Hamilton Beach NutriFresh 78213 Review

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 every time 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