Ten+ years in fine dining cooking . I've vac pacced more than I can remember - for sous viding , marinating , portioning , curing , imbuing , and storage. I also maintained the machine ; you'll want back up parts like replacement seals , oil filters and the oil itself , there is also replacement conductive tape that comes in a roll that you cover the sealing elements in . Keeping the bed clean and dry is vital to longevity . Edit : buy your bags in bulk if you stand by your investment .

The Foodsaver VS3120 is great.

Mine has a port to connect a hose presumably for the containers you speak of. I've never used that function. I don't really use mine that much. Last thing I vacuum sealed was a spare key/FOB for my truck in order to water proof it as a hide-a-key.

Picked up the FoodSaver brand new for $20 from some Mexican at a flea market AKA little Mexico.

Be really fucking cheap and just submerge the ziplock bag in a bucket of water.

Yes. I got a $50 one from Bezos' shop. Whenever there's a deal at the market for meat, I make sure to splurge. I bring home the meat, then repackage it using my vacuum sealer. After that's done, I stuff my Chest Freezer with the meat and organize it. Now I have a Chest Freezer with about half a cow's worth of meat in it that will last me very very long time (can definitely last a few years in a vacuum sealer in a cold ass freezer). I just bought the Chest Freezer too because in Sept/Oct, inflation is really gonna kick in and meat is gonna go through the roof, unlike anything you've ever seen before. So start stocking up on a vacuum sealer, a Chest Freezer, and buy meat when it's on sale to stock up.

I bought the original pump-n-seal because I saw the infomercial a long time ago. I bought it about 6 years ago and it looks like it is straight out of the 90s. Old yellowy plastic and all. It worked pretty good for what I was using it for. You have to call to order. None of this new fangled online ordering. The lady that picks up the phone is nice.

https://pump-n-seal.com/

Its not for long term storage, for making shit last longer in the freezer sure.