The Best Sous Vide Machines/Immersion Circulators

Equipment expert Adam Ried then reviews his top pick for sous vide machines.

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[vizigru]

I understand that "pairing your mobile and setting from there" isn't too hard, but the one thing I really enjoy with the Anova is actually that I just plug the thing, press ON, scroll the wheel to temperature and that's it.
Never got to starting/stopping remotely (which you can do but I never really needed).
I just like setting my oven timer for "shorter timers" (1-2h) or calendar reminder for longer ones (72h brisket anyone?). Really the beauty of sous-vide is the set and forget, and you don't care if you cooked for 30 minutes more than needed, it barely affects anything

[Okoleiman]

I LOVE my Joule. I fangirled when I met the ChefSteps crew a few years later at a dinner event.

[Panoz]

I have owned the Anova for about 2.5 years. I have been very satisfied with its overall performance. I paired it with my phone initially and that worked pretty well but with some glitches. The app never really worked as advertised, but still worth the space on the phone. After about a year or so it lost connectivity to the app on my phone and nothing I have tried has restored the connectivity. Now I use it manually with the buttons. Without those buttons, I would have had to replace it. On/Off and temperature setting with the buttons is easy. Setting the timer with the buttons is more complicated and I eventually just started using my oven timer or another separate timer. If it ever fails, I would likely buy another Anova to replace.

[rolandgauruder]

I find that I am watching you increasingly more! You’re becoming a cultural and teaching powerhouse.

[blackfox]

Joule has to be the best Customer service oriented company I have dealt with. Yesterday my Joule had a small malfunction, so I sent Customer Support an email. Within 30 minutes they said sorry for the inconvenience and advised me they were immediately shipping me a new replacement and to Canada. Now this is Customer Service... I bought mine when they were only taking pre-orders... Had to wait 6 months, but I have NEVER had an issue till today. Thanks Joule.

[charleschapman]

I have a insta pot sous vid for around $80 dollars it works great. I like the wheel on the Anova but I could buy two insta pot cookers and still have money to buy a nice container and lid. In order to get the best experience with a sous vide you need accessories like a container and lid along with a rack to hold your food, the clip on the side doesn't work if you have a lid. Eventually you might need a Bigger container and lid for larger pieces of food, this way you have one big one and one small one, you don't want just the Big one. Trying to heat the water in a large container isn't something you want to do all the time if you only have a small item. I often heat water in a pot on the stove to get started, it's quicker than any sous vide machine.
I do love my Sous vid cooking.

[MrKhho]

It's good seeing familiar faces again. I miss the old test kitchen sometimes.

[stolas]

I own the joule and it’s my favorite kitchen appliance! My boys chefsteps in Seattle for the win! Congrats!

[MaeV]

Got the joule over the holidays. Finally started putting it use. Only two 8 hour uses so far. No issues pairing with my phone. Sound is not bad when it's on.

[elliottchaska]

Got my Anova 2 years ago for way less and I love it. I rarely use the wifi part as I'm there setting it up to use. I couldn't imagine food in bag in water quarter to half a day before starting up (even if frozen in ice water).

[phlydude]

Bought an Anova a few years back for $100 or so - regularly can be found for that price prior to pandemic pricing - for the $$, it is amazing and has allowed for some low and slow cooks without having the fuss of setting up a BBQ pit/grill/smoker (minus the smoke flavor of course)

[shorttimer]

I have an Anova, which I got before the Joule came out, and a Mellow, a water bath style. Unless I'm using both or need to cook a lot I always use the Mellow. The reason is simple, as it's set up it takes up the same counter space as a loaf of bread so it's always sitting on the counter, for me that out weighs everything else.

Pros: small footprint, double walled tank and lid so less heat loss and no water loss, cooling circuit ( but since it was given to me it's been discovered that it doesn't cool down food to the safe zone fast enough, I use both pre-bagged food and water from the frig for that), it's tall/narrow tank means you can set freezer bags in upright without closing them - the water will push the air out of the bag and won't get in plus the lid keeps the bags submerged, and has a wifi app that can be controlled from anywhere, app can be set for start and stop time and is pre-programmed for auto time/temp for many type of food.

Cons: small capacity, four servings is pretty much it, no physical controls except through wifi, for me it's little noisy, uses bubbles to circulate the water (think fish tank) though no one else in the family notices it, turns itself on sometime thinking something has been put in the tank, and while the app has a manual mode it still doesn't give you full direct control - for instance if you try to start with water from a kettle to speed things up it complains that the water is too hot and will not start.

[epaul]

It’s been a year since this test. I thought the joule sounded good. But after reviews from 2021, the reviews are not so great. There seems to be WiFi issues and/or mechanical issues. There are companies that are not honoring warranty issues as well.

[rolojonzun]

You published this vid just in time. I am shopping sous vide appliances. Thanks !

[cbobwhite]

bought a Immersion Circulator, almost 2 years ago, and was wondering if you'd ever post show involving them. The one I bought was pretty cheap but it works great. Makes the best medium rare steaks, ever.

[mencken]

Got the Anova Bluetooth / Wifi model back when there weren’t too many others. Works fine, great app. These things aren’t that complicated.

[tjotwo]

We purchased the AN500 and the smaller Anova 750W Nano model in late November of 2019. 27 months later, they both have failed within a few weeks of each other.

Within the first year, the AN500 became loose such that it had to be handled carefully, with both hands, to keep it together. Otherwise, it worked very well and we were very pleased and impressed with the precision and ease of use. But shortly after the Nano failed, the AN500 had the impeller come loose from the motor shaft. It would heat but not circulate water.

I was able to take the impeller off the Nano that failed and use it on the AN500. But, now there is an occasional noise like a failing bearing and/or the impeller rubbing on its housing. So, I am not going to take the time and trouble to try to repair it, due to the way the Nano failed.

The Nano had a factory tape over the middle joint and it held together well. But one day, I noticed water violently boiling around the Nona. At first, I thought maybe one of the bags got too close and the water pumping against it was splashing out of the tub. But then I realized all the water in the tub was at or near boiling point. It fouled up a large Porter House steak and breached the seal on one or two of the other bags.

[bdporter]

Kind of odd that you didn't review the current Anova version, or their Nano unit.

[seank]

Love my joule. If it were to ever break I would buy another without question

[jessstuart]

I made my own sous vide out of a temperature controller (about $15), temperature sensor (about $8) and an old crockpot.