So, there has been much discussion on the site about Sous Vide Cooking (vacuum-sealing food in a bag, then cooking to a precise temperature in a water bath).

The top two on most review lists are the Anova and the Joule, with Anova being tops on a majority of them. The current model is the Gen 2, and it is at its cheapest ever right now, and for the next 12 hours (supposedly).

It's only $111.95 on Amazon.

It's list price is $199, but you can normally find it for $159, so at $111, that's a savings of $48 !

And for those worried about plastic leaching into the food (looking at you, Pablo ), plastic doesn't begin leaching until temps hit 195*, and you rarely go above 130* with these).

Here's the link:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HHWSV1S/re ... UTF8&psc=1

Just ordered one. Nice thing about it, it will work anywhere there is a 110 outlet. Even a campground.

Exactly!

And it holds temp, so, that salmon, chicken, or steak isn't turning to rubber while you make side dishes, or for someone to come home from work, school, etc., ....

They get home, you pull it out, sear on both sides for color & carmelization for a minute or two, and bam, you're eating

Glad you got one, Digger, best price I've ever seen for the Anova....

I still don't get the hype about this...


smoker, grill and my cast iron on a stove is all I need...




convince me other wise, the sous vide threads are just blaaa

Im with you.

It sounds to me like a fancy way to market MREs to me!

Have you ever eaten anything sous vide? Do you not at least recognize the value it has when preparing a meal on an odd schedule?

Couple of questions for the sous vide experts.
Can zip lock baggies be used instead of vacuum seal? Disadvantages?

"Odd schedule" ... I use a crockpot for slow cooking. How is sous vide superior?

BTW, I am sold on trying sous vide, and plan on building my immersion heater with a PID controller. I was surprised to see sous vide heaters with bluetooth and wifi. Good golly.

I have didn't find it any different, oh ya forgot to add I do alot of crockpot cooking so there is no odd ball schedule when eating. all else back to pb&j

Zip locks, yes. Watch video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lfAroTgQnQ&t=16s

No one said to lose the cast iron, grill, or slow cooker. Let the Anova compliment them.
I'm a serious steak snob when it comes to being rare/med rare. This will finally allow me to achieve my perfection even when I get distracted as I usually do when grilling. I will be able to pull the steak out, and sear it for just a minute or two on each side.

Thank you Chuck.
I lean towards a KISS philosophy... Any thoughts on the Bluetooth / WiFi ?

Don't really care about that feature, I will just hit the buttons on the gizmo.

I'll let you borrow mine if you want. In fact I think I'll go put a steak in some water right now

Here are a few that do not have radioactive controllers and are less than $70.

$52.53
https://www.amazon.com/My-Sous-Vide-My- ... ide+cooker

$58.99
https://www.amazon.com/Precision-Immers ... ide+cooker

$69.95
https://www.amazon.com/AquaChef-Smart-C ... ide+cooker

So, yes, one can go cheaper, but like guns, or even other electronics, there's a point of diminishing returns, whether that is accuracy, longevity, etc.,..., as well as warranties, and customer service.

One of the bigger things about them, and I couldn't locate the article quickly, is the clearance. That affects how long you can leave it unattended. A quick example is if something takes 4 hours to reach temp, but the water can get too low for that particular apparatus in a hour, instead of hands free, it's now something that needs water added frequently.

And PMB, yes, you can build your own. That used to be the only way home cooks did it, unless they wanted to shell out $600 for a restaurant grade one.

The challenge with that is, the home built ones need a bigger vessel, which is fine, I you have the room. You don't just need room when in use, but for storage. You also sometimes need a Sous Vide specific container because of that.

If you really want to go that route, here's some info that may help from Seattle Food Geek a few years back:

http://seattlefoodgeek.com/2010/02/diy- ... -about-75/