bbstx: I am interested in this for a gift for an adult son and actually for myself, but right now I'm too involved in other things to devote the time to learning about this style of cooking. Do you need other equipment to use the cooker, such as the cooking containers shown on the sale page? My son is very innovative, so if improvising works, he could figure out how. I just don't want to get him a cooker if a lot more is needed. I'm assuming you have the one that is on sale for $139. ?

Lizbeth, you need to be able to either vacuum seal, or do the water displacement routine with a ziploc (not the kind with the slider, which doesn't seal fully). The immersion units are meant to use in any vessel you choose. I've used mine (from the original kickstarter campaign) in a saucepan, stockpot, 12-qt. roaster, 5-qt, plastic container, and rolling ice chest. Some people use an old cooler with a hole cut in the lid for it to limit evaporation. Others wrap a towel around the lid of what they're using and just offset it, tucking the towel around. Others just let it evaporate and add warm water as needed. It's very flexible.

I pretty much do the same as plllog. I either use a 16 qt stock pot that I have or I use my little Igloo cube cooler. I can’t remember what I was cooking in the picture below. I think maybe pork chops. Whatever it was had a long cooking time and for some reason, I cooked it on the back porch. I covered the cooler with Press and Seal.

I usually do not cover the vessel because I rarely cook things for extended periods. However, I once cooked a chuck roast for 24 hours (pictured below). I believe I used my stock pot and covered it with Press and Seal, too. I got up once in the middle of the night to check on the water level, but there had been very little evaporation. The roast was tender enough that I could cut it with a fork using just a tiny bit of effort.

Here is a good article by Kenji Lopez-Alt on how to get started with sous vide cooking. He recommends using a Cambrio container but I think it is unnecessary and it appears that plllog does too. Simply Recipes has some good sous vide recipes.

I have a Food Saver vacuum sealer that predates my Anova, so I use that most often. However, I have used the water displacement technique when I wanted to be able to check on what I was cooking.

ETA: Yes, I have the one that is now selling for $139. I bought mine 3 years ago for slightly less than that IIRC. I bought the same one for my grown step-son a couple of months ago. He has taken to it like a duck to water!

I use a sous vide stick too... and I don't use special equipment either. I've got a big kettle if I'm doing big stuff, and a smaller plastic bucket for doing smaller stuff.

I do insulate- I reuse some of the heavy felted insulation stuff that comes in my food boxes and just wrap it around my water vessel. If I am doing a long cook, I cap the top with a lid, towel. or plastic film.

I did get the same e-mail but paid no mind having the original. Now reviewing the copy, it is a bit confusing calling the new one smaller, faster, stronger.

I remember paying 99 for FathersDay back in 2014...or was it 129? and may have been 2015. This model is 139 on amazon today. Electrolux bought them out in 2017. But I believe the original team is still involved/creating.

And I agree, the extra toys are not needed to use it. Just a future want like my clear square vessel is nice to check quickly the water level and the bag adjustment if needed.

I'm guessing the pro model handles a larger water amount.

The talk of the town and the new kid on the block is the anova oven. Those that pre-ordered just received this past week. Kenji just did an unboxing on his uTube channel yesterday. (he paid for it so not an Anova ad). SousVide without a bag, steam, roast, etc. I don't need or want one but I am watching the reviews. Would be a great choice for the beach home.

Sd, I bought my Anova in 2017. I bought the Nano on a pre-sale for something like $60. Apparently there were manufacturing issues and delivery was seriously delayed. Finally, Anova offered to deliver the model I have as a straight up trade for the model I ordered. It came in just as my mother went into the hospital with her last illness. I stuck it in a closet and totally forgot about it until 9 months later when DH and I were on a cruise and started talking to another couple who often cooked sous vide. I like that I can pull a steak out of the freezer and cook it without having to thaw it.

Thanks for the heads up about Kenji and the Anova oven. I just got a Breville toaster oven so I have been ignoring the Anova ad thinking it was just another toaster oven.

Kenji pulled it out of the box and started pushing buttons, 😂....full studied review to come. He has a restaurant oven called, I think, a CVac(?). (used in his new restaurant). The new Anova I believe is similar technology.