Sous Vide Circulators Is it worth the $150+ price?

Yeah if you use it for the stuff it's good at like large roasts, low temp tough cuts, gels, tempered chocolate and shit

Not if you just got memed into buying it to make steak. You can do that with a pan and an oven just fine.

>>8434303
>Is it worth the $150+ price?

Given that you can DIY something for a fraction of that cost I'd say no, it's not.

Sous vide is a great cooking technique but the price of the circulators is skyhigh because it's still a niche thing. There's absolutely no reason why they need to cost that much.

>>8434310
I eat mostly the same food every day.
Chicken+rice+steamed vegetables.

I thought about buying one to save time, i already have a steamer for the rice+veggies, but i heard sous vide chicken is 10x better than the regular "chicken in the pan" method.

Plus ill mabye try some steak, never done it before, créme brulée, burgers. It seems so convinient, i don't know how much care it takes to own one, like what about cleaning and maintenance?

>>8434321
>like what about cleaning and maintenance?

There isn't any. The only thing that the immersion circulator touches is clean water.

>>8434335
So high mineral content doesn't matter? hahaha that's what I thought toiletfucker.

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>>8434340
>he doesn't use distilled water

>>8434340

If you have high mineral content the cleaning procedure would be no different than for a coffee maker--just run it in vinegar or buy one of those commercial cleaning mixes. Its so simple it's not worth mentioning.

>>8434340
vinegar should deal with that ig

>>8434349
>If you have high mineral content the cleaning procedure would be no different than for a coffee maker--just run it in vinegar or buy one of those commercial cleaning mixes. Its so simple it's not worth mentioning.
So there is cleaning and maintenance. Check mate.

>>8434354

Assuming that you have hard water, sure. You sure beat me, anon!

And what about the overall quality of the food? Is it really "restaurant quality"?

>>8434321

sous vide chicken can be really nice, yeah, but i don't personally think it's SO much nicer that i can never go back to doing it the old way. it depends what you like really. i like food that's cooked a little unevenly personally.

now sous vide calamari, or short rib, or pork belly, that shit is bananas. and yeah the creme brulee process along with other custards and gelling stuff like that is really convenient.

>>8434389

sous vide is just a tool that allows you to take knowledge about how temperature affects your food and apply it directly as efficiently and precisely as possible. you have to have that knowledge. i've seen so many people buy a sous vide machine and slip a thin steak in there then take it out and try to sear it still wet straight from the bag, and that's just not gonna give you what the pretty pictures on chefsteps or modernist cuisine or whatever offer. but if you learn how to use it, yes, it can make amazing (and unique) food

>>8434413
Thanks for your help. I've been reading quite a lot about the sous vide dos and don'ts, and as i said, the main point for me is the convinience.
I live in college, our kitchen is a mess, i don't really like cooking in there, but i like fresh food, and i eat about 3500-4000 kcal a day -- so kitchen appliances like rice cookers, vegetable steamers, slow cookers and sous vide seem really appealing.

Also, i don't pay for the electricity, so having these on almost 24/7 would be no issue at all for the next 3-4 years.

Just got the Anova I ordered for myself for Christmas (Black Friday sale) and cooked pork chops.

Hot damn it was good. Followed my mayne man Kenji's instructions and they turned out so good.

My porkchops are always overdone because I'm afraid of undercooking pork and now that's a thing of the past. Looking forward to fish and chicken!

>>8434389
>And what about the overall quality of the food?

It's a tool. The quality of the finished dish depends on the skill and care of the person using it.

>>8434318
What are some diy sous vide methods?

I have done the beer cooler and pot with a silicone pot holder.

>>8434439
Yeah im definitely waiting for the next sale. I need a 220v EU plug one, it's much harder to find at a good price.

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>>8434461
>What are some diy sous vide methods?

Buy a temperature controller aka thermostat and hook it up to a rice cooker, crock pot, or pic related with a pot set on top.

>>8434303
Got the anova for christmas, already love it.

>>8434482
>implying it can keep the temperature in a 0,2 C range

>>8434487

Indeed it can. Most industrial temperature controllers are more accurate than that.

Also, the designs based on a rice cooker or a crock pot are a lot more stable than an immersion circ dropped into a normal pot. Why? Because those things are insulated, and because the heating element is large and covers the entire vessel rather than being some tiny little thing inside the immersion unit.

...not that you need such an autistic level of precision anyway.

>>8434482
I have a crock pot I never use, I'm not very handy though. Could a retard like me do it?

>>8434493
>Indeed it can. Most industrial temperature controllers are more accurate than that.
lol no

>>8434510

Just google it, anon. there are plenty of step-by-step instruction guides out there.

>>8434493
I seriously doubt a crock pot can hold temperatures within a .2 C range.

>>8434526
You're not joking. Thank you, friendly anon

>>8434531

The crock pot is simply there as the vessel and the heater. You install a separate temperature controller which handles keeping the temperature stable. You're not actually using the thermostat in the crock pot anymore, the temperature controller you bought is handling that.

And because the crock pot is a) insulated and b) contains a thick-and-heavy vessel, it will hold its temperature much more stable than a thin-walled un-insulated pot.

PID temperature controllers have been around for decades. This isn't anything new or fancy.

>>8434423

ok, yeah, sous vide is good for making large batches with good quality control, and making good food out of cheap cuts of meat. you can take a big pork shoulder or tough cut of beef or pile of chicken breasts and just let it go, then portion it out and freeze it for high quality tuck whenever you want, or just keep it in the fridge and incorporate it into different salads and sandwiches and pastas and shit over the course of a week. it's really good for that. you can even do it in your room to keep out of the kitchen and avoid whiny fellow dormers arguing over cleanup and counter space.

another cool thing with sous vide is that you control the moisture loss of the food. all meat loses a certain quantity moisture as it cooks to a given temperature, and with sous vide it remains in the bag, so you can use it for a jus or whatever. there are recipes out there, like boeuf en croute for example, where this is really useful - because if you precook the beef you can hold on to those juices while preventing them from soaking into the pastry and preventing browning and crispness. those juices will be lost to the pan or the air in traditional methods, or be mixed into the surrounding ingredients which isn't necessarily desirable

>>8434634
Thats what i thought of. A lerge container from IKEA, put in meat, cook, into the freezer it goes.

I just have to thaw+fry it for a minute, and thats all.

Noise can be an issue tho, i live with 3 other people, so no cooking at night i guess.. Or i can leave it in our library or somewhere

>>8434654
i want to buy your product now

>>8434466
That's the one I got. It was 1000HKD (~120USD) shipped, though it took a while to actually ship.

>>8434310
This. I think the sous vide steak is so overrated. Fish and chicken breast tho. Life changing.

>>8434493
>not using a styrofoam box

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>>8434303
Just received this Anova yesterday (got it for 70 euros with an amazon gift card), tried it on a tuna steak right away. Holy fucking dicknipples, that was the best tuna I've ever tasted. Gonna have to try some meat/veg with it.

You know I think the reason sous vide is so mindblowing to so many people (myself included) is because you go through life thinking you're cooking pretty well and keeping close to the right temperatures, but then you get a machine that is pretty much infallible with the added bonus of looking like you're cooking like a molecular gastronomic spaceman and when a machine actually makes meat the right level of doneness it taste super good.