Sid Post

I personally wouldn't want an indoor smoker in my residence. Good quality pellet smokers for your patio cost less and work well. I should note, I also have two stick burners in my barn!

That's the same price as my local Walmart.

That looks like a winner to me! THANKS!

Yep, they are 13" in diameter. Sounds like I would have to chop the crust off a little to get it to fit the APO or perhaps let it thaw some to smoosh a little but, then it probably would not cook well directly on the rack since it would likely sag a bit under the racks wires. I could always put it on the perforated pan they sell but, the crust wouldn't end up as I like it. Hmm, maybe a Cordierite or Steel sheet would work to keep the crust crispy.

The listed 12.5" width is what has my curiosity up regarding whether a ~13" frozen pizza would fit like it does in my BSO. I'm not into the cardboard crust smaller pizzas. I typically put them directly on the wire grate for a nice crisp bottom crust.

Will the APO hold a frozen 13" pizza? Specifically, I'm thinking about DiGiorno, Freschetta, and similar options. How about 13"x9" pans with handles? MY BSO handles the common 13" frozen pizzas fine but, a 13"x9" pan is a tight fit so, no handles or it won't fit. Any reason not to buy one today for $560? I see some mixed reviews and wonder about the price versus a BSO. This would be my primary "oven" until my house is built next year. I think the steam feature might be something worthwhile if reliability is good.

I live alone so, my basic daily needs are a single burner for breakfast and most lunch/supper meals. The big burner is ~1300W so plenty of power for a cast iron skillet to sear a steak or to cook some ground meat for a skillet meal of some sort or various pasta themed meals. The smaller burner would be fine for some oatmeal or hot tea and similar things. I will also have my Breville Smart Oven to bake things. The spacing is probably too tight to use both burners at the same time unless I am using small pans though. That is a pretty common limitation with any dual burners I have seen.

I am looking to rebuild my house and have a sketchy cooktop today so, I am looking to get a reasonable quality double burner portable cooktop. I think a sealed cast iron version would work best. I have some aluminum pans so, induction options are totally out. An open coil burner is a possibility but, in the past, I found them to be low quality overall and a pain to clean. I won't be super critical with how it cooks but, it needs to be able to make omelets and do a hard sear on a pan steak. Ideally, It would be in the under $100 range but, I am not opposed to spending more for the right unit. If the price becomes too much though, I can always get a traditional stove and tie it into the barn's electric welder service for power. I will also have a "Coleman" gas cooker to do simple things if power goes down during construction but, I don't want to live all Summer depending on a camping stove! This is sort of what I am looking for: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JCECBNI. Would a "Griddler" or Foreman grill be a good complement? I am unfamiliar with the newer versions of these but, older experiences were not good with the inability to pan sear a steak. However, newer versions probably do a good panini and similar things. My cast iron skillet can get screamin' hot for a good steak sear so, a Griddler might be superfluous for my needs and see little to no use. Thoughts? TIA, Sid

THANKS EVERYONE! Lots of good information in this thread that has helped me wade through a lot of sponsored reviews and general noise online! In terms of Steam "Toaster" Ovens, I love the concept but, I am not sold on app integration and questionable support when they break. If it was cheaper, I would be a buyer but this isn't at a disposable appliance price so I have a lot of caution. I get they are more complex but, I want a good toaster oven and not an APP development effort thrown into the price (software guy here)! There are a lot of great places online to get recipe recommendations so adding $100 to the purchase price for an APP integration effort is a loser to me in an appliance like this.

The Anova community forum is a real mess so, that may be part of it. It won't let me create an account with some random error. Yes, the Circulators had a lot of negative comments but, I ran across several APO comments that said the same thing as the circulator people were saying. Google is your friend if you want to dive into it. And, without being able to log in and look at user histories, I don't know if the APO comments were really valid or if they were from serial complainers or people with an Ax to grind. There were several reports of Anova not providing replacement parts or warranty support that make me really cautious about dropping $560 plus shipping and tax to get one. That and it is also $160 more than the big, non-Joule, BSO. I also like that my current BSO turns itself off when the cook cycle is done versus the APO which keeps running "to keep food safe" leading to overdone/overcooked food if you don't modify the program to go to 75F to slow down the burning. Steam cooking and good app functionality to program things sounds nice but, I question the concept. While I am not worried about a Hacker watching me cook a piece of fish or frozen pizza or having my APO Cryptolocked and held for ransom, I'm not sold on whole home integration with Big Data watching me through my Fridge, Toaster, etc. either.

FWIW, over on the Anova community forum, a lot of people are upset that Anova is apparently disabling the WiFi and Bluetooth functionality of the APO in September of 2025 via a firmware and app updates. Not sure what is up with that but, it sure doesn't sound good. Customer Support with 3 year old units that don't work has gotten some harsh comments as well.

The CSO is still available on Amazon but, the comments there are pretty harsh today. And apparently, when they break there is no factory support to fix them.

I was turned on to the BSO when I grew tired of my big oven taking so long to heat up and then making the whole house hot when I was done cooking in Summer.

This Anova Precision Oven (APO) seems to be a pretty direct competitor to the Breville Joule Smart Oven though, I don't think it has the steam feature while both share the App functionality. At ~$160 more than the non-App Smart Oven I was looking at, the Serious Eats APO review I read and its comments about Steam cooking baked potatoes with it sure sounds "up my alley" and a great feature above the Breville options! The Sous Vide chicken sure sounded like another winner for the APO too.

America's Test Kitchen review of the APO

Specifically, model #BOV900BSSUSC at ~$400. I am on my second Breville Smart Oven, I think it is a model 800 something. I need to be able to cook 13" frozen pizzas which is a hard requirement. I love being able to use a 13"x9" pan too. I do not make toast, at least toast I am picky about, though I need something that will do a decent job on Bagels and English Muffins. I have briefly considered the Ninja shallow toaster oven pizza cooker that folds up vertically but, it won't work for a roast so cutting up a whole chicken for it does not allow it to fit my lifestyle as a sheet pan chicken dinner option that would work with a nice beef roast. The BSO model #900 seems to be a good option for me but, $400 is a lot of money to me as well. So, I want to make sure I am not overlooking something that would work for me at a lower price or get something a lot better for a modest cost increase. My main cooking with my current BSO is: Better quality Frozen pizzas, none of the cheap ~$5 Tombstones and similar pizzas Nice beef roasts Lots of chicken, whole, parts, and lots of frozen chicken options Baked potatoes, plain or loaded Casseroles of all sorts Tater tots, french fries Bagels and English Muffins I do other stuff infrequently like cornbread muffins, cakes, brownies, and similar desert-oriented things. I lack a full-size domestic oven right now as well so, whatever I have or get is used heavily since I can't cook everything in a skillet or pan, or use my wood fired Smoker for everything. So, is the 900 series BSO the best option for me? What other options should I look at? TIA, Sid

If you are traveling somewhere where the water quality is questionable and you don't want to lug around a good 'mechanical" filter or appropriate purification tabs, the newer UVC water bottles or bottle inserts are a good way to go. Personally, I use a Grayl "bottle" for this type of thing with good mechanical filtration. Most UV flashlights are UVB so it is not even remotely good for this type of thing if anyone is curious. You can get UVC flashlights but, due to the risks from inappropriate use, they are not easy to find and purchase. Modern UVC LEDs are efficient and work very well in lots of applications. If you want to learn more about flashlights and LEDs, Reddit r/flashlights is a good place to start but be prepared for a lot of options and a ton of information, often in conflict due to different needs from different people (sort of like asking someone what is the best shoe??? Runner, Welder, school teacher, soldier, firefighter, ....).

UVC is good for biological contaminants in "clear" water. UVC strength, time, and water volume matter. Carbon is used mainly for taste reasons but, has some efficacy for chemicals mainly but, it can catch some limited heavy metal contamination as well. Carbon that isn't changed frequently is just a placebo though.

Yep, camelcamelcamel is the best way to go for Amazon price monitoring, at least for me.

Amazon pricing for me is a bit of a lottery. Literally watching prices go up after I click them. I was looking at some 3400-size fishing tackle boxes that were shown for $4.79 and they went to $5.86 as I put them in my cart. A lot of the food items are more expensive than at my local rural grocery store as well though, Amazon still has things I can't get locally. A real love vs. hate PRIME day for me at Amazon.

With this ice cream machine scoring the jar, it suggests the blades were allowed to wobble with the shaft. This could be caused by flex in the underlying motor mount or wear between the shaft and motor allowing some "flex" and wobble, hence scoring the jar. Mounts on both sides of the shaft allow a lot more support to prevent the wobble.

Without a pivot point on both ends, I don't see one in the cup to support the motor side, a half batch size will put a lot of uneven torque on the shaft spinning the blade and likely causing it to 'wobble' a bit.

For frozen drinks and slushies, I never had much success with any blender I tried. They always ended up tasting like a watered down drink because all, or most, or a lot of the ice melted. Freezing a "mix" I can taste test before I freeze it also would add consistency since the water/ice ratio to "mix" doesn't change. Smoothes and milkshakes end up in a Ninja blender built for that specific use that was a Black Friday deal. In terms of frozen drinks in general, a pair of 24oz drinks in contrasting flavors seems better for me versus a Super Big Gulf in a single flavor! What can I say, sometimes I'm fickle thinking the 'grass in greener' on the other side of the fence! 🤣 When I have company over or like when my Mom came for a visit, being able to easily do a Mango/PassionFruit/whatever for her and a nice Vanilla for me seems like a useful feature. That being said, I have been looking at the Vevor compressor Ice Cream machines which are ~$200. Amazon Whynter, Breville, and others are pretty spendy at >$350. The Coswar and other brands are a mystery to me but are likely ODM with a simple label change and a clone of other popular models.

If I do the Creami, I'll definitely do the updated pint and half model and get some extra jars. Having 2 or more flavors ready seems like a great plan for hot Summer days.

Strong arguments for the Ninja Creami!