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Advice for first Sous Vide stick

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    Advice for first Sous Vide stick

    I know I could go down a black hole in researching which one of these to get but I figure if I ask for the pro's input it will save me a lot of time and hassle to know I am getting a good stick. I am looking a the Amazon prime day deals and see two different ones that jump out to me. The Instant Pot SSV800 and the Anova Nano. I see there is a 50W difference but I don't believe that is a huge deal it will just take a little longer to warm up. I don't see a requirement of bluetooth or wifi so those are not really deciding factors to me. Here are links to the Amazon pages

    https://www.amazon.com/Anova-Culinar...gateway&sr=8-3 $64.35

    https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-S...KX0DER&sr=8-13 $54.99

    #2
    See if they have the Joule on sale. You won't regret buying one.

    Kathryn

    Comment


      #3
      Both the Anova and the Joule are good machines. The insta-pot is fairly new so a little harder to gauge its longevity. I personally prefer the Anova as you can run manually. The Joule requires the use of a smartphone to operate. Make sure u are buying genuine Anova on Amazon there are (or where) some warnings on the Anova website

      Comment


        #4
        I have a second generation Anova with Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is a neat trick, at first. Now I don't bother with it. You need your immersion circulator to 1) heat water accurately, 2) maintain temperature without fluctuation, and 3) circulate water in a container. Bells and whistles aren't required.

        Comment


        • CaptainMike
          CaptainMike commented
          Editing a comment
          Wut he sed.

        • Huskee
          Huskee commented
          Editing a comment
          +2

        #5
        Amazon has a very liberal return policy. Buy them both, test them, and then keep the one that does what you need.

        Comment


          #6
          BTW - if you get into SV, you'll likely want a second one at least. :-) MCS2? More Circulator Syndrome?

          Comment


          • crazytown3
            crazytown3 commented
            Editing a comment
            +1 on that. I obtained my 2nd unit a few months after the first. Things need 2 different temps sometimes, so I was forced to buy the 2nd one.

          • pkadare
            pkadare commented
            Editing a comment
            crazytown3 - Forced, heh, heh, heh. :-)

          #7
          Happy with my Anova

          Comment


          • ComfortablyNumb
            ComfortablyNumb commented
            Editing a comment
            Myself as well. Like that I don't need to use a phone to operate it.

          • Greygoose
            Greygoose commented
            Editing a comment
            I like the KISS principle,,,keep it simple Sammy but my name ain’t Smmy LOL😂🤣

          • mnavarre
            mnavarre commented
            Editing a comment
            Same here. I think i've used the app more to look at recipes for time/temp than I've used it to control the unit.

          #8
          The ChefSteps Joule is on sale for 139.30.

          Comment


          • raven
            raven commented
            Editing a comment
            I saw that too but honestly I don't see the need for myself to have wifi and the extra cost associated with that.

          • klflowers
            klflowers commented
            Editing a comment
            raven I agree. I have the Anova and I don't use the wifi at all. Luckily I got it really cheap before they got so popular. The joule has a good rep though.

          • Spinaker
            Spinaker commented
            Editing a comment
            It is also a much higher quality unit with recipes, pre loaded cook times, and a company that will stand behind their product. raven

          #9
          I have 2 units, both of them are 'off brands', and they both work great. Neither one has bluetooth or wifi, and that's just fine with me.

          - VAVA Sous Vide Cooker
          - Dash Sous Vide

          That being said, I think the Anova units are very well supported, and the Anova Nano is one I have considered getting as a 3rd unit (MCS2 indeed).

          Comment


            #10
            Anova, hands down. Best bang for the buck. You can sometimes find the larger unit on sale for around $99, makes it a much better bang for the buck than the Joule. Joule's a fine machine, just can't justify the additional cost.

            Comment


            • pkadare
              pkadare commented
              Editing a comment
              Not to mention the absolute need for another device in order to be able to use it. I've got the Anova that does both blue tooth and WiFi, and I'm a huge gadget geek. Really have never used my phone or any other device with it.

            • Troutman
              Troutman commented
              Editing a comment
              As a negative comment, I had my Anova app simply blow up on me over the weekend. I had logged probably 25-30 cooks on there. The app just went haywire. Tried to revive it but no go. Ended up downloading it again to get it to work but lost all my recipes, dang it. They need to cloud base it like the Fireboard to avoid that from occurring.

            #11
            I have them all. Pretty good luck with them. I use them all the time

            Comment


              #12
              Not that this has anything to do with your choices, but buying one and using it is a game changer (gawd I hate that term, can't believe I just used it). Had a meal to make for the wife and myself on Saturday night and had nothing thawed. I opened the freezer inside the house and started to dig, I keep a log of my meat freezer in the garage but not the one in the house. Anyway I get to the bottom and here are a couple of choice ribeyes from October of 2018 looking all gnarly but still well sealed in their vacuum bag.

              So I fire up the Anova in my small container and 20 minutes later I'm at 129* and I plop them still frozen into the bath. I took off and had an errand to run, came back after an hour and let them go for another hour. Went outside and fired up the Jumbo Joe, filled the charcoal basket with 1/3 chimney full of coals. At the end of the bath I seasoned, seared and those little choice steaks tasted like pure California gold. Tender, wall-to-wall perfectly medium rare pink in color with a glorious mahogany sear. Really enjoyed those little buggers.

              So...the moral to the story is don't even hesitate to buy a circulator. Those who turn their noses up at SV cooking have no clue of it's potential.

              Comment


              • Troutman
                Troutman commented
                Editing a comment
                Ziplocks work fine, you can clip them to the edge of the container you're cooking in. The water will push the air out of the bag by displacement pressure and you get a good result. Just want to make sure you keep the sealed end out of the water and you get a good surface area adhesion to the meat so it can cook evenly. Vac sealers aren't that expensive, I'd still advise investing in one of those instead.

              • klflowers
                klflowers commented
                Editing a comment
                I bought mine on a lark - I had read some stuff on here about the Anova, and I saw it on sale cheap and grabbed it. It is a very useful tool - right up there behind my SNS.

              • stratfordwill
                stratfordwill commented
                Editing a comment
                Another +1 for the Anova, and for Troutman's comments. My experience has been the same. SV is awesome in it's own right for things like corn, fish, and eggs. But in combination with grilling and smoking, it's an invaluable enhancement to your toolkit. Be sure to check out serious eats sous vide section for recipes and ideas. (there's also really good pressure cooker stuff on serious eats, but alas, I think Troutman has probably already seen it and remains unconvinced)

              #13
              I just pulled the trigger on the Instant Pot SSV800. Looks like I was too late for the Anova Nano sale. At $55 bucks, Instant Pot seems like a good intro into world of sous vide.

              Comment


              • pkadare
                pkadare commented
                Editing a comment
                I think you made a good choice. If you ever want to SV a big hunk of meat the Nano may have been a bit under-powered. Thanks for assisting the Canadian economy, eh!

              • Huskee
                Huskee commented
                Editing a comment
                I agree

              #14
              SV cooking adds a whole new cooking experience and new tool to your cooking arsenal. Consider purchasing this book "Modernist Cooking Sous Vide" There is also a Sous Vide FB forum that is very helpful for beginners

              Comment


              • pkadare
                pkadare commented
                Editing a comment
                No need to spend $25 on an SV book, there are tons of free SV resources online. The SV FB forum is very busy and the admin is a bit of a dick. YMMV.

              • Bkhuna
                Bkhuna commented
                Editing a comment
                I started off with sous vide several year ago by reading the Serious Eats and Modernist Cuisine web sites. I can't see the utility of buying a book, although I do admit to using a tablet in the kitchen at times when I'm trying to follow a new recipe.

              #15
              @pjlstrat - No you do not NEED a vacuum sealer. However, it is nice to be able to buy meat in bulk, vacuum seal it, and put in the freezer, where is will reside for many months waiting to take a nice edible jacuzzi.

              Comment


              • Dr. Pepper
                Dr. Pepper commented
                Editing a comment
                Like this use for the vacuum bagging: Costco prime strip, aged 34 days in Umai Dry bag, trimmed, cut and frozen yesterday. (photos on page 2 of this thread)
                Last edited by Dr. Pepper; July 16, 2019, 06:16 PM.

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