sreeb

No but I am a fan of the seasonal pumpkin and eggnog shakes. Did I just admit that on the internet?

The "regulation" thing is a matter of semantics. They are regulating when averaged over time. I don't know if the Vac-Star uses a traditional relay but it is done. If your system is using a relay, you want the period to be at least 10S and maybe longer for best life. I have a cheap Chinese PID controller that can either using a internal relay or drive a external solid state one. Period is adjustable from 2-199S with the recommendation that it is >10S if the relay is used. Assume a 1 million cycle life and 10S period. Relay life would be 1M cycles * 10S period/ 3600S/Hr = ~3000 Hrs of operation. Maybe longer if you increase the period or start skipping cycles entirely when you reach equilibrium.

Ah, no. These are pulse width (PWM) or pulse frequency (PFM) modulated. The control loop controls the percent of time the heater is on. This allows a cheap relay or SCR to switch the element. They all work this way including my old analog PolyScience unit.

The specific heat of water doesn't change significantly between 40C and 55C. You probably need to either use an insulated tub or lid to reduce evaporation. I always use hot water from the sink to start (around 130F) to start. I haven't done any higher temp cooking of vegetables though.

I have an older lab style Polyscience immersion circulator. I think is has a 1200W element. It will readily boil water at the element if it is more than a couple of degrees low. I don't see it as a problem. If it is boiling water near the set point, then the coefficients may need a little tweaking although it may still work fine. My rock hard SoCal water does leave mineral deposits. I suspect this is directly related to boiling water at the element. I wouldn't be cooking any eggs in a bath with a circulator. One leaky egg and you will have an amazing mess. The design of the SideKIC looks particularly vulnerable and difficult to clean. If you must, bag the eggs in a ziplock full of water.

You can be certain that the blade is dissimilar to the rivets in your knife. If the rivets were the same, you couldn't crush them to install them. I have seen several knives where the rivets broke the handle as they expanded due to corrosion. Note that stainless is not immune.

Boneless chuck short ribs, select vs choice. I was looking over a business (special costco oriented towards food service rather than consumer) costco for meat to sous vide. They had select ($3.09/lb) and choice ($3.69/lb) boneless chuck short ribs. I'm assuming these are the short ribs that seem so popular for sous vide. I'm not really clear on the difference between select and choice meat given that I intend to cook it sous vide. The price difference isn't much but I ultimately chose the select as I could buy it in smaller quantities (4lb vacuum pack vs 10lb) and I'm still experimenting. I lost about 20% trimming off the fat and split it into 2 bags. The are currently in a 130F bath and I'm intending to take them out at 2 days and 3 days.

I think your new probe is more responsive. The plastic covered one is also shielded inside. I don't think it would be a problem to shorten it.

I'm just prototyping my setup using parts from lightobject.com JLD612 PID temp controller $33.50 water resistant PT100 probe $19.50 25A SSR Relay $6.95 line cord cut off some broken small appliance and a $2 receptacle from HD. No packaging yet. No soldering required as all hookups are made to screw posts. I have been testing it with an electric frying pan and temperature control looks quite good after an initial auto configure. I have real doubts about a non PID controller as I believe you won't be able to hold close tolerances. The solid state relay allows using a shorter period which may make a difference depending on your heater power, thermal resistance, and thermal mass. Your roaster looks like an interesting option. I haven't actually cooked anything but a couple of eggs so far since I am still awaiting delivery of my vacuum sealer but I'm pleased with the water bath results.

Were using any kind of active circulation or just depending on convection?