed tests — bread, rice, ground beef, and sausages. The NutriFresh sealed the bread and the rice in an average amount of time and finished faster than average at vacuum sealing the ground beef and sausages.
However, it does have a heat seal that is a little on the thin side for our liking and can't seal a ton of bags in a row before it needs a break.
It also lets in a small amount of air if you go to seal it before it finished its automatic cycle.
Convenience
Following the sealing performance series of tests, we moved on to ranking and scoring the NutriFresh on how much of a pain it is to operate. This metric accounts for 30% of the final score for each vacuum sealer, with the NutriFresh giving a lackluster set of results that earned it a 4 out of 10.
This vacuum sealer does not offer any place to store extra vacuum bags or have a cutter, but it is relatively compact and lightweight. We also liked the easy to use push button interface, but weren't fans of the fact that you have to press and hold the lid in place while sealing something, unlike almost every other product that locks into place.
There are no included accessory attachments, but there is a port if you want to purchase something separately. We also were a bit disappointed that this product lacks a cleaning tray that can be taken out for easier cleanup if accidentally suck in any liquids.
Delicate Foods
The NutriFresh continued its downward trend in performance into our delicate foods metric, earning a 2 out of 10 for its poor showing. This metric assessed how easily you could regulate the amount of vacuum by pulsing and how well each machine handled sealing foods that would be crushed under full power, accounting for 20% of the final score for each product.
This product is a bit of a pain to pulse, as you have to wait a while and it lets in a ton of air with each pulse, meaning that there was so much air in the bag everytime we tried to seal the bread without crushing it that it was effectively the same as using a zip top bag.
Suction Power
The Hamilton Beach NutriFresh did finish out our review with a decently solid showing in our last test, suction power. This accounts for the remaining portion of the overall score and is based on the strength of the vacuum pulled by each machine, as measured by a vacuum gauge that we equipped a standard quilted bag with. The NutriFresh earned a 6 out of 10 for pulling a vacuum that measured 16.5 in. Hg.
Value
This product is pricey and scored poorly, making it a terrible value option.
Conclusion
There are so many other better and cheaper vacuum sealers available today, it's hard to see why it would be worth it to consider buying the NutriFresh.
— David Wise and Austin Palmer