Sous vide best buy: Best Buy Anova Sous Vide Cooker

4 Best Sous Vide Machines – Top Sous Vide Cookers

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Best Overall Sous Vide Machine

Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker Pro

Best Overall Sous Vide Machine

Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker Pro

Now 34% Off

$263 at Amazon$239 at Walmart$200 at Home Depot

Credit: Anova

Pros

Heated quickly and maintained temperature well
Detachable clamp fits most pots

Cons

Timer is quiet and easy to miss

Anova’s Precision Cooker Pro heated our water bath in record time and maintained the set temperature within 0.1 degrees, and its large touchscreen panel is extremely intuitive. The detachable clamp is adjustable so it can secure to multiple different sizes of pot. This pick also has a user-friendly manual and is Wi-Fi enabled to pair with the Anova app, which includes presets that can act as both cooking guide and recipe inspiration. We did find that the timer is extremely quiet and hard to hear, but the cooker won’t stop circulating until you turn it off, so your food should stay safely at the set temperature after the cook time is complete.

Dimensions	13.8″ x 3.5″ x 2.4″
Weight	3 lbs
Control method	Built-in interface and app
Wattage	1,200 watts

Best Value Sous Vide Machine

Instant Pot Accu Slim Sous Vide Immersion Circulator

Best Value Sous Vide Machine

Instant Pot Accu Slim Sous Vide Immersion Circulator

$98 at Amazon$90 at JCPenney

Credit: Instant Pot

Pros

Slim and compact design
Beginner-friendly interface

Cons

Clamp isn’t adjustable, so may not fit all pots
Lacks the power of other models

The Instant Pot model is not the most powerful option on the market, but it is sleeker and smaller than most, and the control panel is clear and easy to program. The manual has simple instructions and a thorough cooking guide, so it’s a great option for anyone newly interested in sous vide cooking. It got solid ratings in our tests and can be trusted to maintain a set temperature to cook chicken, steak and eggs. The clamp is attached at a fixed height, so you may not be able to use it with every pot in your kitchen, but it’s a solid pick that’ll get the job done.

Dimensions	16.06″ x 7.28″ x 4.92″
Weight	2.82 lbs
Control method	Built-in interface
Wattage	800

Best Sous Vide Machine for Beginners

Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker Nano

Best Sous Vide Machine for Beginners

Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker Nano

Now 34% Off

$99 at Amazon$99 at Walmart$100 at Home Depot

Credit: Anova

Pros

Budget-friendly
Intuitive touchscreen interface

Cons

Clamp height may not fit in all pots
Takes a while to heat water

Similar to our top pick, the Pro, this Anova Precision Cooker Nano is very straightforward to use with the same intuitive touchscreen control panel and app compatibility. This older model is smaller, which does contribute to the reduced wattage (it took nearly seven minutes longer than the Pro to heat a water bath to the same temperature). But it still works effectively at a lower price point for sous vide beginners who aren’t ready to commit to the cost of the Pro. The manual has clear illustrations and a thorough cooking guide. Unlike the Pro, the Nano has an attached clamp, so pots must meet a minimum height for the device to attach properly.

Dimensions	4.1″ x 2.2″ x 12.8″
Weight	1.7 lbs
Control method	Built-in interface and app
Wattage	750

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Best Sous Vide Machine Design

Breville Joule Sous Vide

Best Sous Vide Machine Design

Breville Joule Sous Vide

$250 at Williams Sonoma

Credit: Breville

Pros

Sleek design
Heats quickly

Cons

Wi-Fi exclusive connection, which can be risky

Don’t let the minimalist design of the Joule Sous Vide fool you: This small machine doesn’t sacrifice substance for style. The Joule heated our water bath faster than most larger models. It does have a smaller clamp, but the weighted suction bottom keeps it standing sturdily in a pot. The app is straightforward with accurate time and temperature presets, but it’s the only way to operate the device: There are no controls on the cooker itself (only the on/off button). This means you’re relying entirely on your Wi-Fi connection and phone battery, so if you lose access to your phone, you could encounter some issues.

Dimensions	11″ x 1.85″ x 1.85″
Weight	1.28 lbs
Control method	App only
Wattage	1,100

How we test sous vide machines

To help you find the sous vide cooker that’s best for you, the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen teamed up with the Good Housekeeping Institute to test 13 immersion circulators for ease of use and performance. We evaluated each on how long it takes to heat a water bath, how intuitive it was to use and whether it can be clipped easily to the side of a variety of pots or containers. Then we set them to work cooking steak, chicken and eggs to see which excel for sous vide recipes and beyond.

What to look for when shopping for a sous vide machine

✔️ Interface/app/timer: Some newer sous vide machines can be paired with a smartphone app to help you control and monitor the temperature, set timers and even save recipes and create presets. One pick on our list — the Joule Sous Vide — functions soley via app, but some also have an interface on the device itself. If you’d rather not use an app, look for a model with a clearly readable display and easy-to-use controls.

✔️ Temperature control: While it may seem like machines that can reach higher temperatures are better, that isn’t always the case for sous vide cookers. Recipes rarely call for high heat because they usually need to reach only the temperature required for a specific doneness — like 165˚F for chicken. The more critical factor with temperature control is accuracy: Look for a sous vide cooker that has precise programming that allows you to set it to the integer, or even half integer, and that can maintain the temperature with consistency.

✔️ Attachment method: Sous vide cookers attach to the side of whatever container you plan to use (such as a Dutch oven or a large storage container) via a clamp, generally as a clip-on or screw-on style. One isn’t better than the other, but the screw-on clamps do require a little more manual effort. Some machines also have a magnet on the bottom or side to help hold the cooker in place so it doesn’t wobble around if you use a metal container.

✔️ Size: While size isn’t necessarily an indicator of power, it’s an important consideration because it can affect what container or pot it can be attached to. Make sure the immersion circulator you have in mind will fit easily in the container you intend to use.

✔️ Wattage: Wattage affects how much water the sous vide cooker can heat, and how quickly it can do so. If you plan to use a bigger container for larger foods or bulk cooks, it might be a good idea to look for a higher wattage. If you plan to use a small container or a pot, something lower will do the trick.

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What is sous vide cooking?

Sous vide translates from French to “under vacuum,” which refers to the sealed pouches of food that are cooked in a water bath. A sous vide machine controls the temperature of that water bath, heating it to a precise temperature so it can gently cook the food in those sealed plastic bags (often used for pieces of meat) or, sometimes, glass jars (frequently used for custards or patés). Because the water does not exceed the set temperature, this style of cooking makes it hard to overcook food, which is helpful for those who cook meat frequently. It’s great for tough, less expensive cuts of meat, like pork butt or brisket, that benefit from long cook times so they can become tender. It’s also well suited to cooking eggs, vegetables and even yogurt.

How to use a sous vide machine

To start, you’ll need at least three things: water, a large container and a sealable bag. Vacuum-sealed bags are the standard, but you can also use a high-quality resealable bag, like a freezer bag with a double seal. We recommend using a minimal amount of spices or aromatics to season the food before bagging since cooking sous vide amplifies the flavor of the food. Just fill the bag, suck the air out and drop it into the heated water bath in your container.

You can sous vide just about anything — some cooks even use sous vide to soft-boil eggs. If you’re cooking meat, you’ll likely want to quickly sear it in a pan after the sous vide cook (solely because meat cooked sous vide tends to come out of the bag gray and unappealing, even though it’s perfectly delicious): Get a pan ripping hot and sear just long enough to acheive a beautiful brown crust before serving. Recipes are a good place to start until you get the hang of the process: We have 25 great sous vide recipes for everything from steak to chicken and crème brûlée.

Why trust Good Housekeeping?

Nicole Papantoniou is the director of the Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab, where she’s constantly testing new kitchen products and food items. She frequently tests smart kitchen appliances, and the best brisket she ever made was cooked with an immersion circulator.

Abigail Bailey is the assistant to the general manager of the Good Housekeeping Institute, and she covers a wide range of products, including kitchen gear, like Japanese knives, and home goods, such as shower curtains. She worked closely with Nicole to research all of the ins and outs of sous vide machines for this article.

Abigail Bailey

Assistant to the General Manager

Abigail (she/her) covers everything from kitchen gear to mattresses and smart blinds for the Institute, as well as assisting the General Manager in any number of projects. She graduated from Louisiana State University with a B.A. in creative writing, as well as earning her M.S. in publishing digital and print media from New York University. Before GH, she worked at LSU Press and The Southern Review literary magazine. In her free time you can find her quilting, cross-stitching or trying to figure out how to squeeze one more bookshelf in her tiny apartment.

Nicole Papantoniou

Kitchen Appliances & Innovation Lab Director

Nicole (she/her) is the director of the Good Housekeeping Institute’s Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab, where she has overseen content and testing related to kitchen and cooking appliances, tools and gear since 2019. She’s an experienced product tester and recipe creator, trained in classic culinary arts and culinary nutrition. She has worked in test kitchens for small kitchen appliance brands and national magazines, including Family Circle and Ladies’ Home Journal.

The 6 Best Sous Vide Cookers, Tested by The Spruce Eats

Deal Alert! One of our favorite sous vide cookers, the compact Anova Nano, is currently discounted for Prime Day.

What if we told you that the best way to cook a steak is to put it in a bag and let it bathe in hot water for hours or even days? First developed by innovative chefs using equipment designed for science labs, sous vide is a cooking method that yields tender meats, flavorful vegetables, and even perfectly cooked eggs and custards.

The name means “under vacuum” in French, and the technique involves sealing food in a bag and then slowly cooking it in water in which the temperature is maintained at a very specific level for a long time. It’s virtually impossible to overcook dishes with sous vide, and it can achieve flavors and textures that you can’t get any other way.

In the last few years, sous vide has caught on among amateur cooks, and there are now lots of choices out there for simple, affordable devices designed for home kitchen use. We rounded up a long list of top models and tested them to evaluate setup, ease of use, performance, and more.

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Our Ratings

Setup

4.3/5
Performance

4/5
Ease of Use

5/5

What We Like

What We Don’t Like

Anova Precision Cooker Review

The Anova brand is pretty much the biggest name in sous vide, and its Precision Cooker is the industry standard for consumer-level home machines. It took slightly longer than average to heat to target temperature in testing (30 minutes versus 26), but it was able to maintain temperature with amazing accuracy. The water bath dropped by less than half a degree after the chicken went in, took less than a minute to recover, and stayed at almost exactly 165 the whole time. We achieved great results with steak and soft-boiled eggs, but chicken was the star—it came out the butteriest and tastiest of the whole test.

The Precision Cooker is as simple to set up as just plugging it in, and the adjustable clamp lets you attach it to just about any vessel, submerging the heating element at just the right depth. For the sous-vide beginner, Anova’s app offers a wealth of assistance in the form of recipes and video tutorials, along with the ability to schedule and control cooking from afar using the Precision Cooker’s Wi-Fi connection. That’s a great option when you’re cooking a sous-vide meal that might take several days, but we found the controls a bit wonky, with the connection cutting in and out and interfering with using the app to control the cooker. Thankfully, it has its own onboard manual controls that work just fine, and the app’s recipes and demos are still quite helpful.

The Precision Cooker doesn’t come with its own bags for sealing food, but you can do that with a standard freezer bag or your own vacuum sealer. When it comes to retail price, this machine is fairly middle-of-the-road. However, it seems to go on sale pretty often; check a few retailers to see if any discounts are available.

(Note: Anova has recently released a 3.0 version of the Precision Cooker that adds 100 watts of power and upgrades the Wi-Fi connectivity and touchscreen. The version featured here is still available, but we will update this story with insights when we’ve finished testing the new model.)

Price at time of publish: $219

The Spruce Eats / Lindsay Boyer

Dimensions: 3.1 x 5.3 x 12.8 inches | Weight: 2.8 pounds | Power: 1,000 watts | Maximum Water Temperature: 197 degrees | Accuracy: +/- 0.2 degrees

Amazon

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Our Ratings

Setup

4.5/5
Performance

4.5/5
Ease of Use

4.5/5

What We Like

What We Don’t Like

Expensive
No manual controls

Joule Sous Vide by ChefSteps Review

The Joule was first introduced by the ChefSteps brand in 2016 as a compact, app-controlled machine designed to bring sous-vide cooking into range for even beginner home cooks. ChefSteps has since been acquired by Breville, but the Joule has remained largely the same. (Note: We tested a ChefSteps-branded model made before the merger.)

This sous-vide cooker is loaded with great features and is one of the smallest on the market. At just 11 inches tall and weighing just over a pound, it’ll fit easily into a kitchen drawer, but its 1,000 watts of power can also maintain the temperature of more than 10 gallons of water at once. (On the other end of the scale, it can work with as little as an inch and a half of water in the cooking vessel.) It has a unique magnetic foot to hold it in place in the middle of a steel or iron pot, but it also comes with a clip on the side to attach to a container made of any material.

In our testing, the Joule was one of the fastest to reach temperature, bringing the pot of water to 165 degrees in 22 minutes. Strangely though, it was one of the slowest to recover after we put the chicken into the water, taking almost two full minutes, but the results were perfect anyway. Salmon and pork chops came out well, too.

We also love the look: This minimalist cylinder might as well have been designed by Steve Jobs. It’s a technological marvel, controllable with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi via an app that lets you choose what you’re cooking and how well-done you want it rather than merely selecting a temperature and time. The downside is that you can only set it with the app. There are no onboard controls at all, and we had a few glitches at first getting it connected.

Price at time of publish: $250

The Spruce Eats / Hailey Eber

Dimensions: 1.9 x 1.9 x 11 inches | Weight: 1.3 pounds | Power: 1,100 watts | Maximum Water Temperature: 208 degrees | Accuracy: +/- 0.2 degrees

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Our Ratings

Setup

2.3/5
Performance

3. 6/5
Ease of Use

4/5

What We Like

Compact
Inexpensive
Accurate

What We Don’t Like

Instant Pot Accu Slim Sous Vide Immersion Circulator Review

From the kitchen-appliance wizards behind the Instant Pot, this immersion circulator is super compact and one of the cheapest models out there. You can actually use your Instant Pot cooking pot if you have one, but it also clips to any pot, bowl, or other container large and heat-resistant enough for sous vide. It held a very accurate 165 degrees in our testing, though its mere 800 watts of power did take a fairly long time to get there. It’s a little slower in general than other models: After our 90-minute test cook, the chicken breast was fully cooked but had uneven texture and wasn’t completely tender throughout yet. However, the Accu Slim was excellent at longer jobs, making beautiful crème fraîche (set it to 96 degrees for 24 hours), crème brûlée in canning jars (the rich custard came out silky smooth), and even pickles.

The Accu Slim’s low price does mean you lose a few features found in other models, such as Wi-Fi connectivity and remote control capabilities, and there’s no included recipe booklet or app. In one longer cook, the water evaporated below the level of the unit’s safety sensor and it shut off; make sure you have a large enough container to hold plenty of extra water. However, we found the interface was easy to read, the temperature accurate, and the slim size a bonus for those with limited storage space.

Price at time of publish: $100

The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie

Dimensions: 2.6 x 2.6 x 13.5 inches | Weight: 1.9 pounds | Power: 800 watts | Maximum Water Temperature: 203 degrees | Accuracy: +/- 0.1 degrees

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Our Ratings

Setup

5/5
Performance

4/5
Ease of Use

5/5

What We Like

What We Don’t Like

Clamp isn’t adjustable
No Wi-Fi connectivity
Doesn’t include bags

Anova Precision Cooker Nano Review

The little brother of our top-rated Anova above, the sleek Nano wowed us with how evenly it cooked a wide range of meats—from steaks and pork tenderloin to chicken. It’s significantly smaller, less powerful, and less expensive than the full-sized Precision Cooker but was still able to maintain sous-vide temperatures without much trouble. It was fairly slow to heat up, taking 35 minutes to reach 165 degrees in our test, but it brought the chicken breast back to temp quickly and cooked it thoroughly in 90 minutes. (We might have given the chicken a few more minutes for perfect tenderness, but that’s really more of a personal preference thing.)

The Nano can connect to your phone via Bluetooth, but it doesn’t have Wi-Fi capability, so you have to be within about 30 feet of the machine to control it with the Anova app. There’s also an onboard manual control panel that’s very simple to use. The major negative we found in testing is that the clamp on the Nano’s side is fixed, which limits the size of pot you can use for cooking as well as the level where the device sits. (The original Precision Cooker has an adjustable clamp that’s a big bonus.)

(Note: Anova has recently released a 3. 0 version of the Nano that adds Wi-Fi connectivity and an improved touchscreen. The version featured here is still available, and we will update this story with insights when we’ve finished testing the new model.)

Price at time of publish: $150

The Spruce Eats / Lindsay Boyers

Dimensions: 2.2 x 4.1 x 12.8 inches | Weight: 1.7 pounds | Power: 750 watts | Maximum Water Temperature: 197 degrees | Accuracy: +/- 0.2 degrees

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Our Ratings

Setup

4.3/5
Performance

4/5
Ease of Use

4/5

What We Like

Three water circulation settings
Powerful and accurate
Calculates custom cook settings automatically

What We Don’t Like

Breville The Hydro Pro Review

The PolyScience brand has been making precision heating equipment for laboratories and the chemical-processing industry for more than 50 years, and when pioneering chefs started to develop the sous-vide technique, they adapted PolyScience equipment for kitchen use.

The HydroPro is a collaboration between PolyScience and popular consumer brand Breville, with incredible accuracy and power in a unit specifically made to cook food sous vide. It’s built to the high standards required for commercial use but is available to anybody. Its circulation pump has three different speeds for optimal heating of different sizes of container (up to a whopping 45 liters), and its 1,450 watts of power heat up quickly. It got the water to 165 degrees in just 18 minutes in our test, with beautifully fall-off-the-bone chicken ready at the end of the 90-minute cook. We also tested it making 72-hour short ribs at 144 degrees, and the temperature gauge did not budge from 144 exactly (except when adding more water to the vessel).

The control panel on the HydroPro looks like a small cell phone, and it offers a matching level of functionality. You can manually set temperature and time as with most other machines, and there’s the built-in Sous Vide Toolbox, a program that will calculate the perfect settings based on super-customized factors such as whether your food is fresh or frozen, how thick it is, how tough or tender it is, what shape it is, and what doneness is preferred. Besides meats, vegetables, and eggs, there are also settings for custards and yogurt. Sadly, it doesn’t have Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connectivity, so it’s manual only.

Like other immersion circulators, this model has an adjustable clamp to attach to any container. It’s very easy to clean and yielded fantastic results with every recipe we tested—but, for this price, it pretty much had to to make this list.

Price at time of publish: $500

The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie

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What We Like

What We Don’t Like

Expensive
Heavy and bulky

While the stick-style immersion circulator requires you to supply your own pot or bowl, all-in-one “water oven” machines like this one combine heating element, pump, and water vessel. Vesta Precision’s Perfecta model holds 10 liters, and you don’t have to worry about positioning and clipping anything into place. The water heats from the entire bottom of the machine, which means it needs less power to accomplish the same results as a stick. And the circulation pump is also built into the base, turning the whole thing into a little Jacuzzi tub for your steaks and chops. All you have to do is fill with water and drop in sealed bags of food. (There’s another setting for a lower water level if you’re making a small batch, as well.)

The Perfecta’s design is sleek and modern, with an LED display for the onboard controls and a Wi-Fi app that lets you set it from anywhere. Users agree that it’s incredibly easy to use and that the temperature control is precise and reliable. The glass lid lets you track cooking progress and prevents evaporation, which can be a problem with longer sous-vide cooks. (The timer can be set for up to 100 hours.)

One downside of a water oven–style machine is that it’s a big box that takes up a lot of space. The Perfecta will probably have to live on the counter or take up a big portion of a cabinet. It’s also a lot heavier than a stick circulator, not to mention more expensive than most models. But the simplicity and performance might be worth it, especially if you’re a frequent sous-vide-er.

Price at time of publish: $349

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Final Verdict

The Anova Precision Cooker is our top pick for its solid performance every time, particularly when it comes to meats, as well as its Bluetooth and Wi-Fi controls. For a lovely budget pick, we recommend the Instant Pot Accu Slim Sous Vide Immersion Circulator, whose performance belies its low price.

How We Tested

We purchased some of the top sous vide cookers on the market and tested them for weeks using the different models to prepare steak and other meats, seafood, vegetables, egg bites, and even custards and other desserts. The sous vide machines were evaluated on their value, precision, features, design, and performance, as well as their ease of setup, use, cleaning, and storage.

Later, we selected 16 machines to test side-by-side in our Lab. Following the included directions for each one, we filled a water bath container to 5.5 quarts and set the temperature to 165 degrees, timing how long it took to heat up and using a separate thermometer to monitor how precisely it maintained temperature. Next, we used each machine to cook a vacuum-sealed bone-in, skin-on chicken breast for 90 minutes. We monitored temperature throughout cooking, and then taste-tested and rated the chicken on texture and flavor. Only after rating the sous vide cookers for performance and features did we reveal prices and consider value.

Learn More About How We Test Our Products

What to Look for in a Sous Vide Cooker

Stick vs. Water Oven

There are two main styles of sous-vide setup. All-in-one machines, often called “water ovens,” include their own built-in water tank, heating element, and controls in a single unit. This is convenient and heat-efficient, but the machines tend to be more expensive and take up a lot of space.

Stick-shaped sous-vide devices (aka “immersion circulators”) incorporate a heating element and water pump into a small unit that attaches to your own container, whether a large pot, bowl, or plastic tub. That makes for lots of flexibility for cooking large or oddly shaped items, but you need more power to accomplish the same task. If there’s not enough wattage to maintain the correct temperature, you could end up with undercooked foods and potentially the opportunity for nasty bugs to grow that could make you sick.

Photographs and videos: J. Kenji López-Alt, unless otherwise noted

Cooking Programs

At the most basic, any sous-vide cooker will have controls for heat and time, letting you set your desired temperature and length of time to hold it. But sous vide is complicated, with different ideal settings for different foods and situations. Most machines offer some extra functionality beyond just temperature and time, whether that’s just a handful of presets or a fully automated program that lets you specify exactly what you’re making and exactly how you want it.

Remote Control

Many sous vide machines can connect to your phone via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, which lets you set, control, and monitor cooking from anywhere. This is often done via an app that includes not only basic controls but also tips, recipes, and automated programs. This convenient functionality generally comes with a slightly higher price, however, and might not be necessary for a more experienced sous-vide fan who’s already mastered the technique.

FAQs

What is sous vide?

Sous vide is French for “under vacuum,” but it refers to a cooking technique that seals food in a bag and cooks it slowly in water that’s kept at a very precise temperature. Where cooking on a pan or grill uses very high temperature to heat ingredients from one side at a time, sous vide brings everything to the same temperature all at once. That lets you get perfectly even doneness every time, while also retaining fats and juices that would cook out of the food with other techniques.

How do you use a sous vide cooker?

Besides food sealed in a bag, all you need for sous-vide cooking is a container of water. Some machines include their own vessel, but an immersion circulator clips to any pot, bowl, or tub. The first step is to fill the container, attach the machine (your user manual will explain exactly how and where), and turn it on. You can add the food immediately or let the water preheat first, but you generally shouldn’t start the cooking timer until after the water reaches the target temperature. You want to use a lot of water compared to the size of the food to keep the temperature stable, but keep in mind that there’s a limit on how much water a given cooker can hold at temperature. (Check your manual for your machine’s maximum capacity.)

Sous vide seems a little intimidating at first, but there are plenty of books, websites, apps, and social media groups that can help you figure out the best way to deal with almost any food. Many items are ready straight out of the water, but meats like steaks, chicken, or fish can benefit from a quick, high-temperature sear in a pan at the end to add color and charred flavor, and to crisp up skin.

What can you sous vide?

Really anything can be cooked sous vide. Meats are a favorite for the method, as the gentle heat can bring them to the perfect level of doneness with almost no chance of overcooking. Many vegetables also do well with sous vide, albeit at higher temperatures than meat. Root veggies like carrots or potatoes are an excellent choice, as is corn on the cob. A popular technique is to add butter or oil with herbs and spices to the bag to infuse ingredients with deep flavor and richness over their long cook.

Custard and other egg-based desserts can be cooked in canning jars, and slow-cooking grains like polenta or oats also do well. And that’s just the start of the list, which is always growing as chefs and home cooks experiment with the possibilities.

Do you need a vacuum sealer for sous vide?

Not necessarily. Sous vide doesn’t require a true vacuum seal to work, but it’s important that the food is in a securely closed bag that won’t pop open mid-cooking. If you’re using a zip-top bag, try to squeeze out as much air as possible before closing, and be careful the opening seals all the way from end to end. You can also use glass canning jars for sous vide, but make sure to use airtight lids and screw them on tightly.

With that said, a vacuum sealer may be preferable if you plan to really get into the technique. It removes more air from around the food and can create a custom-sized heat-sealed bag to fit any item perfectly. There are also vacuum sealer attachments for jars that are ideal for sous-vide custards and other egg dishes.

Can you sous vide frozen meat?

Yes! To help meat thaw thoroughly before the outside reaches cooking temperatures, it’s best to start with cold water or even water with some ice in it. The circulation helps thaw foods more quickly—you could even use a sous-vide cooker set at low temperature to thaw meat or leftovers that you’re planning to cook using a different method. When starting from frozen, cooking will take longer, but the rest of the process is pretty much the same.

What are the benefits of sous vide?

One of the main benefits is complete control of the finished temperature, along with edge-to-edge cooking at exactly the same doneness. For cooks who aren’t good at cooking a steak to the right temperature, sous vide makes it easy, with just a sear at the end to get a good crust.

Another benefit is the ability to cook tough meats in a new way. Meat that was previously destined for stew can be turned into a tender medium-rare roast with a few hours at 145 degrees or so. Any food that can benefit from precise temperature control, like yogurt or custard, can be cooked perfectly every time, without the risk of overcooking. Another benefit is that once the food is in the water the cooking is completely hands-off—plus, a little extra cooking time won’t cause a disaster, so the food can stay warm when guests are late. While sous vide often takes longer to cook than traditional methods, it can be more convenient.

How long does sous vide take?

When cooking using sous vide, the temperature controls doneness, but time controls tenderness. There’s always a little wiggle room with the time since the food won’t overcook the way it can in an oven. Shrimp might cook in 15 minutes to an hour, and steak might cook in one to four hours. But with larger, tougher cuts, it might cook for 24 hours, 72 hours, or even longer for ultimate tenderness.

Why Trust The Spruce Eats?

Donna Currie is a writer and product tester for The Spruce Eats. She’s used a stick-style sous-vide maker for years, so she knows what features to look for in a sous-vide device—such as precise temperature control. This was one of the reasons she was eventually sold on the decidedly non-stick-style SousVide Supreme Water Oven, which she reviewed for us, in addition to the Instant Pot Accu Slim Sous Vide Immersion Circulator.

This roundup was updated by Katya Weiss-Andersson, a professional chef and small kitchen appliance editor for The Spruce Eats; Sharon Lehman, a home cook and registered dietitian nutritionist; and Jason Horn, a The Spruce Eats commerce writer who’s been writing about food for more than 15 years.

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To cook soft steak, juicy fish or al dente vegetables, it is not necessary to heat the food for a long time to high temperatures. Sous Vide technology is an alternative to the usual cooking method. This is an energy-saving method, because the products are processed at a temperature even below the boiling point of water. You just need to properly pack them using a strong film or vacuum bags.

Sous Vide technology and its features

In essence, Sous Vide is an extremely gentle heat treatment of products. Hermetically packed, they are boiled in water, whose temperature remains, on average, at the level of 50 – 70 ° C. That is why the nutritional value of such dishes will be higher than those prepared in the traditional way. At a low temperature, it is easier to preserve vitamins and other useful substances that are destroyed by heating.

High temperatures have a bad effect on the cell membranes of foods, which changes the texture and consistency of cooked meals. This will not happen with Sous Vide dishes, so their condition will remain unchanged. During the cooking process, the temperature will be the same on the surface and inside the meat or fish steak, as it happens during stewing. This preserves the texture while at the same time changing the density of the meat for the better. So even from sinewy meat you can get a tender steak, as from a high-quality tenderloin.

To cook fish, poultry, meat or vegetables in the Sous Vide method, wrap them tightly in clingfilm or, better, place them in a vacuum bag. Then the workpiece is heated in water that has not reached the boiling point. For each dish, a suitable cooking temperature is selected, while it is important that it remains constant throughout the entire cooking cycle. Even a deviation of 1 – 2 ° C can spoil the quality of the finished dish.

Generally, the cooking time is limited to 20 – 30 minutes. Sometimes it is increased if the quality of the raw materials leaves much to be desired, for example, when only tough, sinewy or fatty meat is available. Still, you should not stretch the cooking time for more than 4 hours: under such conditions, pathogenic microorganisms can become active, which is unacceptable either at home, or even more so in public catering.

A freshly prepared dish can be served immediately. If it is intended for storage, it is quickly cooled right in the package. In this way, long-lasting finished products are obtained that do not need preservatives. Under these conditions, even fish is stored for up to 1 week, meat for about a month, and vegetables for up to 45 days.

Sous Vide cooking equipment

To maintain a constant temperature, thermostats are used during cooking:

stationary or water ovens – steel baths with tight-fitting lids;
submersible – lightweight devices mounted on the edge of a container of water; in their composition there is a heating element and a pump – for water circulation.

Advantages and disadvantages of the Sous Vide method

For the most part, the technology deserves a positive assessment:

it provides high nutritional value and taste characteristics of dishes;
at the same time, you can choose raw materials of not the highest quality;
preserves the naturalness and original texture of the products.

There is only one minus of the technology: low temperatures are not capable of destroying botulism bacilli, so long-term (more than 4 hours) cooking at temperatures below 50 °C is not recommended.

How to save food, see the Cook&Chill method for stocking ready meals

Publication date: 2018-03-14

Sous Vide Thermostats/ New

Immersion thermostat EKSI EV-01

RUB 32,347

Apparatus for cooking at low temperatures t.m. EKSI EV series, mod. EV-01, 140x110x332mm, bath volume 30l, 1500W, 220V.
The device is made of stainless steel, has a digital control panel with an LCD display, and is equipped with a low water level alarm function. Temperature regime +5…+99°C.

Bath thermostat Vortmax VS 2/3 with cover

$51,068

Apparatus for cooking at low temperatures t.m. Vortmax VS series, mod. VS 2/3 with lid, 390x360x300mm, 1150W, 220V, container volume 16.5 l, usable volume 14 l

IMMERSION THERMOSTAT HURAKAN HKN-SV12

RUB 16,236

93x115x396mm, 1.8kg, 220V, temperature range up to 90.0 degrees Celsius, 1.2kW, water stirring speed 8L/min, container capacity 6-15L

THERMOSTAT AIRHOT SOUS-VIDE SV-40

RUB 34,770

90x115x356mm, 220V, 2.0 kW, volume up to 40l, timer up to 99h, temperature up to 90 degrees, temperature error no more than 0.1 degrees

Sous vide vacuum cooking

In 1974, the chef of a French restaurant, Georges Pralu, invented an amazing way to create fundamentally new dishes. He went down in history as the first master of molecular cooking who used vacuum technology in the kitchen. From now on, the preparation of sous vide is practiced all over the world. What is it, we will tell you in more detail.

Taste, usefulness and beauty are considered important points in cooking. This distinguishes haute cuisine and is appreciated by customers. Sous vide cooking technology is the best way to achieve these goals. Because it is a technology of low-temperature cooking in a vacuum. As a result:

– the structure of products is preserved;

– vitamins and minerals remain unchanged;

– healthy fats are preserved;

– the same temperature is created both outside and inside during cooking, so food never burns.

Sous vide cooking technique: Why reinvent the wheel?

It would seem that there is no need to come up with some complicated molecular experiments with products when there are long-proven methods of cooking. The answer to this question lies in the experiments of another chef, who is considered another pioneer of an unusual technology. Working in an inexpensive fast food cafe, the chef set out to cook tough meat so that in the end it turned out juicy and soft. After consulting with a biochemist friend, he came up with a brilliant discovery: cook meat in a vacuum! That is, having sealed the product in a vacuum, he extinguished it for a long time in water with a certain not high temperature. And achieved the desired result.

The sous vide cooking technique will win hearts

The popularity of molecular cuisine technology is explained by the fact that the dishes are not just tasty, beautiful and unusual. Their benefits are undoubtedly higher than dishes prepared by traditional methods. And yet, the technology, available at first only by the hands of a true master of cooking, stepped into the kitchens of ordinary housewives. Because there is really nothing complicated. Even children can master the preparation of tempting desserts and mouth-watering sandwiches, spaghetti, while mastering culinary arts and biochemistry. Master classes in molecular cuisine have become one of the most popular all over the world. Books with recipes are published, and even special sets for children and for beginners.

Worth learning and purchasing sous vide tools

Teaching how to cook in vacuum sous vide usually takes place at seminars, master classes. But you can learn the technology yourself. And start with something very simple. It can be orange spaghetti, which will appeal to both children and adults. Or something more interesting. By the way, buying a home vacuum cleaner is more cost-effective than buying a blender. And for the preparation of sauce, syrup, broth, a regular food bag will fit. Another essential item in the kitchen is a thermometer. Because the temperature of the water will have to be constantly monitored.

Cooking

Sous vide can be quick

Molecular cuisine is never rushed. But even if you cook red meat, it will only take 20-30 minutes. And for cooking fish – no more than 15 minutes. In the specialized literature and on sites you can find many interesting recipes with all the details. Of course, the cooking time of the meat depends on the thickness of the piece.