Sous-Vide

donaldallen

Which Sous-Vide is best to buy? I think I want one or two.

JohnInCarolina

The Anova and Joule both seem to be quality products.  I don’t think you can really make a mistake with either.

I have the Anova and it’s worked well for me.  You’ll get a variety of opinions on these but a lot comes down to personal preference over what really are minor details.  

Bear 007

Anova is coming out with a new model the old one is on sale now, WiFi model is $109 from Williams Sonoma.

jtcBoynton

Anova and Joule seem to be the most often recommended brands.  Both have good reputations.  I went with Anova because it can be started manually while the Joule must be started by the mobile app.  I can't remember the last time I bothered with the mobile app when using it.

caliking

I have the Anova BT version and the Joule. BT is useless IMO, but wifi has its merits. In theory, you can pack the SV vessel with ice and your protein in the morning,  then fire up the SV unit remotely when temp hits about 45F, and have your protein ready by the time you return home from work. 

I have used the Joule almost exclusively for the past year or two, because of its more compact form factor, and more power. Fits easily in a kitchen drawer. The Joule is also easy to travel with, again because it is a more compact unit. 

JohnInCarolina

caliking said:

I have the Anova BT version and the Joule. BT is useless IMO, but wifi has its merits. In theory, you can pack the SV vessel with ice and your protein in the morning,  then fire up the SV unit remotely when temp hits about 45F, and have your protein ready by the time you return home from work. 

I have used the Joule almost exclusively for the past year or two, because of its more compact form factor, and more power. Fits easily in a kitchen drawer. The Joule is also easy to travel with, again because it is a more compact unit. 

I will say that were I to buy a new SV unit, I would take a solid look at the Joule for sure, and the small size that Ashish cites here is a big reason.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

I have a gen 1 Anova, a Sous Vide supreme, and a Joule. The Anova and SVS both crapped out this year. The SVS had
 hundreds of cooks on it, the Anova probably 100 or so. I would buy the Joule again over the others but I did love my SVS. 

theyolksonyou

JohnInCarolina said:

caliking said:

I have the Anova BT version and the Joule. BT is useless IMO, but wifi has its merits. In theory, you can pack the SV vessel with ice and your protein in the morning,  then fire up the SV unit remotely when temp hits about 45F, and have your protein ready by the time you return home from work. 

I have used the Joule almost exclusively for the past year or two, because of its more compact form factor, and more power. Fits easily in a kitchen drawer. The Joule is also easy to travel with, again because it is a more compact unit. 

I will say that were I to buy a new SV unit, I would take a solid look at the Joule for sure, and the small size that Ashish cites here is a big reason.

Well, if you’re used to small things, I guess this make sense. 


My anova wifi has never worked. Correction, it worked a couple of times then no more WI-FI. Unit works fine.  Just all manual.  

HeavyG

Alton Brown doesn't like the Joule just in case anyone cares what Alton Brown thinks.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

HeavyG said:

Alton Brown doesn't like the Joule just in case anyone cares what Alton Brown thinks.

what did he have to say about it? I think the only thing not to like about it is that you have to have another device with wifi or bluetooth to run it. I agree with him if that's the case. I sat on the sidelines for a couple of years because of that but it's a pretty badass little unit once you use it.

jtcBoynton

He has the same problem with it that I have - you cannot operate it without the phone app.  

caliking

jtcBoynton said:

He has the same problem with it that I have - you cannot operate it without the phone app.  

Hasn't been as irksome as I thought it might be. Multiple devices in our house are managed over wifi (thermostats, lights, music, pool system, etc. ), so it doesn't bother me to use my phone to control the Joule.

I can see an issue though if someone didn't have a smartphone.

fishlessman

oh the horror of manually turning the dial on my anova

Canugghead

caliking said:

I have the Anova BT version and the Joule. ...

Hey Ashish, what happened to your bread-box like sv unit? I almost bought one way back when.

caliking

Canugghead said:

caliking said:

I have the Anova BT version and the Joule. ...

Hey Ashish, what happened to your bread-box like sv unit? I almost bought one way back when.

It became somewhat inconvenient. Took up counter space which is at a premium, with a bunch of other gadgets around. Changing the water was a tad cumbersome ( I wish it had a drain spigot or something similar).  Plus, I thought I was being clever by doing a "clean burn" (by letting it run at 210°F for a few hours) weekly, and basically cooked the liner off the inside of it. And it took the longest of my 3 units to heat up.

It did have its merits though, and I liked it. But the Joule is much more convenient, and I find that I SV more stuff now. 

HeavyG

caliking said:

Canugghead said:

caliking said:

I have the Anova BT version and the Joule. ...

Hey Ashish, what happened to your bread-box like sv unit? I almost bought one way back when.

It became somewhat inconvenient. Took up counter space which is at a premium, with a bunch of other gadgets around. Changing the water was a tad cumbersome ( I wish it had a drain spigot or something similar).  Plus, I thought I was being clever by doing a "clean burn" (by letting it run at 210°F for a few hours) weekly, and basically cooked the liner off the inside of it. And it took the longest of my 3 units to heat up.

It did have its merits though, and I liked it. But the Joule is much more convenient, and I find that I SV more stuff now. 

My first circulator was the original Nomiku and I used that in a 5 gallon Rubbermaid cooler which would sit next to my kitchen sink.

When it was time to drain the water it turned out to be a bit tricky in tilting the cooler at the right angle - too much tilt and water would actually shoot up the far side of the sink and flow onto the counter/floor, too shallow a tilt and half the water would go into the sink and half the water would run down the side of the cooler onto the counter/floor.

While I could hit the sweet spot tilt most of the time I did eventually seek an alternative and this is what I ended up with:

https://smile.amazon.com/Safety-Siphon-Safe-Multi-Purpose-Priming/dp/B000BG1X54/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=fuel+siphon&qid=1567542965&s=gateway&sr=8-7

Just stick the metal end in and shake it a few times to get water moving up the hose (there's a marble in the metal fitting that acts as a check valve so water won't drain right back out of the metal fitting) and the siphon will start sans sucking. Made the draining process mess free (and it coiled up and stayed in the cooler when done so I wouldn't have to spend a half hour trying to remember where I put it next time I needed it).

caliking

Thanks, @HeavyG! I keep a 40 qt cooler in the laundry room for SV’ing bigger cuts. It’s a bit of a pain to lug it around when full of water to empty it. This will definitely help. 

RalphieBoy

Is the Sous Vide the new Blackstone toy?

Eggcelsior

RalphieBoy said:

Is the Sous Vide the new Blackstone toy?

Around here, Blackstone was the new SV toy. 

Canugghead

@caliking Too late now, but if the purpose of the clean burn was to remove scale buildup, IMO soaking with heated vinegar could have helped.

caliking

Canugghead said:

@caliking Too late now, but if the purpose of the clean burn was to remove scale buildup, IMO soaking with heated vinegar could have helped.

I was doing the clean burns to deal with the cooties in Houston water. But now that you mention it, some vinegar in the water bath may have taken care of the issue.