Since I do not cook red meat or pork, I do not have a need for it. I also do not have the space for it, as I am in the process of downsizing, and that is going to be difficult for me.

I'm sure others will want to take advantage of this offer, however.

DH bought one several years ago as a Christmas gift. The same year, I bought an air fryer. We experimented with both of them and decided it wasn't worth the space they took for the results they gave. We put both of them in their original packaging in a box at the end of our driveway that spring with a ""FREE" sign and they disappeared.

No.

I've had only good results with my original Anova. I think managing expectations is important. It's not magic—just a cooker—and I've never tried to do a steak, which I do just fine under the broiler on a cast iron grill plate.

Sous vide is a great advantage when you don't know just when you'll serve, when you want to prep days ahead to free up time day of, when you're going to seal aanyway to infuse your flavors, when you have to serve a lot of identical entrees, if you're bad at getting meats cooked all the way through on your outdoor bbq or grill but the outsides are perfect...or any time you want to par cook, if you like a good hard sear but want the middle just so, when you're making tough cuts tender and have time but don't want to do a sugar+acid braise or pot roast.

It's not magic. It's just a superlong slow cooker that's appropriate for individual portions of proteins. Oh, but unlike a crockpot, you can't really overcook if you follow directions (e.g., limit poultry to less than four hours or it could go mushy). Importantly, cooking sous vide in water with a circulator requires kitchen cooking as well. Searing / browning, crusts and color don't happen sous vide, and often hunks of meat need a little time on the stove or in the oven, either before or after.

Annie, that's a great deal. Thanks for sharing.

Yes, it's a good deal for someone that wants one. Elery drags ours out occasionally. His son has one and says the thing it's really good for is holding poached eggs when he has company and wants to make Eggs Benedict.

I've never done poached eggs that needed to be held for a period of time, but he often hosts his in-laws who like Eggs Benedict and there are 11 of them total for brunch after church.

Seagrass, I also have an air fryer, which is seldom used, although I do make bagel pizzas or baked potatoes for the grandkids when I don't need so much I need the big oven. So, maybe every couple of months, but enough that I keep it for just those two or three items.

Good luck with that downsizing, Lars. You see I still have the air fryer, LOL, it's more difficult than it seems, even when I gave things to The Princess when she started college and got her own place.

Annie

Mine is up on one of those hard to reach shelves near the ceiling. I’ve gone on brief SV kicks here and there over the years but never found an application that keeps me coming back for more. It rarely comes out but I’m happy to keep it for my next kick! I've got some filet mignon tails thawing in the fridge, maybe I'll bathe those tonight just for kicks! I'm not short on space, but even if I were I couldn't see being a considerarion. Offhand I can only think of my stick blender as being a smaller appliance.

Anyway this Nano sale sounds like a great deal, Annie, kind of you to post!

I have no interest in sous vide for food but it recently occurred to me that my willow could be ready for weaving much quicker if I could soak it in warm/hot water rather than cold. If I could shove a SV stick down into an open-ended 4” wide 5’ long PVC pipe along with my willow and have it nicely heated, then I’d buy one! :)

PM, you'd have to secure it carefully, so the wet end stays wet an the electronics stay dry, and the circulation vents don't get covered, but that sounds doable. Should work fine.

The must have thing I do is the 12 hours milk at constant temperature needed to make hoop cheese for blintzes. It used to be the simplest cheese and every store made their own, but I'm not experienced enough to even be called an amateur cheesemaker, and the one recipe I’ve found calls for this. I don't know how it was originally done, but the immersion circulator works, and the cheese comes out right.

I should clarify. I am very spaced challenged in my kitchen. It was built for a non cook that heated up stuff for 2 adults and 2 children. They ate out 90% of the time.

I repurposed and old tv cabinet for and indoor pantry andhave one small pantry for food in the garage and two large for the extra cooking and linens I want to keep.

I have gotten rid of a lot, electric skittets, food processors, mandlines, etc. I do not have the space to store. If I had room, I would keep stuff that I only used once or twice a year, but I do not.

That is why sous vide is a no go. No space.

ETA: If I had space, I would have kept all the dish sets and even buy more. I am now editing what to keep. I am only keeping what I REALLY do not want to pass on.

I tend to use my stick most when it's nice out. Kind of like using a crockpot, but not, lol. I'll prep up packets and seal them, then when it's nice out I can set up the stick. Get dinner going while we go out and take a walk. Then it can be hot at the right time and hold if needed and it don't matter if the walk ends up being a longer one.

A lot of SV suggests cooking the meat in packet and then searing it. I do not like that much. I tend to quick sear before I packet up. I will sear off a dozen pork chops and cool. Then add in stuff with a chop and seal, freeze. SV it later. We like the combo of apple and onion slices, sometimes I will freeze up pucks of mushroom gravy or kraut and add those into the bags before sealing. Sometimes I'll do veggies with compound butters the same way.

Party, I don't think a simple SV stick would have enough oomph to use on a 4" pipe 5' long. The top of the pipe would get warmed, but the bottom likely wouldn't. A more serious but probably effective setup would be to use a 6" pipe about 18" longer than your willow. Mount it horozontally with a hole in the top at both ends to insert sticks. Use removeable caps on the pipe to load/unload your willow. You might still have uneven heating in the middle of the pipe.

An alternative to SV sticks/electric would be solar- paint the pipe black to absorb better, and make a cheap cardboard and foil reflector to set up under it. You could still use the 4" pipe then if that's what you have on hand.

Understandable, Sherry! But one great thing about the immersion circulator (for others) is that it takes up little space of its own and can turn your picnic cooler, storage box or footbath into an extra oven on the desk (or floor) in any room. It's actually a boon for entertaining for many with small kitchens.

Immersion circulators, SV, has a very small footprint in the kitchen. I have zero counter appliances. No toaster, toaster oven, microwave, instapot, air fryer, ...

I do have a crock pot in easy-to-access storage for big batches of caramelized onions and miropoix, for the freezer,... i use maybe twice a year. Sometimes a slow cooked stew/chili.

A good price for those that did not bite the SV train ten years ago when first introduced for the home kitchen. I use mine every 4-6 weeks. Usually for small packages of boneless thighs and boneless pork chops. Already in thick cryo-vak'd portions from a local farm share....into an ice bath, then in the freezer fully cooked. For vegetable stir-fry, fried rice, chicken salads, or just a simple protein, veg, starch.

I'm making a mixed grain for tomorrows egg fried rice. Took out a small SV'd pork. Fast quick dinner all prepped ahead.

I remember your assemblage! Also, that it prepared my interest for Anova when the immersion models first came out. :)

Love mine and use it frequently. Perfect duck breast, the juiciest chicken thighs. I especially love it for pre-cooking things like sausages either for a garden BBQ or to take camping where the food only needs the sizzle on the grill to get the flavour and you know it's cooked. Too often, people serve undercooked chicken..... aarrgghh. Perfect custard for creme brulée or ice cream..... love it!

I love mine! It only takes up as much space as 2 or 3 water glasses stacked inside each other. My prefer container is a small Igloo Cube cooler, but I’ve also used my 16 qt stock pot, and my 8 qt dutch oven. However, I will have to admit that I bought the honking big Anova container when I made sous vide pork chops for my cookbook club. It was not necessary and was simply a vanity-indulgence.

Yes, you do need to brown meat after you’ve cooked it in the sous-vide set-up, but I do not brown chicken that I’m using for chicken salad or a casserole or any place where I would use poached/boiled chicken.

I have given Anova immersion circulators to my DSIL, my DSS, and my DBIL. DSIL and DSS are very enthusiastic users. Not so much DBIL probably because he’s a grumpy old man who won’t spend the time to understand the usefulness of the tool.

My DSIL cooked delicious rib-eye steaks for us last weekend. He put them on then took the kids to the zoo. When he got back, he seared the steaks and dinner was ready.

My favorite thing to make is Egg Bites. I combined 2 recipes

Ingredients: https://copykat.com/starbucks-sous-vide-egg-bites-bacon-gruyere/#recipe

Method: https://recipes.anovaculinary.com/recipe/sous-vide-egg-bites-bacon-gruyere

Do y’all remember a couple of years ago, I thought I was making Eggs Benedict for 11 people for Christmas Brunch? I did a lot of testing to get the poached eggs just right…to the point that I really couldn’t bear to look at another poached egg. I don’t know if I ever shared the outcome with y’all. DD and her family all came down with COVID a couple of days before Christmas Day, so we scratched the whole thing and everyone stayed home. One of these days, I’m going to have to try again.

@dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m - Thinking of you and this thread today. Been spending the past few days cleaning my garage and I found the contraption you helped me build. Good times! Hopefully the heater will turn up, I’m sure it will, but the pump I’ll probably have to replace even if I do find it. That was always the weak link.

I do not want to cook anything in plastic. Just do not trust it.