Posted by mike9 : " How large of a cooler do you recommend? " How big a cooler will depend on how much food you try to sous vide. Since the components of my system are portable, I have several container sizes, from a small one to cook a few eggs to a good size cooler for large roasts. "How much power do i need? " The pump is less than 10 watts, the rest depends on the electric heater. Remember the heater use not much power to keep the water at the set temperature. "If i had to raise that the temperature of the cooler 30-40 degrees above hot tap water then its going to take a long time with 300w. I'd have to pull out the pans boil water on the stove etc. Could say a 1500w heater be too much and have problems with overshooting? I plan on using a PID and solid state relay. " I always use boiling water to get the water bath temperature high enough. 1,500 W heater will not overshoot if you have a good enough circulator. PID controller with a solid state relay, I believe, but not sure, throttles the heater from low to high. PID will, using self-tuning, self-adjusting to compensate overall equipment overshooting. "How much power does it take to sustain the equilibrium temp after everything has been cooking for many hours? " Depends on the insulating property of your container and the size of the container. "How much power does it take to maintain the set water temperature after a bunch of frozen food has been dropped into the bath? That could be important if i have an item already cooking and then later throw something frozen in there, if the temp of the water dropped for a long time it could mess up the cooking time of the first item. " Just keep an eye on the temperature reading, add more boiling water if needed. "I was looking at these heaters. http://www.amazon.com/NORPRO-559-Immersion-Warming-Liquids/dp/B000I8VE68/ http://www.amazon.com/Bush-CH-101-Energy-Saving-Immersion-Heater/dp/B003DLB5KW/ http://www.amazon.com/Reliance-9000129-045-Electric-Heater-Element/dp/B000H5W1TQ/ " The first two not too good: 1. they are not long lasting. 2. They are not completely submersible. The third one is very long lasting, but requires you to build something around the exposed terminals to waterproof and shock-proof. ------------------------------------------- I would like to say this to those of you who may be reading this thread, do not worry about any of these tech stuff. They are not what sous vide cooking is all about. A ready-made sous vide cooker is not that expensive anymore, plug it in, set the temperature and enjoy the superior food. That is all. All these annoying tech stuff are for crazy folks like me, who hasn�t quite outgrown his toy playing delinquencies yet. dcarch

I just had a lightbulb moment! I decided to go for it in May for the milk and eggs, but after overindulging in luscious almond duck, and thinking how sad it was that there were meats I couldn't serve at my apps party, like almond duck, because of the prep/production schedule... LIGHTBULB! Sous vide! Cook and hold at constant temperature. Never overdone. And I have two coming... mostly because it was fun participating in their kickstarter campaign, even though I had saved Arley's DIY instructions. Okay. Sometimes I'm slow. I get it now. :) I bet I could even cook the chicken drummettes that way, then just coat them and flash fry. That would be so much easier than fry cooking that many, and they could go straight out, rather than taking oven space. Okay. Revolutionary. I get it... And I can still pasteurize eggs...

Exciting! Thank goodness to my sous vide setup. I was cooking like mad the past 8 days for a lot of people. I was able to serve prime ribs, ducks, steaks, pork rib roasts, fish, short ribs, pork spare ribs, ---- all perfectly done, perfectly hot, at the perfect serving time --- all with no stress! I can see why restaurants like to use sous vide for their cooking. Your system: The pump should run full time. Only the heater is to be controlled by the controller. The pump you have is good. I use a different pump which has an 110vac motor. Much simpler than your brushless DC motor. A DC brushless motor has electronics inside (Hall Effect Device) which is more heat sensitive. You should get backups for all components, so that for long cooks you will not be stuck. Also get a couple of spare temperature sensors. Don't buy the sensor alone, can be $7.00 to $10.00. But this instead: http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Digital-LCD-Thermometer-For-Aquarium-Freezer-H155-/200978818608?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0amp;hash=item2ecb456630 The sensor is the same thing, much cheaper. I had to replace my senor, which did last a few years of non-stop use. Have fun and let us know your progress. dcarch

Erm, no. Sous vide means vacuum packed. You're talking about a method of cooking that has evolved into something other than sous vide cooking. I understand what you're doing, but you need a better name for it.LOL THE HISTORY OF SOUS VIDE This method of cooking was developed in the mid–1970s by chef Georges Pralus (at the internationally renowned Michelin Three-Star Restaurant, Troisgros, in Roanne, France) initially as a means of minimizing costly shrinkage of and optimally cooking delicate foie gras. Chef Bruno Goussault subsequently adopted and expanded the technique to consistently provide gourmet-quality meals to first class travelers on Air France. In the last two decades, sous vide cooking has sparked a wave of culinary innovation and creativity, and has become the secret of top chefs at major restaurants around the world. With appliances such as the SousVide Supreme, this cooking technique is now affordable and accessible to home cooks. HOW TO SOUS VIDE: THE SIMPLE STEPS OF SOUS VIDE COOKING The simple steps of sous vide cooking -- Season/Seal, Simmer, and Serve—require little hands-on time to dial in perfect results every time. Season & Seal– Because the sous vide technique locks in the flavor, the food cooks in its own juices, intensifying its natural flavors. This means that you can season with a lighter hand or in many cases, after the fact. Vacuum/seal the food in air tight cooking pouches. Simmer – Drop the pouches into the precisely controlled water bath. Serve – Many foods, such as vegetables, fruits, and one-dish meals are delicious straight from the pouch. Proteins (meat, poultry, fish) are delicious out of the pouch as well, but may benefit from a quick sear in a hot skillet, under the broiler, on the grill, or with a kitchen torch to impart the beautiful golden color and savory caramelized flavor to these foods.