Sous Vide FEEDBACK ON NEW CIRCULATORS FOR SOUS VIDE

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marc4pt0

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There has been a lot of questions and discussion on the topic of sous vide, so I'm not really trying to start another here. Mainly, I'm looking for feedback on 2 new Thermal Circulators out there. I saw from a couple threads that some members here have tried, purchased and/or worked with the following:

Anova and Sansaire

It looks like both are going for $199 each which is significantly less expensive than Poly Science's overly priced and short life spanned products. I'm trying to propose a start up pricing sheet for a another place and am curious how these hold up.

Also, I'd love some comments and or suggestions on chamber vacs. I'm currently using a Berkel and despite an $800 new button board replacement, it's been outstanding for the past 5 and a half years.

Thanks for your help in advance!
Cheers
 
Marc, I've got the Poly science pro and VacMaster VP112. I'm only a home cook but use the chamber vac about 50X more than the SV unit. I''ve SV hundreds of different products and SV is most useful for long cook times, 24hrs or more. Thus I use the PID (Dork Foods) to operate a crock pot. Water doesn't circulate but it doesn't have to when cooking for long periods. Water circulators do get up to temp faster, but then again, thats not that useful as you'll be SV proteins between 129 and 140, 90% of the time.

The Chamber should be your first consideration, its a very useful kitchen tool if in a handy place.
 
The Sansaire has been put off until Jan. for delivery, so no one has used it yet. Not sure about the Anova.
 
Water doesn't circulate but it doesn't have to when cooking for long periods.

Im pretty sure that the water needs to circulate ESPECIALLY if your doing overnight cooking so that the temperature does not fluctuate, thus cooking at the same temperature at a constant rate.
Hahaha :(
 
Marc, while it may not help the exercise you are working on right now, I'm on the list for a Sansaire and you are more than welcome to borrow it when (if) it arrives sometime next month.
 
42, Non-propelled water ovens do circulate the water, just through passive convection. The crock pot method works on the same principal as the SV Supreme set-up.

Guess you should tell all the throusands of people that have purchased the SV supreme that they're all doing it wrong.

Thought I'd steal this review from Amazon. What are you thoughts now Mr 42?

For several years I've been hankering for an immersion circulator to try sous vide cooking at home. I didn't have the $2000 plus for a complete PolyScience unit, or even the $900 or so for a pro quality circulator head. So without expecting too much, I bought the oddly, sweetly named DorkFod DSV Temperature Controller and teamed it up with a 7 quart manual crock pot I found on sale at a local discount store for $19.

Much to my surprise, the combination totally rocks. The DorkFood unit is solidly built, easy to use, and holds the temperature I set within about 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit. The natural bottom to top convection of the crock pot, even without an additional circulator, has provided even heat for my sous vide creations. If you've never had leg of lamb cooked under vacuum for 36 hours you don't know what you're missing: a mild, non-gamy flavor with the buttery texture of filet mignon. Lobster tails cooked with garlic butter - unbelievably tender and sweet. Restaurant quality duck confit becomes child's play! Cure duck legs (with thigh) overnight with salt, thyme and crushed juniper berries - rinse and pat dry the next day - seal under vacuum with 1 tablespoon of rendered duck fat per leg and cook at 167 degrees for 30 hours or more for the most succulent duck you've ever tasted. After cooking I cut off the skin and fry it under a cast iron weight (affectionately known as a "pig") and top the duck leg with a crispy duck bacon "cracker."
 
Im pretty sure that the water needs to circulate ESPECIALLY if your doing overnight cooking so that the temperature does not fluctuate, thus cooking at the same temperature at a constant rate.
Hahaha :(
Mucho's set up, logic and suggestions are spot on for me. The water does circulate through temperature convection. Everything he's mentioned to try have come out really well.
 
just ordered the anova last week... will be here tuesday... i'll let you know what i think
 
42, Non-propelled water ovens do circulate the water, just through passive convection. The crock pot method works on the same principal as the SV Supreme set-up.

Guess you should tell all the throusands of people that have purchased the SV supreme that they're all doing it wrong.

Thought I'd steal this review from Amazon. What are you thoughts now Mr 42?

For several years I've been hankering for an immersion circulator to try sous vide cooking at home. I didn't have the $2000 plus for a complete PolyScience unit, or even the $900 or so for a pro quality circulator head. So without expecting too much, I bought the oddly, sweetly named DorkFod DSV Temperature Controller and teamed it up with a 7 quart manual crock pot I found on sale at a local discount store for $19.

Much to my surprise, the combination totally rocks. The DorkFood unit is solidly built, easy to use, and holds the temperature I set within about 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit. The natural bottom to top convection of the crock pot, even without an additional circulator, has provided even heat for my sous vide creations. If you've never had leg of lamb cooked under vacuum for 36 hours you don't know what you're missing: a mild, non-gamy flavor with the buttery texture of filet mignon. Lobster tails cooked with garlic butter - unbelievably tender and sweet. Restaurant quality duck confit becomes child's play! Cure duck legs (with thigh) overnight with salt, thyme and crushed juniper berries - rinse and pat dry the next day - seal under vacuum with 1 tablespoon of rendered duck fat per leg and cook at 167 degrees for 30 hours or more for the most succulent duck you've ever tasted. After cooking I cut off the skin and fry it under a cast iron weight (affectionately known as a "pig") and top the duck leg with a crispy duck bacon "cracker."

I don't see how cherry picking one review from Amazon proves anything. Did they do temperature differential tests on both models over a variety of cooking times and temps with a variety of products? No. They just said it worked for them in their home.

Does passive circulation work? Yes. Does heat as evenly and as accurately as a forced circulation unit? No. Polyscience units may not be the most durable products ever, but in a pro kitchen they usually get run for extended periods of time for the majority of their existence. I do not expect these cheaper ones to be as durable and certainly not more so than the PS models. And I certainly don't expect a DIY crock pot unit to last either. They also don't have the capacity or flexibility of a PS type circulator.

And I'm pretty sure there isn't a health inspector out there that will be cool with a controller bought from some guy on eBay rigged to a steam table or crockpot.
 
The last place I worked had a polyscience (the non cheffy more aquarium equipment version) that worked the whole time I was there. That was four and a half years. I walked over a few days ago to get some gumbo... Still going strong. Granted, they only use it to cook things, not to hold at temp for service. The sleeker black plastic ones seem to be less durable. the butcher shop next door burned through a few of them in that time. The only thing I miss it for is making sour cream in mason jars.
 
Funny the reason for the sonsaire being held back is because how low the durability is. Supposedly it will be more durable, we'll see.
 
I've had two poly sci pro's in a restaurant environment, that were used daily, for anywhere from 10-48hrs for close to three years. Had one break down after a year and a half of abuse, and poly sci repaired it free of charge with a very fast turnaround. Convection is great, but without constant regulation of temp through circulation you can get hot and cold spots. Which is fine if you're not trying to attain a consistent, quality product day in and day out.
 
finally got to use it tonight for a steak (skirt steak... new mexico style)... really happy with speed of heating up, temp consistency, and flow direction control... i set the timer, and i expected it to beep or something, but nothing like that happened... i wonder what that is all about... it just kept going, but the timer stopped. Anyways, steak came out perfectly... temp was spot on. So far, so good.
 
Nice. I'm actually leaning more towards the Anova, but I'm definitely going to give the Sansaire a try also.
 
tonight i made asparagus with black pepper, thyme, and smoked sea salt, glazed carrots with chinese five spice and brown sugar, and applewood smoked potatoes with the anova (they are for tomorrow)... all while cooking okonomiyaki for the family... i'll let you know how everything turned out tomorrow. One thing to note... my stock pot is not big enough... large cambro in my near future ;)
 
Lol @ picturing you moving stones into the stockpot so you can sous vide in the sharpening cambro. :D
 
I got a low end poly from WIlliams and Sonoma and returned it within a month as the clip broke. I thought it very poorly designed,. The plastic housing for the clip is positioned so that when removing it, you actually apply pressure to a weak point and then it snaps making the clip from that point on unusable. Been waiting for a Sansaire
 
I'm curious how the asparagus turns out, Jon. Other then leeks I usually don't cook green veggies sous vide.
 
Asparagus is great SV. Fennel is even better in chicken stock then finished on the stove until it syrupy…

Investing in a lid and then cutting a hole is handy for longer cook times at higher temps.
 
asparagus turned out great... i just need to get a smoking gun now, as i was not happy with the amount of smoke flavor i was able to impart. Potatoes were by far the best... lots of butter ;)
 
Hmmmm...tell me more about these potatoes, please :)
 
I'll just put it out there- smoking just about anything and sous vide go well together.

Does the asparagus bright and pretty green after cooking? I admit that I'm still a bit old school when it comes to my green veggies
 
I was looking at the Anova but the touch screen turned me off a little . Does the screen seem to be well built and able to handle any nasty spills and want not that could occur in the kitchen?
 
so far so good... the unit seems very well built to me, but i wouldnt go and pour some liquid over the screen... that being said, i dont think its more prone to spills than, say, a polyscience
 
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