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BrunofromBrazil said:
Hey guys how are you? Been looking a lot for great quality sous vide, as well as, a good vacuum sealer!

I would like to hear your recommendations and opinions!
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For sous vide, Anova and Breville Joule are the most popular ones, but there are tons of others now. They all seem to work. Personally, I'd avoid the Joule because it can only be controlled via a phone app. Something with physical controls on the device is quicker and easier. I'd avoid bells and whistles such as Bluetooth and Wifi connectivity. They usually don't work all that well, have connectivity problems, and add close to zero value. More trouble than it's worth.

I use a Luvele vacuum sealer, which works well. Again, there are lots of others. Foodsaver, Anova, Nesco, etc. I'd look around for reviews on the web. Wirecutter did one recently. Perfection would be a chamber vacuum sealer. Those things are great and suitable for liquids. But they are large, heavy, and expensive.
 
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It's hard to say what's going to be of value in Brazil, given their import taxes. I have been cooking for a long time and the Joule is my primary circulator, replacing a $799 Polyscience one. The Joule uses a phone for an interface, which is a drawback. But it is so small and portable and "stick it in a drawer"-able, that it's worth the irritation of not having hardware controls -- especially if you can find one on sale. All circulators are kind of decent at doing their job, but differ in their form factor and "professional kitchen" status. If you don't need a pro one, just find one that you like the look of that has decent reviews and it will probably do the job.

You don't really need a vacuum sealer for most "sous vide" cooking. Almost anything can be cooked in a Ziploc-style zip top bag. Freezer ones are preferable, as they're thicker, but they tend to fail above 185F (which is where you cook vegetables). Actual vacuum sealing is mostly useful for cook-chill sous vide cooking and long-term freezer storage. I'm lucky enough to have a big chamber vacuum unit, but I cook most things in zip tops unless I'm going at high temps or plan to freeze them later. SV + chill + freezing is a really convenient workflow, but if all you want to do is cook a steak or pork chop or some chicken and then serve it for dinner that night, you don't really need a vacuum sealer.
 
Michi said:
For sous vide, Anova and Breville Joule are the most popular ones, but there are tons of others now. They all seem to work. Personally, I'd avoid the Joule because it can only be controlled via a phone app. Something with physical controls on the device is quicker and easier. I'd avoid bells and whistles such as Bluetooth and Wifi connectivity. They usually don't work all that well, have connectivity problems, and add close to zero value. More trouble than it's worth.

I use a Luvele vacuum sealer, which works well. Again, there are lots of others. Foodsaver, Anova, Nesco, etc. I'd look around for reviews on the web. Wirecutter did one recently. Perfection would be chamber vacuum sealer. Those things are great and suitable for liquids. But they are large, heavy, and expensive.
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I already searched a lot about it haha I came here to hear a bit more from people from this awesome community! I was thinking about the Joule, almost bought it a couple times, good to hear your input, I’ll think a bit more about the sous vide! Research a bit more as well! I think I might agree with you in regards to the bells and whistles, the less the merrier haha

In regards to the vacuum sealer, thanks for your recommendation, will research a bot more about it, but thanks so much!

I’ve been using a quite inexpensive sous vide, don’t really recall the brand! As well as, a really ok vacuum sealer, don’t really like it, takes wayy too much time and the sealing itself is a bit dodgie, not really trustworthy!

Thanks,

Bruno
 
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btbyrd said:
It's hard to say what's going to be of value in Brazil, given their import taxes. I have been cooking for a long time and the Joule is my primary circulator, replacing a $799 Polyscience one. The Joule uses a phone for an interface, which is a drawback. But it is so small and portable and "stick it in a drawer"-able, that it's worth the irritation of not having hardware controls -- especially if you can find one on sale. All circulators are kind of decent at doing their job, but differ in their form factor and "professional kitchen" status. If you don't need a pro one, just find one that you like the look of that has decent reviews and it will probably do the job.

You don't really need a vacuum sealer for most "sous vide" cooking. Almost anything can be cooked in a Ziploc-style zip top bag. Freezer ones are preferable, as they're thicker, but they tend to fail above 185F (which is where you cook vegetables). Actual vacuum sealing is mostly useful for cook-chill sous vide cooking and long-term freezer storage. I'm lucky enough to have a big chamber vacuum unit, but I cook most things in zip tops unless I'm going at high temps or plan to freeze them later. SV + chill + freezing is a really convenient workflow, but if all you want to do is cook a steak or pork chop or some chicken and then serve it for dinner that night, you don't really need a vacuum sealer.
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Totally agree with you, but my main usage for the vacuum sealer would be to prepare portion sized proteins mostly! Maybe some other kind of foods, but I just want to make my life a bit easier haha Do the cooking process once a week or something like that! I live alone, and don’t really manage to eat as much home as I should, as well as, I like sous vide a lot for its versatility and capability of making our life easier haha The sealer would also be my main mean of storage in regards to food. I don’t really like tupperwares and their amazing ability to get smells haha

Appart from that, I’ll research a bit more in regards to the sous vide! I always loved the Joule for its practicality, but I don’t love the idea of all that dependency in the phone interface. But thanks a lot for the input! I’ll take that into consideration!

Thanks,

Bruno
 
I’m happy with my Anova - I have their first product release from maybe 10 years back and it’s still working fine. It doesn’t get too much use though, maybe 6-8 times per year. I got my daughter their smaller version maybe 4-5 years ago and she’s happy with it.

No bluetooth or mobile app funny business on mine. Straight up manual control just the way I like it.
 
My two cents after owning an Anova for like 5 years and using it far less than I'd expect:

-Think ahead what you'd use it for. If the answer is 'steak', then keep in mind that a low temperature oven gets you similar if not better results with less fuss.
-I was surprised by the amount of noise it generates. Not something you see in any of the promos.
-Another reason I don't use it much is that I don't have a proper vaccuum sealer. IMO you really need one to make the most of it. But keep in mind that this also adds costs (not just in the sealer, but the bags; the cheaper the sealer the more expensive the bags). It also just adds more fuss.
-Anova came out with a more affordable chamber vacuum sealer semi-recently, but I have no clue if it's any good.
 
Jovidah said:
-Anova came out with a more affordable chamber vacuum sealer semi-recently, but I have no clue if it's any good.
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Reviews for it are largely positive. The main issue is that it is small, with the chamber being only 2.5" deep. But in return, you get a unit that is smaller, lighter, and much cheaper than the usual offerings.
 
great advice and points above.

any circulator from any serious manufacturer will do the trick.
think about volume and capacity: will you need to circulate A LOT of water, or not?

i probably use my vacuum sealer more than my circulator, but for a lot of different things and purposes. (and no i don't use more plastic these days, on the contrary.)

as noted by @btbyrd , you don't need to vacuum seal to cook a steak in a water bath. i can regularly bee seen sucking air out of a bag with a metal straw (yes, i have a special drinking straw for this :) ).

convenience: do you have space, need, or desire to keep a large enough vessel ready to run at all times? my system is ready to go anytime, without bringing out stuff from drawers etc, which makes me use the circulator more often.

and then of course: 'sous vide' means under vacuum, not 'in a water bath' – but the original nomenclature has of course changed. but still: @btbyrd should name his vacuum sealer Bruno instead of the Joule ;)

you don't need a circulator to cook sous vide … just vacuum and super stable temp. and with a steam oven, the need for bagging is eliminated in many applications.

.
 
Our steam oven does sous vide as well, so if you're upgrading remodeling that may be something to keep in mind.

Submerging a ziplock bag in water also works to get a bit more contact surface between food and water, I'v been doing that for several years in lieu of a vac machine.

Agree with previous poster(s) that having a an oven capable of low temp (accurately controlled) makes my use of sous vide far less than a few years earlier.
 
Ziplock bags sorta work.... until you do some long immersion and find out the glue fails. Or water leaks inside in some other way. It's probably half the reason I don't use my SV much; haven't found a good ersatz solution for cheap bags that are actually reliable. In general I just find freezer bags it a lot more annoying to work with than stuff that's properly vaccuumed.
If you're doing poor man's SV, you can also just set a pan of water in a low-temp oven...
 
I have used a

https://anovaculinary.com/products/anova-precision-cooker-pro
for around 3 years now - no problems. Only failing is that it has a connected app. which sometimes does not work, but that may be due to my network.
As for vacuum, I used freezer bags with a, what do you call it? - click-seal, sometimes a zip-lock. They have failed once or twice; after that I use a bag big enough so I can have the seal above the water line clipped to the edge of the tank. Also have a basic vacuum machine which works ok for my home use. Freezer bags should give an indication of what temperatures they can tolerate for how long on the packet.
 
That won't help you if the bag leaks below the waterline. Which has happened to me at least 2 times with different bags. Sadly the majority of bags here do not give any information about what temperatures it will resist and for what duration.
 
Ziploc freezer bags work fine for low temp SV, but it's important to buy the name brand and to make sure it's a freezer bag. And don't use them at higher SV temps (e.g., 180F+) where polyethylene will start to soften. I have never had one fail, and I've been using a circulator for over a decade. As mentioned upthread, you can exclude the air from zip-top bags using the displacement method. There's no better way to do it, though it does work better if you add a bit of oil to the bag along with your meat.



That doesn't really help the OP out though, because he's looking do to "cook->chill" and that's where you really need a proper vacuum sealer. The good news is that most of the cheap edge sealers work just fine. America's Test Kitchen likes the Nesco Deluxe Food VS-12. Chamber vacs are nice to have but aren't really necessary. If I was only going to do smaller portions (and maybe a small roast every once in a while, I'd probably go with the Anova chamber vacuum, which has a small form factor and looks like a great value. I've seen a few people who were happy with the smaller Avid Armor chamber vacuums too, which are also inexpensive. Part of me bets that these come from the same factory as the Anovas. Or at least the same neighborhood in Shenzhen.

I'll also add that it takes the same amount of time to reheat a chicken breast or steak SV as it does to cook it from raw. I didn't find there to be a huge time savings in batch cooking individual portions (if they were later served hot). There can be a real financial savings, however, if you buy in bulk on sale, vacuum seal, and then cook->freeze. But most of that savings comes from the vacuum sealing, not the sous viding.
 
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Thanks for all the inputs!! In regards to the sous vide I’ll keep researching about the Anova and the Joule, probably will get one of the two. In regards to the vacuum, I’ll search a bit as well, I’ve recently seen one from Zwilling that made me curious, a smaller one that has dome special bags for it, maybe for home use it could serve, but I’m not sure! Probably will go towards a classic one!

Thanks for all your inputs! As soon as I decide I’l share my findings and final decision with you guys!
 
I've had an ANOVA for about 5 years now. Bought a Foodsaver vacuum sealer from Costco shortly afterwards.

I never use the app. It's just a pain. Just set the temp on the unit and that it.

Pluses: you can do different things. Like frozen steak to cooked an hour or so. SV carrots are delicious. Long 48-72 hour cooks for short rib/oxtail. Roast beef for sandwiches is so good.

Minuses: I find things like steak need to served instantly or they get cold to fast.
 
esoo said:
I've had an ANOVA for about 5 years now. Bought a Foodsaver vacuum sealer from Costco shortly afterwards.

I never use the app. It's just a pain. Just set the temp on the unit and that it.

Pluses: you can do different things. Like frozen steak to cooked an hour or so. SV carrots are delicious. Long 48-72 hour cooks for short rib/oxtail. Roast beef for sandwiches is so good.

Minuses: I find things like steak need to served instantly or they get cold to fast.
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I love it! I really like to make ribs! As well as short ribs! For me the best use for sous vide is to tenderize meats a bit more. Never really used it for vegetables, but would loge too!

If you guys have awesome recipes, I’d be really happy if you could share them here as well haha

Thanks once again guys!
 
Jovidah said:
My two cents after owning an Anova for like 5 years and using it far less than I'd expect:

-Think ahead what you'd use it for. If the answer is 'steak', then keep in mind that a low temperature oven gets you similar if not better results with less fuss.
-I was surprised by the amount of noise it generates. Not something you see in any of the promos.
-Another reason I don't use it much is that I don't have a proper vaccuum sealer. IMO you really need one to make the most of it. But keep in mind that this also adds costs (not just in the sealer, but the bags; the cheaper the sealer the more expensive the bags). It also just adds more fuss.
-Anova came out with a more affordable chamber vacuum sealer semi-recently, but I have no clue if it's any good.
Click to expand...

I’m surprised to hear the noise complaint; mine is extremely quiet, just a low hum. I’ve noticed that mine needs a certain minimum water level to avoid churning which is noisy. If I go just above that level, which is a bit higher than the minimum level indicated on the device, it quiets down a ton.

One of the fun things I like to sous vide is individual crime brûlée jars. Less stress and easy peasy vs doing it an oven. I do a similar thing except with eggs to make small single-serve breakfast cups. I usually put some leftover bolognese sauce or bacon jam in the bottom, then mix up eggs with cheese and salt to fill, then sous vide.

Here’s a video of the crème brûlée process from my IG. I understand you can skip tempering the eggs when doing sous vide but I’ve never tried it.
 
we have an anova style stick, yet I find myself mostly using the oven...

sous vide eggs....ricidulous long cooking time, and only if you're into very delicate flavors or sensitive of sulfury flavors in regularly boiled eggs.
Sous vide white asaparagus, sous vide carrots, braised and then sous vide's chicory, the list is long and not only meaty.
 
I guess what's noisy is all subjective... it's not so loud that it's giving you headaches, but it is quite audible. I found it annoying after a while since I have an open kitchen and no matter where I put it it'll always be about 5 meters tops from my computer.
Mine is an actual Anova btw, though I can't remember the exact type name.
 
My two cents on sous vide… I prefer the joule for a few reasons. One, and most important, is that I can turn it on from outside my house. If I’m on my way home from work, or coming back from the bar buzzed and hungry, I can have my water warmed up by the time I get home, then just put my frozen vacuum sealed meal in the water and in 20 minutes I’m good to go. This is really a game changer for me. Quicker than cooking, quicker than Uber eats. It does a very good job of warming the water up quickly. I’ve also used it as a very handy way to figure out if my power is out at home, by connecting to it and seeing if I can turn it on. Then again that last one is minor since there are plenty of other solutions for that. My only gripe about Joule is they seem to tap out at about a year and a half to two years if you don’t take them out of the water regularly, clean and service them, etc. I think that sous vide cooking and reheating is so good that everyone should have one. I just wish that there was a better solution to all the single use plastics that get wasted with those bags. I do know that they sell the reusable bags, which I try and use as much as possible, but since most of my sous vide use is from bulk meal prep where I’m freezing 20-30 bags of a recipe in individual servings for reheating later… it’s unavoidable at this point.
 
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I just want to add this because I think it’s important… when you’re using sous vide it’s absolutely imperative that the bag is dry and free of water before you start dumping stuff onto plates for eating or for next steps. Just a small amount of that water is enough to get you super sick. I’ve only had self induced food poisoning twice, and both times were from not doing this. Water that’s heated and cooled, heated and cooled, that DOES have food in it since those bags are not completely impermeable and they do let oils/other organics to leach out of them, are a perfect breeding ground for some nasty bacteria that will have you worshiping the porcelain throne for hours.
 
Delat said:
I’m surprised to hear the noise complaint; mine is extremely quiet, just a low hum. I’ve noticed that mine needs a certain minimum water level to avoid churning which is noisy. If I go just above that level, which is a bit higher than the minimum level indicated on the device, it quiets down a ton.

One of the fun things I like to sous vide is individual crime brûlée jars. Less stress and easy peasy vs doing it an oven. I do a similar thing except with eggs to make small single-serve breakfast cups. I usually put some leftover bolognese sauce or bacon jam in the bottom, then mix up eggs with cheese and salt to fill, then sous vide.

Here’s a video of the crème brûlée process from my IG. I understand you can skip tempering the eggs when doing sous vide but I’ve never tried it.
Click to expand...

Awesomee, nice video! Congrats on the work, thanks for the info!
 
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