Sous Vide Circulators


 
DanHoo said:
I don't own a sous-vide container. I just use an 8 quart pot and cover it with stretch wrap. I've even used the stove to pre-heat the pot and water. I guess that's ghetto vide :D




I like the corner mount on that container.


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The only qualm I have about the knock-off is, are lids available separately, in case one cracks over time? Of if I screw it up when making the cut-out? The Rubbermaid lid is sold separately, so replaceable if needed.

And this is what I use for support. Pricey, yes, but works well. I just got tired of screwing with it. Buy once, cry once. I bought a second one for use with the marine cooler that I no longer use.

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Ed P said:
The only qualm I have about the knock-off is, are lids available separately, in case one cracks over time? Of if I screw it up when making the cut-out? The Rubbermaid lid is sold separately, so replaceable if needed.

And this is what I use for support. Pricey, yes, but works well. I just got tired of screwing with it. Buy once, cry once. I bought a second one for use with the marine cooler that I no longer use.

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I like that. Back when I bought mine the Ikea expandable lid holder was one that some recommended.
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If you noticed, slow cookers and insta pots have a sous vide setting, so does some ovens.
I understand that they can hold a certain low temp, but the water circulating thing is missing, or does that matter?
 
Happy with my Anova units. I have one of the older ones with no wifi/bluetooth, and one Nano. I don't use BT on that one at all. They've both been reliable and I've gone as long as 30 hours with them.
 
timothy said:
If you noticed, slow cookers and insta pots have a sous vide setting, so does some ovens.
I understand that they can hold a certain low temp, but the water circulating thing is missing, or does that matter?
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Yes our new range has a sous vide setting on the oven. Sorry but I ain't buyin' it :D I don't have a container. Plan is to use a stock pot or such and some plastic wrap over it
 
Ed P said:
The price is right on the VEVOR. I think you will be happy with it. Assuming you are going to use a container with a flexible plastic lid like the ones shown, if you make an accurate cut in the lid, the lid will help stabilize the device.
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Please don't laugh at me. $69 is a little bit of a tough nut for me on something I don't have experience with :D I was thinking more in line with a similar off brand Chineseum unit on Amazon for $39 I saw. Though yeah I have been quite pleased with Vevor stuff......................IDK lots of decisions. I guess I could simply continue using my stove top but again IDK how important that circulation feature is vs just the convection of hot water moving.
 
I read about Anova effectively ending effective usage when they changed their business practices a few years ago. That's a brand that's on my hard NO list.

Air based sous vide, in an oven? Heat transfer won't be effective enough, IMO. I've done sous vide on a large batch of food a couple of times, and something the size of a slow cooker won't cut it. Once was 8 big ribeye steaks, and another was one and a half full beef tenderloins, both done in big picnic coolers. So, for me, a basic clamp on sous vide works. An adjustable height would be nice, but as long as I can keep the water line within the sous vide heater's limitations, I really don't care just how deep the vessel really is.

I get trying to do this on the cheap, but I wouldn't plan on the economy off shore units lasting more than a time or two. I'd be happy to be proven wrong.
 
I have this one https://www.amazon.com/Anova-Culinary-AN525-US00-Precision-Cooker/dp/B0BQ9F56WV?tag=tvwb-20 on my Christmas list along with a container that has a rack in it.

I looked at some cheap ($40ish) ones and after taking a closer look at them they were only like 7” tall and didn’t have an adjustable depth design.

When Christmas isn’t all that far away we start saving items that we want to purchase to take advantage of Amazon Black Friday deals.

Wifey wants to buy a bamboo 3d printer that’s a bit over $1,000 hopefully we might save a decent chunk on that.
 
AndyK said:
Wifey wants to buy a bamboo 3d printer that’s a bit over $1,000 hopefully we might save a decent chunk on that.
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If she wants a MMU (or AMS, or multi-color printer) she might want to wait for the Snapmaker U1 Tool-changer that set records for raising the largest amount of money in the shortest period of time on KickStarter. It's supposed to launch for about $800 but that might change.
 
LMichaels said:
Please don't laugh at me. $69 is a little bit of a tough nut for me on something I don't have experience with :D I was thinking more in line with a similar off brand Chineseum unit on Amazon for $39 I saw. Though yeah I have been quite pleased with Vevor stuff......................IDK lots of decisions. I guess I could simply continue using my stove top but again IDK how important that circulation feature is vs just the convection of hot water moving.
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I would check your induction range and see what setting yields what temp in water. I think induction heating would do pretty much what you want to do without buying a sous vide controller.
 
Ed P said:
I would check your induction range and see what setting yields what temp in water. I think induction heating would do pretty much what you want to do without buying a sous vide controller.
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Oh I already know it will. Looking at sous vide for more convenience on where I can set the cook up
 
The basics are a temp controller with temp sensor, a heater, and a heat-resistant pump. I would expect less accurate temp control and predict early pump failure with a less expensive unit, but who really knows? It depends on how often you intend to use it. Nothing like planning a big dinner and having the sous vide circulator crap out on you. You might want to do a burn-in while it's still under warranty.
 
I kinda like those sous vide tubs that have racks.
They seem like a smart idea.
I can see me using that often as a defroster tool for lots of things instead of using dinner plates for holding down my vac sealed bags under water.

I was about to pull the trigger on that $39 Amazon Sous Vide cooker.
It didn’t give me that warm fuzzy feeling so I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
 
Ed P said:
That one doesn't appear to be adjustable to the depth of the water bath. The surface of the water bath has to be within the boundaries of the heating element and the water pump. The Anova that we have is adjustable up and down and has a screw type clamp so will fit securely on a variety of containers, even the side of a marine cooler.

EDIT: the price is right, though. It would probably work well with my Cambro OOPS! 12 QT RUBBERMAID container.
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I bought an Anova container on sale, but still kinda pricey, that I use for larger amounts of food. It's convenient to use with the Anova sous-vide.
Most of the time I use a large stock pot and I usually fill it with hot water from the sink to speed things along...
 
AndyK said:
I can see me using that often as a defroster tool for lots of things instead of using dinner plates for holding down my vac sealed bags under water.
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That used to be my biggest use case with my sous vide. I'd buy steaks at Costco and individually seal them. I could come home from work and pull a steak (or a few steaks) out of the freezer and throw them in for an hour to defrost/pre-cook, than sear any way I wanted to finish.
 
I would pay attenton to stats that dictate how much water the unit can work................as well as the power rating.
If you ever plan on doing something crazy like a brisket or even a shoulder this may be important.
I have a Kuraidori for example....The internets want me to believe that it is a 1200W unit and can work safely with 5.3 Gallons / 20 Liters of water.

Mine was purchased for me as a gift......I don't know how good it really is in comparison.
I purchased a rectangle shaped plastic container that holds eveything I can throw at as well as the bag of plastic ping pong ball looking units.
I use these for longer cooks as water will evaporate and this appeasrs to be the best fix.
I have no bluetooth or anything like that.......the sous vide never changes temps and it has never shut off on me.....which in my head is the only reason you would need bluetooth........

I don't use mine much as I find I can use fire for the same or better results.
I have never done anything that requires it to be running while I am at work.

Hope that helps.....it is all I know.....except for the boiled egg tidbit above.......I kind of want to give it a shot although just boiling to a time limit has been proven fairly easy to repeat....with much less work.
 
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JKalchik said:
I read about Anova effectively ending effective usage when they changed their business practices a few years ago. That's a brand that's on my hard NO list.

Air based sous vide, in an oven? Heat transfer won't be effective enough, IMO. I've done sous vide on a large batch of food a couple of times, and something the size of a slow cooker won't cut it. Once was 8 big ribeye steaks, and another was one and a half full beef tenderloins, both done in big picnic coolers. So, for me, a basic clamp on sous vide works. An adjustable height would be nice, but as long as I can keep the water line within the sous vide heater's limitations, I really don't care just how deep the vessel really is.

I get trying to do this on the cheap, but I wouldn't plan on the economy off shore units lasting more than a time or two. I'd be happy to be proven wrong.
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I don't quite understand what "ending effective usage means" If you're referring to the lack of support, they reversed that decision back in January... https://anovaculinary.com/blogs/blo...zU-9WJnHPGg7N3phcyRhqtrINZMpi-wF_PjZLNBpMCXkB
 
Rick P said:
I don't quite understand what "ending effective usage means" If you're referring to the lack of support, they reversed that decision back in January... https://anovaculinary.com/blogs/blo...zU-9WJnHPGg7N3phcyRhqtrINZMpi-wF_PjZLNBpMCXkB
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<shrug> Requiring me to install an app on my phone to control an incredibly simple device like a sous vide heater just plain rubs me wrong. That's not about giving me control over the device, the IT cynic in me is screaming that it's a blatant data mining grab. All I need for this device is on/off, temperature select, and a timer.

And, quite honestly, even if Anova has completely rolled that back (I was unware, thanks,) I'm far more likely to assume that they're going to try it again than not. Oh, wait..... what's been rolled back is dropping support for older devices, i.e. they're still usable through the app. Looking at their website, I do see that their current lineup is locally controllable.... but I'm not paying those prices.

There are some things where I am interested in a remote control capability, and that's my smoker controller. Not uncommon for that to run 20 hours straight, and it's capable of alerting me to other events. Otherwise, the only appliance that is WiFi capable is the refrigerator and that's not connected.
 
So, one reason beyond convenience for me looking into a sous vide unit is for circulation. Is the water circulation from the impeller crucial for the method to work better?
 
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