Notching A Cambro

So I picked up two Cambro polycarb food boxes to use for sous vide cooking along with matching lids. What type of saw would be best for notching out the lids to allow them to be positioned while the circulators are clamped in place? I know PolyScience sells pre-notched Cambro lids that conform to the shape of each of their circulators. But the Anova One is just a round tube.

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lachlan_14664

Fine toothed hacksaw or jigsaw. Or if your daring, heat a butter knife up super hot with a blowtorch or over a stove and it will cut/melt the plastic pretty easily. I have done the latter and it works but is pretty tricky to get good clean results. In the case of the cambro lid the difference in heights and shape of the cut make for a difficult situation . I hope you find a solution.

HammeredChef_DEFINITELY_does_NOT_work_at_22134

I used a Dremel Tool...DON"T do it. I ends up working like a hot butter knife and melting its way through. Next time i will use a jig saw, clamp the top to a thin piece of plywood and cut through both to help eliminate vibration which could crack the top.

Rich_McDonough_67546

I used a fine toothed hacksaw to start with but it was more hack than saw... It turns out there is a reason they can charge big bucks for the nicely cut lids ;-) I ended up finishing it off by cutting straight lines with the saw and then nibbling out the rounded bits with a pair of needle nosed pliers. An electric jigsaw might be the way to go but I didn't have access to one at the time. The pliers were time consuming but effective. It'so not wildly pretty but I thought I might clean it up by lining th edge with Sugru which is this cool moldable silicone product which then cures completely within a day and then is like regular silicone i.e. Heat proof, waterproof etc.

tarrosion

Are we sure this is safe? In the oft-referenced "are plastics used for sous vide safe?" answer, it's noted that polycarbonate often has BPA (and probably BPS if not, which may also be troubling, recent research seems inconclusive) and that scratches can increase the rate of leaching. Surely then cutting really speeds leaching, right?

Are we confident enough that the lids aren't touching any food or liquid?

Matthew_Snyder_68770

I've seen some studies that indicate you would need to eat 600 kgs of food every day for an entire lifetime to exceed the maximum safe level of BPA set by the EPA at the base level that BPA leeches out of polycarb.

Also, most of the newer polycarb food grade containers are now largely BPA-free, thanks to the hubub the topic has received. (See this post by Chris Young on the old CS forum) In any event, the lids would never be closer than about 3" from the water bath.

merridith

You might consider etching it first with a soldering iron. Then, if it is deep enough, you would be able to use a pliers or other kind of clipper to clip off the plastic. This is what my husband does when ever he needs to modify something that is plastic. (The use of the soldering iron is kind of like cauterizing something…)

Matthew_Snyder_68770

Hmm, I hadn't considered that possibility. That might be a good way to go.

DiggingDogFarm_65362

In light of Merridith's suggestion...I wonder how well this would work.....

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Hot-Knife-using-a-soldering-iron/

Matthew_Snyder_68770

Okay, sorry to bring this back to the top, but I just had a crazy idea. What if instead of cutting my brand new lids to fit around the Anova I simply purchased the pre-cut ones on offer from PolyScience? If I do that, which one should I get? Would the Creative be large enough? Will it leave too much of a gap and allow evaporation/cooling? Am I over-thinking this?

Ben_Johnson_34605

We have several of the pre-cut lids for poly-science pro. They work great with anova and sansair. There is still some wiggle room but it's better than no lid.

Matthew_Snyder_68770

Are the still available for sale? I only see the circulators and water ovens in the SV collection. If they are, put me down for two. If not, well.... then.... don't.

ashecorvin

I did the same thing. Ended up lowering the speed a little and it stopped melting the plastic. Not the cleanest cut, but it the result is just fine. I think the pre-cut ones are way too expensive, personally.

kozolchyk

I used a "Nilbbler tool" to notch mine, it did a great job. You can pick one up super cheap at Harbor Freight or buy online.