Foodsaver works well but ziplock bags work just fine.  Anova (what I have) and Joule are the most common and both function well.  The head of the Anovahas to be protected from too much steam or it malfunctions or shuts off.  Simple planning eliminates that problem.  There are others.

My sv brand is the popular ANOVA - none of that blue tooth stuff - just the plain ol plug in, set and forget model! As for bags - Food Saver if already in them after thawing, but if not just plain ol' inexpensive plastic bags from Kroger called 1 gallon twist tie food bags.

The joule is killer, imo. Very happy with my purchase, been going strong for multiple years

Anova wifi model just because it's more powerful, never used the wifi. Used about 15 times never had a problem.  Got it because I did not want to have to use a phone to control it, adjustments made right on the top. 

I have an Anova Bluetooth model that we picked up at target for $27 on clearance. We’ve used about a dozen times without issue.  I like it for 2inch pork chops, I do not always use a food saver, sometimes we just use a ziplock freezer bag.    

I have Anova, use it FAR more than i ever imagined, no I have not cooked a meal with it, but use it to Pre Cook for events and such. It can get noisy if the water level is low, I have not had any WI Fi issues as of yet

i have the anova, but i have never used it.  its been in the box for a 1yr and a half.

O.G. Anova, works great.  Looking at picking up a Joule though.  I thought the wifi phone control stuff was a gimmick as you don't need to change temps during a cook, then I heard about people who filled the bin with ice water and put the meat in there in the morning, and then a few hours before coming home use the phone to start up the Joule, and food is ready for searing when you walk in the door.

Foodsaver and ziplock bags

ShadowNick said:

O.G. Anova, works great.  Looking at picking up a Joule though.  I thought the wifi phone control stuff was a gimmick as you don't need to change temps during a cook, then I heard about people who filled the bin with ice water and put the meat in there in the morning, and then a few hours before coming home use the phone to start up the Joule, and food is ready for searing when you walk in the door.

Foodsaver and ziplock bags

I do this all the time ^^^^

I think this is ^^^^^^^^^^ Is hard on any Sous Vide, I have heard of people doing this this as well but can't think of a a time I would that, I always preheat my water to desired SV Set Point give or take

jeponline said:

NorthPilot06 said:

ShadowNick said:

O.G. Anova, works great.  Looking at picking up a Joule though.  I thought the wifi phone control stuff was a gimmick as you don't need to change temps during a cook, then I heard about people who filled the bin with ice water and put the meat in there in the morning, and then a few hours before coming home use the phone to start up the Joule, and food is ready for searing when you walk in the door.

Foodsaver and ziplock bags

I do this all the time ^^^^

How long does it take to go from ice water to the temp you choose?  Are you confident that's not too much time in the danger zone?

Yes, 100% safe, 0 time spent in the danger zone.  I routinely check my water bath temperatures remotely on the joule app (during the day), that's the beauty of the app and wi-fi connectivity.  Then you're never guessing if there's still ice (32 degrees) or venturing into the danger zone.

Time to heat up to temp with ice?  I don't know, add 5 minutes to how long it would normally take.  Generally *most* of the ice has melted by this point and it takes very little thermal energy to melt the rest.

jeponline said:

NorthPilot06 said:

ShadowNick said:

O.G. Anova, works great.  Looking at picking up a Joule though.  I thought the wifi phone control stuff was a gimmick as you don't need to change temps during a cook, then I heard about people who filled the bin with ice water and put the meat in there in the morning, and then a few hours before coming home use the phone to start up the Joule, and food is ready for searing when you walk in the door.

Foodsaver and ziplock bags

I do this all the time ^^^^

How long does it take to go from ice water to the temp you choose?  Are you confident that's not too much time in the danger zone?

I think the Anova app has an ice bath mode, where it sends an alert when the bath temp hits 40°F and you're then supposed to fire up the unit. The same can be achieved with the Joule, by monitoring the temp of the bath , then firing up the unit after 40°F.

The "danger zone" is supposedly >4 hrs between 40°F and 140°F (I think). There is no way any decent SV unit takes even close to that much time to heat up to target temp, provided the setup is operating at room temp. 

lkapigian said:

NorthPilot06 said:

lkapigian said:

I think this is ^^^^^^^^^^ Is hard on any Sous Vide, I have heard of people doing this this as well but can't think of a a time I would that, I always preheat my water to desired SV Set Point give or take

Hmm, not sure why you say it's hard on any SV.  The heating element doesn't warm up to a higher temp just because there's a little bit of ice in the bucket, it just adds a slight amount of time (< 5 minutes) to the heating time.

@NorthPilot06 , it's probably just me and stuck in my mind that way, not from a food safety stand point , but a repeated 0 to 200 MPH....its probably fine but my mind says it's easier on the equipment by starting closer to desired temp...My mind says it's not a water heater but a precision cooker that heats water ....I....I know, same thing ...

Easier on your electric bill but probably no harm to the unit. I assume all of these when they first kick on and the delta t is more than a few degrees use max wattage to ramp up to temp as quickly as possible. Probably only throttle back when within a few degrees and then when just cycling to maintain temps.

Have never understood the app based units. I can see that for novice folks the settings for rare/med rare/medium for a steak might be helpfull, but once you’ve done it once, it is pretty simple. Then again, I have lots of time and even though I tend to wander off, sous vide is pretty forgiving when you forget about it.