Joule vs. Polyscience

I am actively looking to buy an immersion circulator, and I have narrowed it down to either the Joule and the Polyscience chef or creative series. They both have their perks but I am not sure which is best. The most important aspects to me are water heating capacity, water pump/flow, durability/longevity, and accuracy. If anyone has any suggestions, information, or personal experience to share about either one, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

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Matthew_Snyder_68770

Some of the beta testers have shared their experiences wrt water heating. Something on the order of 12 minutes from lukewarm tap water to 180°F. That's very fast.

I think accuracy is to 0.1° C.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

The chef is vastly different from the creative. One is commercially rated and was shown as the original inspiration for quality in the Joule. The creative afaik is a license manufactured device that was originally designed for a Swiss company.

From what I've learned from beta testers the Joule heats faster (way faster) than the PS,

it is better looking, has that cool app, is very "smart" and is about like 1/10th of the size and weight.

I have 2 Chef series circulators and joules on order.

fisher23

IMHO as a beta tester there is no comparison. Joule wins in every category. It heats faster, it is extremely accurate. It is very versatile, you can use it in anything from a small pot to a cooler. It stores easily in a drawer. I have only used a PS pro series and would much rather use Joule than the large PS. Additionally, the app puts you in total contol from anywhere in the world via WiFi. It has heated water from 76° to 185° in less than 12 minutes, no other sous vide device comes close to heating water at that rate. I tested the accuracy with a Thermoworks ThermaQ for 185° cook for 24 hours, the accuracy was between .00 to .01°. Water flow is great, the intake is on the bottom where the coolest water is and the exit port is at or just below water level. The heating capacity is great, it can heat 40 quarts in a cooler and cook large quantities. @Todd_Shewman_38102 and @Max_Foster_18996 are also a beta testers and have more experience with a PS than I do, so I hope they will share their experiences.

tshewman

Hi Devin, I have a PS Creative and am a beta tester for Joule. As @John Fisher mentioned I would give the edge for time to temp to Joule. As a pretty heavy user, one of the things I love is how we adjust the temp. With the ps if you want to change the temp to say 90C for veg or to blanch potatoes, you hold down the membrane switch and put your life on hold while it climbs up (it's not that long, but it seems like forever in the real world). With the Joule app, you enter 90C (from anywhere!!!). I did this a couple weeks ago when I was at the grocery store and my kids asked for roasted potatoes. The other biggie (pun intended) is the small foot print of the Joule, I've done whole roasts and whole chickens in both and with the PS and cambro ,if the roast (e.g. 9lb pork shoulder) is bid, it's quite a sqeeze. Joule made this much easier with my existing cambro. And if I waned to use a larger OR smaller vessel, that's much easier as well (I can do an egg in a small metal bowl). Btw-I'm in a hotel on business for 2 weeks and have the Joule with me-can't bring the PS i my carry-on :-)... Feel free to ask more specifics. Hope that helps.

gonehunting06

Thank you so much @John Fisher and @Todd Shewman for the help! Does the Joule work on a pump like the polyscience or turbine/propeller system, and what are the advantages of the system it uses? I have often thought that the PS circulators may be longer lasting or more powerful due to there size, but this seems not to be true. Also, how does the Joule attach to pots and plastic cambros? I believe that the PS has a screw down clamp. Can the Joule be controlled without the app or only on the app? And lastly, how easy is the Joule to clean? Right now it seems like Joule might be the better option for me because the PS is very bulky and overly priced, and I like the features of the Joule. I just have these last few questions before I make my final decision. Thank you again!

fisher23

Joule has a propeller, which pulls water from the bottom which is the coolest and pulls it through the the heater and expels on top. Joule has a clip which works on most pots and cambros, additionally it has a magnetic foot for and induction ready pots. I glued a magnetic stainless steel disk in the bottom on my cambro. Cleaning is very easy, the foot unscrews, just rinse, you can pull the propeller off and wipe out the heating element area. I have hard water so I have put a little vinegar in some water and ran Joule for a few minutes when I saw hard water starting to build up, I've only done this once in two months. But really just a rinse and wipe it down. Hope that helps.

tshewman

See @John_Fisher_218893 for the prop questions. He's also bang on with the cleaning. For the PS you need to take a bunch if screws out to properly clean it as well as running a solution in the cambro for a few hours. Joule has one Clio for now and more coming down the pipe for coolers and such as well as a magnet for smaller vessels PS requires a large container. PS requires the use of membrane switches to change temp (a pain) Joule uses an app, from anywhere any time. At the store and going to cook veg? Enter the 90C and it will be ready by the time you get home. The PS is an excellent unit, however Joule didn't exist then and it has quite frankly raised the bar for sv cooking. IMHO

gabor.szeder

"It has heated water from 76° to 185° in less than 12 minutes"

How much water? A cup? A liter? 10 liters?

Without specifying the amount of water the above statement doesn't say anything.

"the app puts you in total contol from anywhere in the world via WiFi."

How can one access a Joule sitting behind a WiFi router's firewall from anywhere in the world?

fisher23

About 9.4 liters of water in an 11 liter container.

Dan_Ahern_30344

You can access the Joule because it opens a secure connection up to the ChefSteps server which can then receive commands from anywhere and relay them on to the Joule

gabor.szeder

Oh, now that is disappointing.

gabor.szeder

Thanks for these numbers, but are they accurate? They do seem to be a little too unrealistic.

So, you took m=9.4kg of water and heated it up from 24.5°C to 85°C, i.e. the temperature difference is about ΔT=60K. According to physics, water's specific heat capacity is c=4.18kJ/(kg·K), and the heat required to warm up that much water by that many degrees is Q₁=c·m·ΔT=2357kJ. So far so good.

Now, Joule should have delivered more heat than that to account for any heat loss that I simply ignored... But can it?

According to ChefSteps, Joule's heating power is P=1.1kW, and you said it took (less than) t=12min=720s to heat up. So the amount of energy Joule could have delivered in that timeframe is about Q₂=P·t=792kJ.

Uhoh, that's only about a third of the heat required, and that's a quite significant discrepancy.

Am I missing something obvious and just bringing embarrassement upon myself?

gonehunting06

@John Fisher @Todd Shewman Sorry for the delayed response. Does the app work off of Bluetooth or Wi-Fi? I ask this because I was wondering if the Joule needs to be connected to a wireless internet source to work or does it emit its own signal? Thank you!

Alvaro_Perera_322072

Hello there.

I really need an IC for professional use. I was about to get the PS pro but the advantages of size and the app for the joule are pretty cool. However, how much work load can the Joule handle and can it reslly take 40L of water? How high up the actual Joule can the water get to? How many hours can it go without failing?

Thnks