Go to the Article: Tools for Cooking Sous Vide
Been very satisfied with my Anova. Haven't done the Polycarbonite Box route yet, but attaches to my 14Q stock-pot without issue. For sure suggest using plastic wrap over the top of a pot and then aluminum foil. Evaporation is your enemy because of: 1. disrupt of proper flow and 2. variation of temperature. Going to create an insulated jacket, for the pot, with mylar covered bubble wrap so the cooking is more energy efficient.
insulated ball-blanket or lid for polycarbonate box? whats better?
I have two Auber controllers ($150-$180 complete or about $50 for a kit) and 2 mechanical rice cookers about $25 with teflon coated bowls. Be sure to get the higher temp thermocuple. One I use for low temps (protein 104-160 and the other for high temp up to 190. That way I can do protein and veggies at the same time.
We prefer the lid as they tend to insulate a little better and are easier to deal with.
I have an Anova Immersion circulator (love it btw) and have used a 10ltr homebrew fermenting bucket (with lid) Plus some bubble wrap. Seems to keep the water up to temp pretty well without much evaporation at all
I have an Anova Immersion circulator as well (love it btw) and have used a 10ltr homebrew fermenting bucket (with lid) plus some bubble wrap. Seems to keep the water up to temp pretty well without much evaporation at all
Sansair just sent an email to me. Their unit is on sale for $159!
I am from Québec, my English is not very good but my poutine is fantastique. Thanks to your sous vide method for French fries. In the last two years I bought one S/V Supreme,
a PolyScience Pro and one Anova. The PolyScience started to make noise 6 months ago but still work accurately, never took the time to send it back, so I put it in the basement for the long cooking time. The other two work perfectly. The Supreme is on everyday for cooking or reheating. Next week it’s a student party, the 3 machines will be on for one big shoulder pork to shred, 30 burgers and 2 kl of shish taouk chicken. With less than 1 hour of working time, everything will be cooked when ready to eat. Would never do that on a conventional stove.
Thank you, your site is très esthétique, professional and efficient.
I bit the bullet last year and bought my first unit, a PolyScience Sous Vide Professional CREATIVE Series Thermal Immersion Circulator. (Bought it on Amazon for $399.) I love it. AS the article above says, you are not limited to the sized container. I bout an eight rib standing roast for last Christmas.It was much too big for my polycarbonate box, so I filled my large cooler and cooked the roast in the cooler. Browned it with a torch and everyone was totally amazed. This past year, I bought a Sous Vide Supreme. It was on sale ($199) and I wanted another unit for when I want to do two things at once at different temperatures. Thanksgiving was the first time to do that. I had them both running side by side. The advantage of the Sous Vide Supreme, you can run it continually for more than 24 hours at a time without worry. The PolyScience wil only run for 24 hours and then you have to reset it. Not a big issue, but an issue. Other than that, my choice is the Poly Science. It maintains the water temperature within one tenth of a degree. That's remarkable. The Sous Vide Supreme never did come up to temperature, maintaining the temperature two or four tenths of a degree below the desired temperature. Trying to make an adjustment, I found it only can be set for full degree temperatures. The PolyScience can be set by tenths of a degree. I called Sous Vide Supreme yesterday to ask them about it. Their customer service told me that's just the way the unit works. It's always just under the set temperature.That wasn't a good enough answer for me. when I want to cook sous vide, I'll use my PolyScience. If I need two units (probably next month when I cater my wife's eight course dinner party) I'll have to decide which application will not require as specific a temperature setting for the Sous Vide Supreme.
Thank you very much! That sounds like a party, pictures or it didn't happen!
The circulator has become one of my most indispensable kitchen items, however, I have gone through two of them! My first was a Polyscience Creative series. It was wonderful, but only lasted for just over a year before it no longer functioned. It made a grinding noise and then one day, stopped working.
Today, I shipped my Anova One back to Anova for a replacement due to power issues, where it cycles between powering off and powering on making it unusable.
Anova was good about e-mailing me a pre-paid label and agreeing to send me a new one, although it took quite a bit of time from issue notification to actually getting the authorization to send it back (>2 weeks).
My son invited is classmate to celebrate the end of their first trimester on Dec 12.
I forgot to mention the 3kl of chicken wings inspired by your recipe but adapted
for S/V. After everything is cooked, I’ll disappear.
Students + lots of food + fermented beverages – (parents) is an equation for a successful party…(or a total demolition)
Thanks again
Hi Lowell! Thank you for this comparison. In terms of the final result, how big difference does 2/10 or 4/10 of a degree makes? Thank you!
Hi! Thank you for this great project! I have a few questions.
1. Since I have the electric six level stove, how suitable it is for sous vide cooking (stove top method)
2. Can I use the oven for SV? I have one which is very reliable and has a fan option.
3. Does the opening of the lid on the Supreme during the cooking has any effects?
4. We attend to introduce SV in our restaurant. There is no licensed repair service nearby. Can I rely on regular electric appliances service if needed?
Some of this I asked already on different pages, sorry.
The best "lid" I have found is simply bubble wrap. Cut some the size you need, I use three layers and just put it right on top of the water. Insulates, reduces evaporation and a good way to recycle old packing material. For long cooks I even wrap some bubble wrap around the container.
Anova sous vide works very well, i have made so many meals and used it for specials at work. $199 and it was worth every penny.
I finally tried the stove top method and made the recipe for the strip steak on herbed smashed potatoes with red wine sauce. The instructions were clear, concise, and easy to follow and the entire dish turned out beautifully -totally exceeded my expectations. I used all basic ingredients from Trader Joe's and my husband said it is one of the best meals he has ever had. I felt like a hero AND a magician. Thanks, y'all! Totally hooked now. I need some new equipment! Keep up the great work.
This is awesome, Kristen, thanks!!!
Awesome idea.
I've had a Sansaire for a little over a year and love it. I use it with a polycarbonate container with lid, and a regular stock pot for smaller jobs. Best of all, it's both precise and sexy. Chef Steps, thanks for turning me onto this great way of cooking. Thanks for the inspiration and the education!
I suppose not much, but when you are trying for a specific temperature, I'd rather be more accurate. After all, one degree can make a difference, which is why you set it for the degree you desire. Just a couple 10th of a degree can certainly change the desired doneness. 4 10th of a degree is almost 1/2 a degree. I stiil prefer the Ply Science. Granted, you do have to compensate for evaporation, since it doesn't have a lid, but I find that plastic wrap stretched over the top keep the moisture in check. To prevent temperature loss for long periods, you can use bubble wrap or a towel, but I don't really worry about that much. For Independence day, I brined 3 racks of ribs for 24 hours, then dry rubbed them for 8 hours, then cooked them for 48 hours. Afterwards I put them on the grill to brown and coat with sauce. They were absolutely amazing. All done in the Poly Science (and my large cooler). They would never have fit in the Sous Vide Supreme.
I see in the equipment section it says with the immersion circulators you can "pick your bath size". Does this make a difference with which type of circulator you have. I realized that when I went to the PolyScience website to purchase one in their description it says works on baths of up to 8 gallons in size. I'm interested in cooking for large groups, possibly 200 steaks in one bath. Is this possible? If so which circulator would you suggest?
Also if I were to be holding say inch and half size sirloin at a rare temp and all the sudden needed it to be medwell or welldone. Approximately how long would it take if I were to drop it in a water bath that was already heated to that temp?
I just took delivery of an ANOVA unit. Not too much time on it yet but the build quality seems great. Manual is a little sparse and I haven't got the bluetooth function to work yet. More to follow as I get some miles on it.
don't try to connect like you would with headphones or other objects you have to scan and pair with... simply open up the anova app and it will pair for you. there is no code 1234 or 0000 just open the app
One tip I might add to the discussion: I have found by laying a folded bath towel over the lid of my Sous Vide Supreme greatly reduces temperature cycling. The lid is the only non-insulated surface (except for the 1/4 mat) and this seems to slow down cycling considerably. I would imagine that is also significantly extends the life of the appliance.
I'm not sure why there is a discussion of alternatives to proper equipment. For Sous Vide to work you need dead on temp control with no vacillation. If your cooking a steak at a desired 120 but your water bath is cycling from 118 to 123 you are cooking at 123. By definition Sous Vide is a very precise method. I've used the "cooking units" by Anova and all but they really don't do the job. If you buy a controller ( which is really just a remote bulb thermostat ) you'll run into a reaction time problem ( temp must go over to trigger a cool down ) unless you are using an expensive unit run by a software driven algorithm. Why do that? The most accurate and convenient method is a Lab Circulator and you can get them on internet auction sites for way less than home SV units or remote bulbs. Most of them will bring 5 gallons up to temp in a short time and hold it dead on for as long as you like. I've used gravity ovens and hybridization ovens ( dry sous vide ) as well. All cheap as used lab stuff in auction sites..
Anyone have any recommendations on a best-size cambro for everyday use with Joule? Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Hello! Can you tell me which auction sites?
Hey Chefsteps
can i sous vide 95% alcohol and herbs or citrus zest in a mason jar, and what temperature and length of time would u recommend to maximize results ??
eBay, MedWOW and DotMED are a few. Lab circulators are very precise but so are modern culinary SV's. I've time temped Joule and Polyscience units and they're dead on.
No cambro at all. They offer poor insulation and increase heat time on the SV coil or film. I had a Joule burn out in less than a year by using less than optimal insulation. I used a small cooler after that until I built a full bells and whistles tank.
Good SV's, at least the ones of the last decade, don't cycle. They use a PID control that learns its way to the proper temp. Instead of a couple of thermostats that up and down to average the desired temp ( old school ) the PID successively approximates to it and then maintains it via an algorithm that predicts what's needed.
If it's floating on the water the steam will be forced out around the edges and be lost as there's no place for it to condense and return to the vat. Bubble wrap would work better if it was floated on a few Styrofoam pylons above the water. Steam would emanate from the water surface, climb the gap to the bubble wrap then cool as it struck it. Return to water and then fall back into the cambro or whatever you use.
When I built my tank I made a lid that holds room temp water in it. It's about 1.5 inches above the air water interface. It functions like a water cooler and sends the steam back to where it came from.
Do you not list the Anova because of your Joule sponsorship?
