The instruction card that ships in the box is small, and plenty of you have told us it is hard to read. This page is the readable version. Bookmark it, or come back to it any time.
The whole process takes about a minute once you have done it once.
The short version
Before your first use: charge it
Your sealer charges over USB-C. A full charge takes around 40 minutes, and there is a battery indicator on the display so you can see where it is up to. One charge does a lot of jars, so you are not going to be tethered to a cable.
Step 1. Fill the jar and fit the lid
Fill your jar, but leave about 2cm of space at the top. The sealer needs that headroom to pull air out properly.
Now the part that decides whether this works: wipe the rim clean and dry. A trace of flour, oil or moisture on the glass is the single most common reason a seal fails. Give it a quick pass with a dry cloth.
Sit a metal lid flat on the jar so it sits flush with the rim rather than overhanging the edge. Small lid for regular-mouth jars, large lid for wide-mouth. If you are not sure which you have, we wrote a short guide on wide-mouth versus regular-mouth jars.
Step 2. Seat the sealer
Sit the sealer centred on the lid and press it down until it clonks into place. That clonk is the sound of it seating properly, and it is what you are listening for.
Once it has clonked, you can let go. You do not need to hold it down through the cycle.
Step 3. Run the cycle
Press the button. The sealer runs for around 40 seconds. For the best result, let it run up to a full minute rather than stopping it early.
Step 4. Take the sealer off
Here is where people accidentally undo their own work. Wiggle the sealer gently side to side as you lift it away. Pulling it straight up can lift the lid with it and break the seal you just made.
Check the seal held
Press the centre of the lid with a finger. It should feel solid. If it flexes or pops, the seal has not taken, and you can simply run it again.
If it keeps failing, it is almost always one of three things: a damp rim, a lid slightly too large for the jar, or the sealer not pressed fully down. We go through each of those in why your jar is not sealing.
Opening a sealed jar
Use the lid opener supplied in the box. Slide it under the edge of the lid and lever gently. You will hear the air rush back in, which is a good sign, because it means the seal was holding.
Two things worth knowing
FoodVault is for dry goods, not liquids. Coffee, nuts, grains, flour, pasta, rice, dried fruit, herbs and spices are exactly what it is built for. Do not use it with liquids.
Vacuum sealing is not canning. Pulling the air out of a jar slows down the things that make food go stale and rancid. It is not a heat process and it does not make shelf-stable preserves out of fresh or low-acid food. Anything that needed refrigerating before still needs refrigerating after.
What you need to hand
The Premium Electric Jar Sealer comes with lids and a lid opener. Glass jars are sold separately, and you can use any standard mason jar you already own, or pick up our glass mason jars in 500ml and 750ml. Spare metal sealing lids and chalkboard lids are there when you need them.
If you want the lot in one go, the Everyday Bundle and PRO Bundle pair the sealer with jars, lids and a funnel.
Still stuck? Send us a photo of your jar and lid and we will tell you what is going on.