Gourmia GVS415 Review

This vacuum sealer tied with the Nesco VS-02 for the second lowest score out of every single product that we reviewed in this category. The Nesco is a bit more expensive, but is more convenient to use and pulls a stronger vacuum than the Gourmia. However, the Nesco does an absolutely abysmal job with delicate foods — far inferior to the Gourmia.

Performance Comparison

To figure out which vacuum sealer is really the best for you to buy, we bought all the most promising models of these kitchen appliances and tested them out in a variety of tests, scoring them on how easy each product is to clean to how fast they can vacuum seal sausages. We spit these tests into four rating metrics, with the Gourmia's results explained below.

Sealing Performance

The most important of our four testing metrics, the series of tests that make up the sealing performance metric are responsible for close to half — 40% — of the total score for each vacuum sealer. We looked at the thickness and strength of the heat seal, how fast each product can seal different types of foods, if it kept a vacuum when you hit the manual seal button when it's already at a significant vacuum, and the number of times that you can seal in a row. The Gourmia didn't deliver an amazing performance, receiving a 3 out of 10.

This product did get off to a great start, being one of the fastest out of the entire group at sealing each of our four sample types of food — bread, ground beef, rice, and sausages — but that is about all that it did well in this metric. It has one of the thinnest heat seals and can only do about 7 bags in a row before it needs a break. You also can't have this machine seal the bag early and maintain the same pressure — you have to hit “Cancel”, then hit “Seal”, which lets in quite a bit of air.

Convenience

The Gourmia continued its rather lackluster showing into our next metric: convenience. It earned a 5 out of 10 in this metric, which accounts for 30% of the final score. We based this on how easy it is to use this machine, including its interface, ease of cleaning, and if there are any accessory features.

The Gourmia lacks any accessory ports or attachments for sealing containers, but did earn some points by being one of the smaller vacuum sealers that we have tested, making it much easier to store and move around. However, it doesn't have a removable tray to make cleaning it easier and does not have any storage for bags or a convenient way to cut them.

We did like that the lid locks down into position, so you don't have to hold it in place while sealing something and the interface is intuitive, with buttons that are the perfect amount of responsiveness.

Delicate Foods

Comprising one-fifth of the total score for each product, we tried sealing some easily squashed foods in each vacuum sealer to determine scores. The Gourmia did much better in this metric, earning a 7 out of 10.

To seal delicate types of food, you need to pulse the operation of the vacuum pump until you get it right where you want it, then seal the bag. It's quite easy to pulse the operation of the Gourmia by alternating between the “Vac/Seal” and “Cancel” buttons, though it does let a little bit of air back in with each pulse. However, this isn't too much of a problem if you keep the pulses small.

This let us easily seal the two slices of bread, though we did squish them a tiny bit by doing one pulse too many, but this can easily be prevented with a bit more practice and becoming more familiar with how the Gourmia responds.

Suction Power

For our final testing category, we measured the maximum suction power each vacuum sealer could attain. This metric is responsible for the final 10% of the total score and the Gourmia finished out with a slightly below average score, meriting a 4 out of 10.

This product pulled a vacuum that registered at 13 inches of mercury on our gauge — a bit weaker than the group by about 4 inches of mercury.

Value

This product isn't a great value — there are far better products that retail for less.

Conclusion