Question for the Sous Vide Gurus

double · December 2012

What are the thoughts on this item. I like the fact it circulates the water.

http://www.amazon.com/ICA-Kitchen-LLC-Immersion-Circulator/dp/B006X4GNAI/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

nolaegghead · December 2012

Looks pretty nice for the price. Few of the reviewers got lemons, but the customer service is good. It's a hell of a lot less than I paid for my PolyScience unit. I wonder how many watts of heat it puts out.... anyway, says it good for up to 10 liters, probably get away with heating more water for lower temp cooks if you have a cooler.

Little trick - put bubble wrap on the surface - less heat loss. You can also get little plastic floating balls.

double · December 2012

They say its a 300watt element heats 10 qrts up to 185 degrees. Thanks Nola I knew you would be the first response!

dlk7 · December 2012

Must have a pretty small pump for 2.5 gallons. Still cheaper than the Sous Vide Supreme which has a 3 gallon capacity at $429. The great thing about the immersion circulators is that you can choose the size/shape of the container you want to use. Hard to get a whole brisket or something big in the Sous Vide Supreme without cutting it into a few smaller pieces. Let us know how it works if you get it.

dlk7 · December 2012

The Sous Vide Supreme is 800 watts and goes to 210 F.

fishlessman · December 2012

nolaegghead said:

Looks pretty nice for the price. Few of the reviewers got lemons, but the customer service is good. It's a hell of a lot less than I paid for my PolyScience unit. I wonder how many watts of heat it puts out.... anyway, says it good for up to 10 liters, probably get away with heating more water for lower temp cooks if you have a cooler.

Little trick - put bubble wrap on the surface - less heat loss. You can also get little plastic floating balls.

why do you have me thinking i can do this with a cooler of water, some black pingpong balls and a heatlamp......hmmmmm

nolaegghead · December 2012

That makes sense. My unit has 1100 watts and is rated to heat 30 liters to 100C. 12 gallon per minute circulator (way too strong, I keep it dialed back as much as possible or it spews water out the sides). The thing is a beast - weighs 10 pounds. Most of the time I can get away using a 10 quart pot. Only when I did the ribs and turkey (and I could have cut the ribs) did I need the 40 quart cooler.

double · December 2012

ORDERED!!!! Watch this space... Thanks guys

Z_Eggineer · December 2012

HOw do you like it?

double · December 2012

Amazon is quick but not that quick! Should get it Friday.

Z_Eggineer · December 2012

Oh sorry, the board moving faster than I thought. I think Amazon is doing 1 day shipping for Discover cards though

double · December 2012

Arghhh just got told I have to have it wrapped and under the tree as its my Xmas present...

BadaBing · December 2012

Hey nolaegghead,

Really appreciate your posts and recipes- I read them and enjoy them. We are likely going with the new PolySci unit on Williams Sonoma...what do you think? Will it suffice for 4-5 people on most occasions?

Polyscience Professional Creative Series

nolaegghead · December 2012

BadaBing said:

Hey nolaegghead,

Really appreciate your posts and recipes- I read them and enjoy them. We are likely going with the new PolySci unit on Williams Sonoma...what do you think? Will it suffice for 4-5 people on most occasions?

You can fill up a 40 quart cooler with a lot of food and go to town for a lot more people than that.

Polyscience Professional Creative Series

Thanks BadaBing - Yeah, that unit has the same sized heater as mine - 1100 watts, if I remember correctly. Pump is smaller but the pump is way overpowered to start with on mine. You'll probably have to dial back the flow anyway. In my opinion, it's just as good and $250 less.

Little Steven · December 2012

fishlessman said:

nolaegghead said:

Looks pretty nice for the price. Few of the reviewers got lemons, but the customer service is good. It's a hell of a lot less than I paid for my PolyScience unit. I wonder how many watts of heat it puts out.... anyway, says it good for up to 10 liters, probably get away with heating more water for lower temp cooks if you have a cooler.

Little trick - put bubble wrap on the surface - less heat loss. You can also get little plastic floating balls.
why do you have me thinking i can do this with a cooler of water, some black pingpong balls and a heatlamp......hmmmmm

Cause you live near the land of 24 hours of darkness

nolaegghead · December 2012

fishlessman said:

nolaegghead said:

Looks pretty nice for the price. Few of the reviewers got lemons, but the customer service is good. It's a hell of a lot less than I paid for my PolyScience unit. I wonder how many watts of heat it puts out.... anyway, says it good for up to 10 liters, probably get away with heating more water for lower temp cooks if you have a cooler.

Little trick - put bubble wrap on the surface - less heat loss. You can also get little plastic floating balls.

why do you have me thinking i can do this with a cooler of water, some black pingpong balls and a heatlamp......hmmmmm

....don't forget the Jefferson Airplane

schottjy · December 2012

There are a few posts on egullet about the SideKIC:

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/141796-anyone-heard-of-the-sidekic-cheap-sous-vide-circulator/

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143930-what-happened-to-the-sidekic/

Chris Henne one of the egullet staff has one and I bought a similar SideKIC/Cambro setup around 6 months ago. The lid on the container with a cutout is effective in keeping setup reasonably water tight. The unit seems to be able to keep temperature well even with larger volumes of water, but it really helps speed the startup process to pre-heat the water to some degree. The SideKIC seems difficult to keep in stock on Amazon.

The (Kickstarter'd) Nomiku device is also interesting but now you're getting into PolySci territory.

I've been pleased with the SideKIC so far, especially for the price.

double · December 2012

Thanks that's great I like that the guy who designed it even commented on the egullet forum. Looking forward to trying it out.

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