So you want to know How To Choose A Sous Vide Machine? In this article we're going to teach you the most important features to look for, what they do, why they are important, and which models have that feature. We'll also point out any other secondary factors you might want to consider before making your purchase.
To get started here are some questions you need to think about to help you choose the right model:
- How Often Will You Be Using A Sous Vide Machine?
- Will You Try Extended Cooking Periods Over 12 Hours?
- How Important is Build Quality and Durability?
- How Much Heating Power Do You Need?
- How Much Water Capacity Do You Need?
- Is the Temperature Range Important?
- How Important is a Simple Control Panel?
- Is Clamp Design a Concern?
- Do I Need Bluetooth or WiFi Connectivity?
How Often Will You Use A Sous Vide Precision Cooker
One of the most important questions you need to think about is how often do you think you'll be using your Sous Vide? Will you use it every week, once a month or just a few times a year? The more frequently you will use it the higher quality model you will want to choose. If you think you're going to use it frequently you'll also want something with controls that are easy to use. You might also want something with Bluetooth of WiFi Connectivity.
Return to TopDo You Think You Are Going To Try Any Extended Cooking Projects
One of the things people who are New to Sous Vide Cooking are shocked to discover is you can cook larger cuts of meat for 12 hours or longer. The longer you cook the meat the more tender it becomes, but because it's sealed in a Vacuum Sealer Bag the moisture doesn't escape and the meat doesn't dry out. If you think this is something you might be doing frequently you'll want to choose a better quality model, and consider one with Bluetooth of WiFi Connectivity.
Return to TopBuild Quality And Durability
When Sous Vide Precision Cookers became available to consumers, they were very expensive with prices of $300 or more. As more manufacturers entered the marketplace and sales volume increased the prices came down. This eventually attracted the attention of lower quality manufacturers who sacrificed quality to achieve lower price points. In 2015 the marketplace became flooded with low quality models that broke easily and didn't last past the warranty time. We strongly recommend getting a better quality unit, so you don't end up wasting your money. The highest quality models we reviewed were as follows: Anova Bluetooth Sous Vide ,Anova Wifi Sous Vide , ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide , PolyScience Sous Vide Professional SVC-AC1B , and Vesta Imersa Elite Sous Vide . Any of the models in the list below were better than average quality and would be a good choice.
Sous Vide Models With Better Than Average Quality:
- Anova Bluetooth Sous Vide
- Anova Nano Sous Vide
- Anova Wifi Sous Vide
- ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide
- Gourmia Sous Vide GSV138
- Gourmia Sous Vide GSV140
- Gramercy Sous Vide
- NutriChef Sous Vide PKPC120BK
- NutriChef Sous Vide PKPC235BK
- PolyScience Sous Vide Professional SVC-AC1B
- Sansaire Sous Vide SA15
- Vesta Imersa Elite Sous Vide
- Wancle Sous Vide SVC001
How Much Heating Power Do You Need
The heating power of a Sous Vide Precision Cooker is measured in Watts. Most of the models we reviewed were between 800 Watts and 1200 Watts. A higher wattage means it will heat up a volume of water faster, it does not influence the maximum temperature. Having a higher wattage does have a downside, if you start a cooking session that's longer than 8 hours you need to be concerned about water loss through evaporation. Models with a higher wattage will lose more water through evaporation than lower wattage models. Models with higher GPM flow rates will lose water more quickly than those with lower GPM rates. If you plan on doing extended time cooking sessions you want to avoid the high wattage and high GPM combination. If your cooking sessions will usually be less than 8 hours, this is a non issue for you.
Sous Vide Models With 800 - 1000 Watts:
- Anova Bluetooth Sous Vide
- Anova Nano Sous Vide
- Anova Wifi Sous Vide
- Aobosi Sous Vide YSV-802
- Avalon Bay Sous Vide SVS-100
- ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide
- Cisno Sous Vide SV238A
- Dash Chef Sous Vide
- G&M Kitchen Essentials Sous Vide
- Gourmia Sous Vide GSV140
- Gramercy Sous Vide
- Instant Pot Sous Vide SSV800
- Kitchen Gizmo Sous Vide KG-SV1
- Mispo Sous Vide
- Monoprice Strata Sous Vide
- NutriChef Sous Vide PKPC235BK
- PrimoEats Sous Vide
- Slaiya Sous Vide
- Vava Sous Vide VA-EB016
- Wancle Sous Vide SVC001
- Yedi Housewares Sous Vide
Sous Vide Models With 1000+ Watts:
Return to TopHow Much Water Capacity Do You Need
To use a Sous Vide, you're going to need something to hold the water you're heating up. You can use a large pot, but most people find a Rubbermaid or Cambro Food Storage Container much easier to use. The more people you are cooking for the larger container you'll want to use. If you're cooking larger pieces of meat, you'll want a larger container. If you're cooking for longer time periods using, a larger container makes water loss from evaporation less of an issue. However larger containers are more challenging to store when they're not in use, so it's always a compromise between capacity and storage. Most of the models we reviewed had a 4-5 Gallon capacity. The highest capacity was the ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide which can heat up to 10 gallons of water.
Sous Vide Models With 3-5 Gallon Capacity:
- Anova Bluetooth Sous Vide
- Anova Nano Sous Vide
- Anova Wifi Sous Vide
- Aobosi Sous Vide YSV-802
- Avalon Bay Sous Vide SVS-100
- Chefman Sous Vide
- Cisno Sous Vide SV238A
- Dash Chef Sous Vide
- G&M Kitchen Essentials Sous Vide
- Gourmia Sous Vide GSV138
- Gourmia Sous Vide GSV140
- Gramercy Sous Vide
- Instant Pot Sous Vide SSV800
- Kitchen Gizmo Sous Vide KG-SV1
- Mispo Sous Vide
- Monoprice Strata Sous Vide
- Nomiku WiFi Sous Vide
- NutriChef Sous Vide PKPC120BK
- NutriChef Sous Vide PKPC235BK
- PrimoEats Sous Vide
- Slaiya Sous Vide
- Vava Sous Vide VA-EB016
- Wancle Sous Vide SVC001
- Yedi Housewares Sous Vide
Sous Vide Models With 6-10 Gallon Capacity:
Return to TopIs The Temperature Range Important
Many people that are new to Sous Vide Cooking assume that models that have a higher maximum temperature are better, but this really isn't the case. Most sous vide cooking takes place in the 130°-160° range. Recipes that call for temperatures over 180° are rare, recipes with temperatures over 200° are extremely rare. Much more important than the maximum temperature is the temperature accuracy. For example a steak cooked to 132° is going to taste different than a steak cooked to 136°. Most of the consumer level sous vide models we reviewed were accurate to within ±1°F. The Commercial Grade Sous Vide Models were all accurate to withing 0.1°F, but most people don't need that level of precision.
Sous Vide Models With 1° Temperature Accuracy:
- Anova Bluetooth Sous Vide
- Anova Nano Sous Vide
- Anova Wifi Sous Vide
- Aobosi Sous Vide YSV-802
- Avalon Bay Sous Vide SVS-100
- Chefman Sous Vide
- Cisno Sous Vide SV238A
- Dash Chef Sous Vide
- G&M Kitchen Essentials Sous Vide
- Gourmia Sous Vide GSV138
- Gourmia Sous Vide GSV140
- Instant Pot Sous Vide SSV800
- Kitchen Boss Sous Vide IPX7
- Kitchen Gizmo Sous Vide KG-SV1
- Magic Mill Souvia Sous Vide
- NutriChef Sous Vide PKPC120BK
- NutriChef Sous Vide PKPC235BK
- PolyScience Sous Vide Professional SVC-AC1B
- PrimoEats Sous Vide
- Sansaire Sous Vide SA15
- Slaiya Sous Vide
- Vava Sous Vide VA-EB016
- Vesta Imersa Elite Sous Vide
- Wancle Sous Vide SVC001
- Yedi Housewares Sous Vide
How Important Is A Simple Control Panel
Sous Vide Models With Easy to Use Controls:
- Anova Bluetooth Sous Vide
- Anova Nano Sous Vide
- Anova Wifi Sous Vide
- Chefman Sous Vide
- Gourmia Sous Vide GSV138
- Gourmia Sous Vide GSV140
- Gramercy Sous Vide
- Instant Pot Sous Vide SSV800
- Kitchen Gizmo Sous Vide KG-SV1
- NutriChef Sous Vide PKPC120BK
- NutriChef Sous Vide PKPC235BK
- Sansaire Sous Vide SA15
- Wancle Sous Vide SVC001
Is Clamp Design A Concern
Sous Vide Models With Adjustble Bracket Clamp:
- G&M Kitchen Essentials Sous Vide
- Gramercy Sous Vide
- Instant Pot Sous Vide SSV800
- Kitchen Boss Sous Vide IPX7
Sous Vide Models With Alligator Style Clamp:
- Aobosi Sous Vide YSV-802
- Cisno Sous Vide SV238A
- Chefman Sous Vide
- Dash Chef Sous Vide
- Gourmia Sous Vide GSV138
- Gourmia Sous Vide GSV140
- Kitchen Gizmo Sous Vide KG-SV1
- Magic Mill Souvia Sous Vide
- Mispo Sous Vide
- NutriChef Sous Vide PKPC120BK
- NutriChef Sous Vide PKPC235BK
- PrimoEats Sous Vide
- Slaiya Sous Vide
- Vava Sous Vide VA-EB016
- Wancle Sous Vide SVC001
- Yedi Housewares Sous Vide
Do I Need Bluetooth Or Wifi Connectivity
Having Bluetooth of WiFi Connectivity is something that sounds really cool when you're shopping for a Sous Vide machine, but you'll find you really don't use as much as you think you will. Models with Bluetooth will have to be within 15-20 feet for you to make a connection. The signal usually isn't strong enough to travel from the first floor to the second floor. WiFi Connectivity will allow you to control your unit from anywhere you have an internet connection. Technically you could set up your sous vide at home in the morning and then turn it on from your office at lunch time. This would introduce food safety issues if you didn't store the food below 40°. All of the models we looked at were very dependable maintaining temperature, so checking the temperature in the middle of cooking wasn't something we ever found you needed to be concerned with. We'd consider this a secondary feature that's nice to have, but don't feel it should be a deciding factor for most people.
Sous Vide Models With Bluetooth of WiFi Connectivity:
Featured Sous Vide Review
| Sous Vide | FEATURES | RATING | PRICE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anova Bluetooth Sous Vide | 800 Watts, Bluetooth Connectivity | 105.00 | |
| Wancle Sous Vide SVC001 | 850 Watts | 88.00 | |
| Anova Nano Sous Vide | 750 Watts, Bluetooth Connectivity | 89.95 | |
| Gourmia Sous Vide GSV138 | 1200 Watts | 69.99 | |
| Chefman Sous Vide | 1000 Watts | 89.99 | |
| NutriChef Sous Vide PKPC120BK | 1200 Watts | 59.99 | |
| Gourmia Sous Vide GSV140 | 1000 Watts | 89.99 | |
| Instant Pot Sous Vide SSV800 | 800 Watts | 79.00 | |
| NutriChef Sous Vide PKPC235BK | 1000 Watts | 77.34 | |
| Aobosi Sous Vide YSV-802 | 800 Watts | 89.99 | |
| Monoprice Strata Sous Vide | 800 Watts | 69.99 |
Featured Product Review
Anova Bluetooth Sous Vide Sous Vide
The Anova Bluetooth Sous Vide Precision Cooker is our higher rated sous vide model, it strikes a perfect balance between quality, features, and pricing. It's the perfect choice for almost everyone.
Rating:
Related Product
The NutriChef Sous Vide PKPC120BK is a better than average quality sous vide precsion cooker that has all the features most people will want. Read Our Full NutriChef Sous Vide PKPC120BK Review