Thinking of purchasing my first ever Sous Vide. Any tips, pointers, or recommendations?
Considering purchasing the Anova Precision Cooker 3.0. Has anyone used this Sous Vide, and if so, what are your honest thoughts?
What are your tips for someone new to a Sous Vide?
by kdj00940
11 Comments
StealthCampers
I bought an Anova and also whatever was the cheapest brand on Amazon at the time ($40) when I first started. I then took the housing off of both of the bottoms of them and inspected. The Anova had plastic recirculation parts, where the cheap brand was stainless steel. I then tested both. The Anova was a little noisy, not much, but a pretty constant hum. The other was mostly silent. The interfaces were pretty much the same. Their performance was exactly the same. The Anova had a WiFi component that the cheap brand didn’t, but I do not find using an app to be necessary with sous vide. I then returned the Anova. I have now been using the $40 one I got from Amazon for several months, about every other day. And I’ve let a couple friends borrow it to try out sous vide, and they didn’t have questions or issues with it.
Ok-Statement3942
In my experience it works well. But has horrible build quality with insanely overpriced parts for the easily breakable bits.
Wyndorf03
I have this exact model and like it. I am new to the scene but chicken thighs at 155 for a few hours turned out great after finishing on the grill for 10 min. I also did a pork loin and it turned out super tender.
jon_sigler
I wouldn’t buy an Anova cooker. Mine never worked and they suggested I buy another and offered $25 off….
Tang_the_Undrinkable
From what I have heard, Anova requires some sort of subscription now to use the App features, like wifi or bluetooth monitoring and control. That’s a no go for me.
Comfortable-Heat1709
I have been using Anova for 7 years. My original one works just fine still but I upgraded anyways. I would recommend a vacuum sealer as well. You can not only use to sous vide but to store pre made sous vide pouches and other things in the freezer with out getting freezer burn
WarpKat
I recently bought the InkBird ISV-200W to dip my feet into sous vide and made ribeye steaks tonight at 135F for 2 hours.
THE WIFE AND I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER!
I vacusealed my steaks individually with their seasoning to leave overnight in the fridge: kosher salt, pepper garlic powder and dried thyme. This is important if you like a rich, savory flavor in your beef.
My daughter is autistic, so she lives at home, but she can do basic things. I had prepped the water bath the night before and plugged my sous vide wand in this morning.
Today, from work, I activated my sous vide wand from my phone to reach 135F and asked my daughter to place the steaks in the water bath at 4pm when it came to temp.
By the time I got home, I still had an hour to go on the steaks so I prepped my sides: roasted zucchini and a can of baked beans.
After the steaks were done, I patted them dry and finished them off in the broiler (about 2 minutes per side) until I got a nice crust.
With proper prep, dinners can’t get any easier.
If you go this route, a cheap vacuum sealer is a definite thing to get – I have a ZipLoc I got from Wal-Mart. You can pre-prep your proteins and freeze them until you need them. Frozen proteins take a little more time to cook, but you’re just doing it for a little longer. I think 50% added to the regular cook time is the rule. (someone correct me)
Caprichoso1
A Top rated Sous Vide machine is the Joule. Controlled via a phone app.
Anova used to be a high quality brand, but they got bought out and now they’re made very poorly. Sub consensus seems to be Inkbird is the best deal and Joule is the high end, but a lot of people don’t like the latter because you need to control it wirelessly.
skovalen
Anova is over-priced. Buy an Inkbird ISV-200W ($60-$80, I own one) and then use the savings to buy a vacuum sealer (useful but not necessary). The ISV-200W is stupid quiet from side-by-side videos. I bought it because it heated just as fast as other 1000W power rated products and was super quiet.
yaddle41
If you have 120V go with the Joule. Anova is built cheaper and is a rip off (20$ for a 1 cent spare part and subscription fee).
11 Comments
I bought an Anova and also whatever was the cheapest brand on Amazon at the time ($40) when I first started. I then took the housing off of both of the bottoms of them and inspected. The Anova had plastic recirculation parts, where the cheap brand was stainless steel. I then tested both. The Anova was a little noisy, not much, but a pretty constant hum. The other was mostly silent. The interfaces were pretty much the same. Their performance was exactly the same. The Anova had a WiFi component that the cheap brand didn’t, but I do not find using an app to be necessary with sous vide. I then returned the Anova. I have now been using the $40 one I got from Amazon for several months, about every other day. And I’ve let a couple friends borrow it to try out sous vide, and they didn’t have questions or issues with it.
In my experience it works well. But has horrible build quality with insanely overpriced parts for the easily breakable bits.
I have this exact model and like it. I am new to the scene but chicken thighs at 155 for a few hours turned out great after finishing on the grill for 10 min. I also did a pork loin and it turned out super tender.
I wouldn’t buy an Anova cooker. Mine never worked and they suggested I buy another and offered $25 off….
From what I have heard, Anova requires some sort of subscription now to use the App features, like wifi or bluetooth monitoring and control. That’s a no go for me.
I have been using Anova for 7 years. My original one works just fine still but I upgraded anyways. I would recommend a vacuum sealer as well. You can not only use to sous vide but to store pre made sous vide pouches and other things in the freezer with out getting freezer burn
I recently bought the InkBird ISV-200W to dip my feet into sous vide and made ribeye steaks tonight at 135F for 2 hours.
THE WIFE AND I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER!
I vacusealed my steaks individually with their seasoning to leave overnight in the fridge: kosher salt, pepper garlic powder and dried thyme. This is important if you like a rich, savory flavor in your beef.
My daughter is autistic, so she lives at home, but she can do basic things. I had prepped the water bath the night before and plugged my sous vide wand in this morning.
Today, from work, I activated my sous vide wand from my phone to reach 135F and asked my daughter to place the steaks in the water bath at 4pm when it came to temp.
By the time I got home, I still had an hour to go on the steaks so I prepped my sides: roasted zucchini and a can of baked beans.
After the steaks were done, I patted them dry and finished them off in the broiler (about 2 minutes per side) until I got a nice crust.
With proper prep, dinners can’t get any easier.
If you go this route, a cheap vacuum sealer is a definite thing to get – I have a ZipLoc I got from Wal-Mart. You can pre-prep your proteins and freeze them until you need them. Frozen proteins take a little more time to cook, but you’re just doing it for a little longer. I think 50% added to the regular cook time is the rule. (someone correct me)
A Top rated Sous Vide machine is the Joule. Controlled via a phone app.
[https://www.chefsteps.com/product/joule-turbo](https://www.chefsteps.com/product/joule-turbo)
[https://www.americastestkitchen.com/equipment_reviews/2335-sous-vide-machines](https://www.americastestkitchen.com/equipment_reviews/2335-sous-vide-machines)
Anova used to be a high quality brand, but they got bought out and now they’re made very poorly. Sub consensus seems to be Inkbird is the best deal and Joule is the high end, but a lot of people don’t like the latter because you need to control it wirelessly.
Anova is over-priced. Buy an Inkbird ISV-200W ($60-$80, I own one) and then use the savings to buy a vacuum sealer (useful but not necessary). The ISV-200W is stupid quiet from side-by-side videos. I bought it because it heated just as fast as other 1000W power rated products and was super quiet.
If you have 120V go with the Joule. Anova is built cheaper and is a rip off (20$ for a 1 cent spare part and subscription fee).