So far 5 stars.
I had it out of the box, read the instructions, and hooked up and ready to turn on within about 5 minutes.
My tap water is apparently around 136, and it took 4 minutes to get about 8 quarts of water up to temp (142). Less time than it took me to vacuum pack the chicken breast.
I cooked the chicken breast for about 2 hours.
It's clearly very well made, quickly heating the water and amazingly quiet. The controls are easy to use and intuitive. The only thing I would maybe wish for is to be able to change the time/temp on the fly without completely resetting it, and that it would start the countdown at the time the water comes up to the proper temperature but now that I know that it doesn't, it's easily accounted for.
I LOVE the fact that the space investment is minimal. I need another mini-full-sized appliance like I need a hole in the head. The setup also makes it very very versatile for different kinds of meat.
So a comment on the chicken. It was amazingly tender. But I figured out that it's possibly a bit *too* tender for my tastes as far as chicken goes. After I cooked it I realized that I actually *like* my chicken overcooked (having been served a chicken sandwich that was raw and gotten grossed out by it, I've been that way). I probably should have started on something I like to eat pretty rare like beef. I imagine I will have a great experience with my fish because I HATE overcooked fish.
Regardless that's no reflection on the unit, just my personal bad taste in chicken. I guess if I didn't like my chicken overcooked I'd say that it gives chicken a much nicer texture (similar to rabbit or frog legs). Regardless I'm very excited to try new things with this unit. It kind of feels like when I first fell in love with my pressure cooker.
Additional info Feb 2015
I have been using this for about 4 months now pretty steadily and here are my comments.
I still think it's a 5 star and bought one for my MIL for Christmas. If it broke, I'd buy another one.
Still easy to use, I have cooked in it so far:
Pork: chops and loin roast, the very best is to cook a pork roast with the bones (if you can find it) at 135-140 (that's going to give you a medium rare to medium texture). The time would be dependent on how thick the cut of meat is but I've found that 12 hours is great if the bones are in it because the fat and bone give the meat some exceptionally good flavor. Somewhat like pork prime rib.
Lamb: Leg of lamb is excellent cooked at a medium rare. I have not tried chops yet but I'd think that with the bones in cooking for 8 hours or more would give excellent flavor.
Beef: tenderloin is excellent when cooked with butter and seasonings for an extended period of time. I have done T bones and the bone gives good flavor but cooking for a long period of time gives a different texture than just putting on the grill. Because the meat does continue to lose some liquid it get kind of dry (not really dry but not as juicy) however the breakdown of collagen and proteins makes it not tough. It's just a completely different texture. I have shortribs in there right now, cooking for 36 hours. That's supposed to be wonderful.
Pheasant: the best pheasant I've had in my entire life. A friend gave me a couple of birds with the bones but no skin (this is pretty typical because from what I can tell most hunters aren't keen to pluck birds when they're out in the field lol). Even given having incredibly lean bird and no skin, adding a bit of butter and some thinly sliced onions, and cooking to medium (around 145ish) for about 8 hours gave the most flavorful pheasant I've ever had (and that includes in fancy pants restaurants).
Eggs: I pasteurized eggs in it. Easier on the stove or buying them but it's an option.
Some notes:
Maillard reaction: There isn't any. At all. You can expect your meat to come out looking anemic. If you want browning (and most people do) a quick turn on the grill, under the broiler, or hitting with a torch is in order. We have pan seared as well. In my opinion the best time to do this is after so that you have a nice crust. Before seems to be a waste of time. Adding some brown sugar (to the pork particularly) can make a really nice brown crust.
Juices after cooking: when you remove the juice from the bag, it will have some proteins in it that form a funky scum when you cook them in a pan. However, if do pan sear the meat, then deglaze, and add the juices from the bag (or just some wine and the juices) cook for a minute in a small sauce pan (or for the lamb I added some mint jelly), then use a immersion blender or something with high shear (Cuisinart) to emulsify the thickened proteins and it makes an incredible sauce, exceptionally flavorful. You can also make a bechamel and add it, then stick-blend. The possibilities are endless.
Spices: raw garlic is not something I recommend it gets a very sharp flavor. I'd roast or pan-cook it (or use garlic powder which is what I normally do). Using dried powdered spices is the best way to go because you don't want too much liquid in the bag or vacuum is going to be difficult. I have heard of people making ice cubes of seasoning liquid and adding to the vacuum bag. That would work well. I have also used powdered wine, that works nicely. I noticed that using fleur de sel and pepper only gives a very very nice flavor to beef (there's something about the fleur de sel that really gets into the meat...maybe like a subtle iron or copper flavor? It's delicious).
These bags http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WS6190/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1422728191&sr=1&keywords=vacuum+bags are like 100 times better than the food saver bags. I had one food saver bag split on me...these don't. One thing to note when you seal the bag...make sure the entire seal is made (with no liquid to interrupt the seal) or the bag will split. With very expensive cuts I have double-bagged.
May 2015:
Still going strong, still love this thing. Have made a prime rib which turned out excellent in spite of not being the very highest grade of meat, continue to make great pork. I bought one for my MIL and she loves it.
December 2016: this specific unit is not longer made and the prices on it are astronomical, but the new units I think work as well (although I think the reason people still want these older ones is they're a bit more powerful? Not sure). Anyway still using this about once a week on average, going strong. I would still highly recommend an anova if you're interested in sous vide cooking.
There is a newer model of this item:
ANOVA Sous Vide Precision Cooker | Bluetooth | 800W (Discontinued)
$228.00
(4,670)
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$228.00
(4,670)
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
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From the manufacturer
Anova Sous Vide Immersion Circulator
120V Circulator Cooker for Professional Level (Black)
Anova is the award-winning sous vide immersion circulator for the home chef. It features a 360° directional pump for maximum circulation, an easy-to-use touch screen display, and stainless steel parts. It is easy to disassemble and has a dishwasher-safe steel skirt.
The Anova One sous vide circulator is the first immersion circulator cooker designed for personal use, bringing the technique used by many high-end gourmet restaurants to one's own home. Not only is the Anova sous vide circulator compatible with existing kitchen accessories, the small, vertical shape saves space, and can be stored effortlessly. This appliance can easily clamp on to any pot in the house, and is a necessary addition to any true foodie's kitchen.
Anova's sous vide immersion circulator cooks food in their own juices to a precise temperature. The result - great texture and taste, every time. Anova is truly a gift that keeps giving. Friends and family will enjoy and appreciate Anova for years to come!
Sous Vide Made Simple, Perfect for the Home Chef
Key Features:
- 360° directional pump for maximum circulation
- Touch screen display with °C & °F readouts
- User-adjustable temperature calibration
- All stainless steel (wetted parts)
- Easy disassembly for cleaning
Compare with similar items
This Item  Anova Culinary Anova Sous Vide Immersion Circulator - 120V Circulator Cooker (Black) |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | Currently unavailable. | -33% $99.99 List: $149.00 | -30% $139.95 List: $199.00 | $59.99 | $69.99 | $109.89 |
| Delivery | — | — | Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 15 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 15 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 15 | Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Temperature Control | ||||||
| Easy to use | ||||||
| Sold By | — | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Greateamshop | Greateamshop | HeatMart |
| material | Stainless Steel | Plastic | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel | — |
| capacity | 6 gallons | 12 liters | 16 liters | 15 liters | 15 liters | — |
| control method | touch | touch | touch | touch | application, remote | touch |
| voltage | 120 volts | — | — | — | 110 volts | 120 volts |
| wattage | 1 kilowatts | 800 watts | 1100 watts | 1100 watts | 1100 watts | 1000 watts |
| weight | 4.5 pounds | 1.52 pounds | 1.92 pounds | 2 pounds | 2 pounds | — |
Reviews with images
Some problems, but this is generally a good product for the price
Purchased 09/27/2014Review 11/16/2014 Original title: Great results, but not without defectsI've been using this immersion circulator for a couple months now and must start by saying that it produces excellent results. The menus are extremely simple and intuitive, though you can only switch between Celsius (default) and Fahrenheit when you first power on the unit. I used an infrared contactless thermometer to verify that the temperature displayed is exactly the temperature I had set for cooking.So far, I've experienced a few issues, and I'm still using it to prepare meals. The first problem was an error message, saying that I should contact the manufacturer. This error flashed on the screen for a couple seconds and went away without any intervention. I don't recall seeing an error code and I don't know why it would have displayed the message.The second issue is rust. I take the stainless steel pieces apart and dry them the best I can after cooking, but it is rusting at the tip of the thermometer and along the stainless steel seam on the in inside of the cylindrical casing that protects the heating element. I'm not concerned about getting rust in my food since it's all vacuum sealed, but I still believe this is a manufacturer defect that should be addressed.The third issue was a random reboot. I was bringing the water up to temperature and the unit rebooted and stopped heating the water. I'm glad this didn't happen while I was cooking or while the unit wasn't closely attended. I started the heating process again and it cooked my food without any additional problems.Update 02/15/2015 Product unusableI contacted Anova via their website form to find out what I could do about the random reboots. I continued to experience random reboots frequently before and during cooking (once or twice per session). No one from Anova responded to my web inquiry.I'm now unable to use the circulator at all. It starts to power on, but immediately goes to an error message saying "Error 325 Contact Service." I would not purchase this product again and will consider another brand. I'm sending another message to Anova today.Update 02/23/2015 Replacement in transitAnova customer support responded very quickly to the message I sent on 02/15/2015, acknowledged that the unit needed to be replaced, and sent me a mailing label. I mailed it back to Anova and they provided a new tracking number for the replacement.Some other thoughts on the Anova Sous Vide Immersion Circulator:The screw threads on the bottom cap are challenging to align and you must remove the cap to prevent water from sitting inside the bottom of the unit after use. The clamp is very sturdy, and it feels like I could clamp it to a heavy pot and pick up the entire assembly by the circulator. While the unit is heating the water, the display goes dark periodically before displaying the temperature again. You can wake it from its screensaver mode by pressing on the screen. If I'm only going to be using it for a few hours, I'd prefer the screen to stay on for most of that time.
