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piyoman

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  1. Hopefully the price will come down some more. Looking at the components and concept I strongly believe it can be made less expensive. I think what's holding back the dropping of prices is simply the lack of competition and the profit oriented mindset of the current market. What we need is a company to revolutionize the industry and bring the idea to the mass market. Otherwise a kickstarter project on this with some strong publicity would be equally nice. The concept seems straight forward enough with a sealed chamber, vacuum pump, some relays and a sealer mechanism. I can see one hurdle to overcome - current units weigh close to if not more than 100 lbs. All that steel, plexiglass, vacuum pump, etc would cost an arm and a leg for shipping alone. If it can be re-engineered to use less material, it would be an overall savings for any manufacturer. Another thing, my vp215 looks like it was designed in the 80's with no innovation since. I feel all other appliances like washer/dryers, fridges, ovens, stoves, etc have all been updated but these, not the slightest. Some would say the newer appliances are just cheaper looking and less reliable but I disagree. I'm sure there's a compromise somewhere between high tech and reliability. The vacuum chamber companies need a good kick in the ass with some strong competition that's willing to innovate. Though I can't really complain about Ary. They've already come out with the vp112 which is lighter and cheaper than their previous models. Just a sleeker interface such as a color touch screen would jazz it up a bit but that's another topic.
  2. I found the power cord of the Anova to be quite stiff so if it's sitting at the wrong angle in relation to the appliance it can get a bit tight and awkward to work with. As it's just a common 3 prong computer power cable I may just replace it with a thinner gauge more pliable one I have lying around. Hopefully with yours it's simply a loose connection causing the reset and nothing more.
  3. On another note, is there a way to switch between Fahrenheit and Celsius without powering it off and on and going into the set up? With so many different recipes online and conflicting temperature recommendations for various cuts of meat it seems like an unnecessary extra step to simply swap units.
  4. Just a few comments about this topic: I find the biggest issue for me with sous vide is the requirement to vacuum seal the food. Water displacement using a ziplock bag works fine but then you have to worry whether the bag will flip or leak. I prefer not to clip bags to the edge of the pot if I don't have to. When I had a clamp style vacuum sealer I seldomly used it because of the work and noise involved. I ended up upgrading to a chamber vacuum sealer with a dedicated workstation. This streamlined my prep work immensely. With being able to vacuum seal food, it not only encourages me to sous vide, it allows me to store it more efficiently. Most meats are now in flat bags that can be stacked in the freezer unlike before when they formed odd shapes (I'm sure I could have packed it more efficiently but leave it to me to mess it up every time for years on end). I honestly don't think the cost of the sous vide machine is an issue. It's the vacuum seal requirement that's the tipping point of whether I would use this long term or not. Sous vide allows me to dedicate a few hours in a month to buy meat in bulk, portion, season, marinade and finally seal and sous vide everything. This maximizes my efficiency in not only doing everything I already do but also cooking it. Once complete I'll freeze most of the food so it simplifies my meals in the future. Defrost / reheat via sous vide and searing is simple enough for a main dish after a busy day at work. The key for me is not trading quality for efficiency. That's why I foresee myself using this for the long term and not simply jumping on the bandwagon. If you can integrate sous vide into part of your processes without adding too much work involved that's the primary way I can see this appliance not being resold or relegated to the back of the shelf. Bagging and sealing is the one primary reason people won't use this long term. FYI, I bought a $900 chamber vacuum sealer to compliment the $200 immersion circulator. It's somewhat backwards thinking On another note I have a bread machine and an ice cream maker that are seldomly used. These are very specific appliances for foods I've never made in the past. Since I can't make better or as well as what I can buy in stores, they stay on the shelf collectingn dust. Sous vide is inherently different because a perfectly juicy chicken breast is easy and consistent and may be worth the effort on those special occasions.
  5. I have an Anova with firmware v2.01 and tested it with a thermapen. I think the temperature variance between the two is ~0.1 F which isn't significant. Does the Nomiku offer the ability to recalibrate?
  6. If you haven't followed the process to check the temperature as outlined in the Anova manual you may want to give that a try for both units. • Cover your tank wait 15 minutes and recheck the temperature. Most of the read errors come from evaporative loss or not waiting long enough for complete stabilization. • It is not appropriate to use an analog thermometer period. Sous vide temperatures should not be approximated • Make sure you are accurately taking the temperature read – generally you want to put the thermometer tip near the outflow of the circulator. If the thermometer is touching the cooking tank or not in the water you will read an incorrect value and your adjustments will be incorrect.
  7. I'd be interested to hear other people's opinion on the polyscience chamber vacuum sealer. It definitely looks sleeker and it's priced right at just under $1000 (though with shipping it'll probably bump it up a bit over). So far my vp215 hasn't given me any trouble but I wouldn't want to deal with the nightmare of a defective unit especially since it's 90+ lbs to ship. If they had 3rd party service centers it would make things a lot easier. At least their customer service is good. Polyscience seems to be lighter coming in at 50 lbs which I would prefer. For VacuumSealersUnlimited.com I tried using the discount code but I couldn't get it to work. Even if it did though, I wouldn't want to hassle with the poor service and the delay. I'm glad Vacmaster includes sample bags. This helped me decide which sizes I prefer. I originally planned on getting 7x9, 8x10 and 10x13 but ended up getting 8x12 and 10x13 since I found anything less than 8" wide was a bit small for me. For sealing round objects which causes the bag the fold in spots I also found a small cheap handheld sealer worked well - http://dx.com/p/super-sealer-mini-multi-function-sealing-machine-white-2-x-aa-100566%C2'>
  8. I recently ordered the VP215 and it's great. $889 with free shipping at webstaurantstore.com . The day I ordered it is the day they shipped it out. I wanted to put some other stuff in the same order but other items don't have free shipping unfortunately and though this was, it actually increased the shipping charge for whatever reason by a few dollars (this is a 95 lbs item btw). In any event, the VP215 works quite well. It's also very quiet. I just wish there was an instant seal option or some way to extend the seal/vacuum time without having to adjust the settings. On another note, I ordered 2000 bags at vacuumsealersunlimited.com and I have to say I'm fairly disappointed. I ordered it the past Tuesday and they still haven't shipped it out. It's been almost a week. Emailing led to no response and phoning was not helpful either. Basically they said when they ship it I'll get a confirmation email... I'm still waiting even though they said it would ship out the past Friday. Hopefully I'll get it soon. I researched around and I found www.meatprocessingproducts.com had comparable prices and shipping. I ordered from vacuumsealersunlimited based on the recommendation of this forum. If I need more bags, I'll try meatprocessingproducts next time.
  9. That's really great service. I wonder what will happen with all the older units sent back if everyone is getting newer ones. Perhaps a refurbished sale? I still think the Anova is just a tad loud for a hum especially in an open concept kitchen for longer cooks. Too bad there's no way to lower the speed of the circulator.
  10. On a slightly different topic, can anyone recommend a place to buy chamber vacuum bags? There are a few places that sell for quite cheap but add that with shipping and it can double in price. Also what are the popular sizes everyone uses? I just want to ensure if I'm going to buy 1000+ bags that I don't get too many of the wrong size. I'll primarily be sous viding for meals of 2 up to 6 people and freezing bulk meat I buy. Suggestions?
  11. Seems like Polyscience has made a good strategic decision to create a lower priced unit just as sous vide for the home user is becoming more popular. This way they're able to leverage their well established name while directly competing with new entrants like Anova, Sansaire and Nomiku. I think by labelling it for "home use", coloring it yellow and putting a lower powered heater in it they're trying to protect their higher priced professional units. Good for them. I'm glad some healthy competition is finally breaking through. Next step is to come out with cheaper chamber vacuum sealers. Well established brands such as Ary and Minipack have cornered the market and kept prices high. Sansaire, Nomiku, Anova, anyone?
  12. I also have white quartz countertops. I've used acetone from Home Depot / Lowes with good luck. The countertop installer used it when he was doing his final clean up after the installation. He also recommended a sealer every once in a while. I've also had pretty good luck with barkeeper's friend and even straight dishwashing detergent for stubborn stains. No problems so far and it's been 4 years of a non-branded quartz countertop. Good luck.
  13. After reviewing this thread I'm glad to hear that Jeff, the developer, takes user feedback into serious consideration. I'm also glad that he continues to improve and beta test suggestions. I have found some interesting ideas that may improve upon the Anova that can hopefully be implemented without adding costs. First off, I like another person's suggestion of the timer. If the timer goes off it beeps, unit stays on and counts up after that. e.g. if I cook short ribs for 12 hours but feel lazy and would rather cook it for 14-16 hours, the alarm goes off for a few seconds at 12 hours and counts up from there 12:01, 12:02 until I turn it off. This way I know how long it's been cooking at a glance without requiring immediate attention right at 12 hours. Have it beep briefly when the water comes up to temperature. This would serve as a reminder to set a timer (whether built-in or not) should I want to. As any noise is always a concern to varying degrees, create 2 options: 1. reduce the pump speed and 2. turn off the pump altogether. The obvious caveat would be that this leads to uneven cooking because of temperature variances from poorly circulating water. In some applications this may not be critical such as longer sessions in an insulated container with lower temperatures. Perhaps offer an add-on clip for shorter pots. One of the strong points of the Anova is its clamp. An add-on clip can be fashioned so it can be held by the clamp to clip to shorter vessels. This would make it sturdy for recommended vessels but compatible with shorter ones as well. If there's a strong following I'm sure other users more technical than me can design something simple to be shared so it can be printed on 3D printers. One of the strongest features of this unit when compared to others is it's programability. Small nuances in functionality such as including a timer, removable stainless steel skirt, water sensors, directional pump and ability to recalibrate the temperature sensor really makes this outshine other comparable offerings at a similar price point. Perhaps we can see a firmware v3.0?
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