Go to the Article: What Containers Should You Use to Cook Sous Vide?
I mainly use cambro containers I got cheap from a restaurant that was going out of business. I got a few different lids and drilled a hole with a hole saw to fit my anova. I can close the lid and get a good seal and eliminate the need to cover it up with plastic wrap.
If it's waterproof, will hold up at the temperature you using and will fit in your vessel you can use it. You modify those guidelines based on what you're cooking. I don't bother with sealed bags for most applications. I use a thin "blown" plastic bag with no side seems. Tie the bottom in a tight knot and you have a seamless bag thin enough to collapse tightly around the food when its submerged. Plus that allows probe access to determine when its come to equilibrium.
You can float a weighted pot / pan in the tank and get uber temp control for eggs or other sensitive stuff. You can even make a water heated oven ( I'll not go into details on that until I get the YouTube up ) for precise dry heat.
What's the clamp attached to the photo with the cooler?
I asked them the same question at their pop-up shop in November when I saw a Joule clipped to a cooler in their kitchen using this exact clip. They told me it is actually an accessory for Joule that they plan to sell sometime early this year.
What is the blue material that is being laid over the cooler? I want to use a cooler to do sous vide but don't want to go through the trouble of drilling a hole through the top of my cooler.
I recently got a Lipavi C20 with a matching lid that has a cutout for Joule. I wanted a lid because of look cooks (like corned beef). It's great and was particularly helpful when I made turkey for Thanksgiving and a dozen jars of créme brûleé. NOTE: Amazon lists the C20L-NO lid as being correct for Joule. It is not. You want the C20L-JOL.
Also, because the C20 is a standard size, I was able to pick up a plastic rack at my local Dick's Restaurant Supply to go on the bottom to increase water circulation on the bottom. The rack is intended for vegetables, so it has plenty of holes and works nicely. I can't get a similar tray for my small (8 liter) container, so I'm using the big container for long cooks even when I don't need the volume.
Here's an issue I've long wondered about, but doesn't seem to be addressed here: what you want for cooking on a stove - which is the pots we got - is almost exactly the opposite of what you want for sous vide. For the stove, where the heat source is external, you want a container that has minimal thermal resistance - aluminum or copper - so you can get the heat to the contents efficiently. For sous vide with a circulator like Joule, where the heat source is inside the container, you want maximal thermal resistance, so you don't waste energy uselessly heating the surrounding environment. A cheap cooler is a good choice for the latter, but they don't tend to be sized right for a typical cook. A big metal pot tends to be sized better, but is designed for thermal conductivity that defeats our goal of not dumping energy uselessly into the room. I've been expecting to see sous vide-ready, purpose-built containers showing up in the market, but so far in vain. Eh?
For small items I use a lunch cooler there about 6x10 and 10 inches deep , and to cover I use ping pong balls , you can get them at the dollar store , 6 for a dollar and if you look around they come in different sizes so they fit differently sized coolers and there easy to clean . I've tried those cheap styrofoam coolers but when there full of water they bulge out a lot , so I put it in the laundry tub just in case it breaks , makes it easy to drain the water when I'm done ,I don't think you could pick it up with out breaking.
Because it's deeper than the enameled cast iron Dutch ovens, our pasta pot (without the strainer/colander insert) has become our go-to sous-vide pot. Some larger chunky pieces of meat go in the 22 quart canning kettle. Others (ribs) go in the old enameled rectangular roaster that can take a 24 or 25 pound turkey.
If you have them and need still bigger, a 30 qt. turkey frying kettle or a 30 to 40 qt. beer cooking kettle would work, tho these both are gonna have heat dissipating issues, like ALL the metal containers.
I wish some people would post some pictures of how they are mounting their Joule in plastic coolers, especially the really thick ones like the Yeti, Pelican, and other premium coolers. If I ever post a review or critique of the Joule, I would only give it at best a 4 out of 5 rating just because of the extraordinarily small capacity mounting clip!
I love my Joule. I have that and an 18qt. Polycarbonate bucket. It works great. My favorite thing to do in it is of course center cut filet mignon - just souse vide at about 140F and then sear it, and of course I season before it goes into the bath. It's AWESOME.
The most efficient kitchen implements are those that can be used in multiple ways. If your kitchen is like mine, you don't have enough space. Buying some sort of "energy efficient" sous-vide container to save a minimal amount of wasted energy but that can't be used for any other purpose isn't actually very efficient. Just use what you have!
DO NOT place your Joule on the countertop under cabinets. The steam rising (especially in a long cook) with warp your upper cabinets and ruin them.
I was extremely excited when I saw sous vide bacon..... but that said, a typical pack of bacon (oscar Myer) or thin cut bacon, the package opens very quickly..... I love you ChefSteps, but please more testing for home cooks and details for little nuiances. I was so disappointed when I saw cloudy water
The Joule Big Clamp is now available. I just received mine in the mail!
Best container for the joule with a lid?
I don't have a Joule yet (but I'm planning to add one to my arsenal), but I use a 12qt Rubbermaid Commercial container. There are lids available on Amazon to fit that particular container, which have a cutout for Joule and Anova circulators.
What bags is it possible to source in the UK that would take a 6kg+ Suckling Pig?
Does the Joule beep regularly to announce it is working like some other brands of immersion circulators? I can’t have constant beeping. Talk to me, please!
No beeping.
