Surprisingly good value, but no water circulator and 2.5 degree temperature swing.I've been trying multiple methods to perform sous vide cooking at home WITHOUT buying the PolyScience commercial version, given the prohibitive cost. I have tried several DIY methods with uniformly horrible results.
Overall, I believe that this appliance is the least expensive way to perform water bath cooking, along with the new sideKIC which I will review later.
There are two modifications which you need to do to make this unit better, however.
This model works on the "water temperature convection" principle, which means that the hot water created by the bottom-placed heating element will rise to the top and cause passive temperature convection. However, I believe this would lead to inaccurate temperature readings and hot spots, without the "hydraulic circulation" effect provided by a water pump. Finding an appropriate submersible water pump has been an ordeal in and of itself, as every aquarium pump which I tried has inevitably perished after...
OutstandingSimply outstanding for the price. Most sous vide rigs start at $400, way out of my budget. I was consideringt a DIY rig, but the accumulated parts fall just a little short of this unit's price -- and I won't have to deal with all those loose janky parts and cords.
Dinging it by one star for the lack of water circulation, but if you require that level of perfectionism then you will probably want one of the more expensive models anyway.
[edit] After a couple months of using this, I have a second issue: The timer tops out at ten hours. Sous vide recipes that call for 24 or even 48 hours are not uncommon, making this a ridiculous oversight. Still recommend, but I hope a future version corrects this.
Simple Solution for Gourmet PerfectionOne of the guys at work told me about Sous Vide cooking. I never heard of it before, but being an engineer it made perfect sense. The only thing I was curious about was why I never heard of Sous Vide before. I wanted to try it out, but didn't want to spend a great amount to begin with. I found the AquaChef Sous Vide Water Oven at a great price on Amazon, so I ordered one to experiment. The size also played an important part. The AquaChef is about the size of a 4-slice toaster - perfect for our limited counter space. The unit is stainless steel and easy to keep clean.
My first trial was a double tri-tip roast from Costco. I rinsed them off in cold water, and coated one of them with Kirkland Sweet Mesquite Seasoning, and the other with Kirkland Steak Seasoning. I vacuum-sealed them and cooked them one-at-a-time for 2 hrs at 140 degrees for medium-rare. We froze one and sliced the mesquite one for dinner. What a treat! The meat was cooked perfectly even from surface to surface...
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