I have a model with the exact same interface but it was made by Gourmia, and I got it for Christmas. Once you get used to the quirks of having to convert from C to F every time you start it up, or silencing the beeping by pressing SET for 2 - 3 seconds it is a good little unit. We use it at my house to cook brined chicken breasts which we then cut up for making salads and dinners. It’s awesome to just set it to 140 and then leave it for 2 - 3 hours knowing it won’t overcook the chicken. It comes out awesome. One tip I have is to make sure you put enough water to cover both the bottom hole AND the top hole and it will be much quieter. Getting into Sous Vide for under 70 bucks is a great deal especially if – like me – you didn’t want to use a smartphone app to control your cooker.
I’m a sucker for kitchen gadgets so naturally this interests me. I also have a vacuum sealer so I should be all set. My questions:
- It’s just me and my wife at home - how long to prepare an average meal?
- Does the time double with twice the amount of food being cooked, does it remain the same, or somewhere in between?
- Using steaks as an example, is it time or temperature that regulates how done the meat gets (we like rare to medium rare)?
- Is it possible to overcook something? Is it easy to overcook something? How much of a window is there to prevent overcooking (an hour, two?)?
- Can you cook two or more items in separate bags at the same time? How about two or more foods in the same bag?
Thanks for any assistance and information!
It can take a little longer only because getting steak from fridge temp to say 135 take a little longer when the heat source is closer to your target temp not 200 degrees hotter. Double food probably would take a little longer because you have more mass to raise to the given temp I assume but not double. It’s temp that determines doneness not time. You can’t over cook. Once the food is brought to the desired temp, it remains there until you remove the food from the water bath. So it takes longer but because it requires less babysitting it’s easier in my experience. Here’s a good tutorial
Here’s how to try out Sous Vide without spending a dime.
It’s all about temperature. If you want medium rare then set it to 140. You can cook your steaks together or in separate bags if you want different flavours (teriyaki, salt and pepper, meat rub) for 2 hours or 10 hours. It’ll always be medium rare. You can’t over cook anything. The beauty of it is you can throw your meat in in the morning. Go to work and it doesn’t matter when you get home, a quick sear to crisp up the outside and you’re ready. You can also make yogurt, the perfect egg just the way you like it. Creme brûlée and the best vegetables you’ve eaten. Check out the ChefSteps website, they have a temp and time guide for sous vide. Also Anova has some great recipes.
My buddy makes 36hr short ribs that turn out amazing.
With Souls vide cooking you can turn cheap chuck roast into filet mignon. Just season, bag, remove the air with water displacement, seal and cook.
I have an anova circulator so I can’t speak to the quality of this unit but the price is good for an introduction to sous vide.
Actually had couple of items that were sent to me wrong size. E-mailed Woot customer service and was credited back for items by return of e-mail. That is a big improvement from several years ago.
Late to the party,but ditto. I purchased an LG phone from Woot which failed and the manufacturer couldn’t repair, Woot offered me a quick refund, I believe just outside of the 90-day refund window.
I bought a computer from Woot that came with a free virus. They said they didn’t cover “buyers remorse” and did nothing. Woot is lousy when it comes to customer service. I buy some things but I will NEVER buy another electronic item from Woot…NEVER…
Hey, all, I know this item seems to be sold out on Woot, but I just got mine today and used it this evening. I’m stoked on this so far since it was a huge discount and I’ve been wanting to get into cooking sous vide foods. I’ve seen reviews of this compared to the new Joule product by Chef Steps and even though they say the Joule is like the “Apple” of immersion circulator cookers this Nutrichef is not far behind, so for the price you really can’t beat it. Plus, it’s very easy to use and the results are scrumptious! My only beef with it is it’s a little louder than I expected, and the controls are a bit wonky (but easy). I have no other experience with immersion cookers, so take it with a grain of salt. Anyways, a great buy and great product.
I’ve received mine and had a chance to cook two different meals with it. Since I’ve never done sous vide cooking before, frankly there was no way I was going to try this the first time on an expensive cut of meat - so I got a chunk of chuck roast from the local grocery, sliced up some onions and threw in a few whole cloves of peeled garlic and vacuum sealed it all into a single bag.
Does it make chuck roast into prime rib? Not really, but it was cooked perfectly medium-rare from edge to edge (137F) and sliced like a dream. I browned it in a bit of olive oil and spices in a very hot cast iron skillet for the perfect sear after I pulled it out. Additionally, the next day the leftovers were also wonderful. With as much poorly-cooked chuck roast as I have eaten over the years I’m going to call this a complete unadulterated success!
Second meal was pork loin - also excellent and perfectly cooked.
FYI - My unit defaulted to Fahrenheit when it is turned on - no need to switch the display. The controls are a bit wonky but still perfectly easy to use, and as long as you keep the water level at the maximum mark it was dead quiet. This NutriChef unit is also powerful at 1200 watts - much more than the typical 800 watt units I looked at - which heats up and keeps a very large container of water at the exact temperature with ease.
Also, there is A LOT of sous vide reference material out there for recommended times and temperatures, so it’s just a matter of some experimenting to figure out just what works best for me.
I feel that this is going to be a regular go-to piece of kitchen equipment!
I used it one time. The second time I attempted to use it, the circulator would turn on, run for a few seconds, then stop with an “EOS” error code on the display.
I’m sorry about that. Looks like you have a one year Nutrichef warranty. Have you contacted them yet?