Anova Sous Vide Circulator (Part 1)

[Robenco15]

cool

[hattermad]

Weird thing just happened with the Anova unit. Nothing bad, but weird. I turned it on and at the same time I was wiping water off of the touch screen with a paper towel. A white screen "rolled" down and there was a dot in the upper right corner. I went to touch the dot and then a little bit after I touched it the dot moved to the lower right. It eventually went all the way around. I couldn't get out of the screen so I just turned it off and turned it back on and it was all good. I did the paper towel thing again because I was curious and sure enough if happened again. Weird...but all good now.

Sounds like a touch-screen calibration routine...odd that you managed to trigger it with a random 'wipe'.

[piyoman]

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.

[scubadoo97]

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.

Not that I know of. I just sent mine back for the software upgrade. Obviously this has not been changed in the new software. Maybe in v3.01

It has been a frustration to me. I have a conversion app on my phone and have been trying to use C over F since centigrade is the unit that the calibration is set to use. I switched over one of my Thermapens to C

Edited October 22, 2013 by scubadoo97 (log)

[Robenco15]

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.

Not that I know of. I just sent mine back for the software upgrade. Obviously this has not been changed in the new software. Maybe in v3.01

It has been a frustration to me. I have a conversion app on my phone and have been trying to use C over F since centigrade is the unit that the calibration is set to use. I switched over one of my Thermapens to C

Celsius temperature x 2 then subract ten percent, then add 32. That is fahrenheit. don't ask me to go fahrenheit to celsius. I just keep mine in celsius and do the quick mental math for fahrenheit.

ex. 65C x 2 = 130, 130 - 13 = 117, 117+32 = 149F

[Docrjm]

Centigrade to Fahrenheit temp x1.8 + 32

Fahrenheit to Centigrade temp -32 / 1.8

[ojisan]

http://www.metric-conversions.org/temperature/celsius-to-fahrenheit.htm

[Unpopular Poet]

I went ahead and ordered mine up yesterday -- I am looking forward to seeing the difference between this and my Sous Vide Supreme - It will definitely be nice to run 2 things at once -- veggies in one and protein in another. I also purchased a large cambro and lid on amazon and plan on cutting out for the anova and sealing a bit around the cut-out to retain as much as possible. Can anyone give any ideas as to how hot the stick gets? Obviously I wouldn't want to melt something....

[scubadoo97]

Use a 3 1/4 inch hole saw. There will be little gap to worry about

[goodgood]

I went ahead and ordered mine up yesterday -- I am looking forward to seeing the difference between this and my Sous Vide Supreme - It will definitely be nice to run 2 things at once -- veggies in one and protein in another. I also purchased a large cambro and lid on amazon and plan on cutting out for the anova and sealing a bit around the cut-out to retain as much as possible. Can anyone give any ideas as to how hot the stick gets? Obviously I wouldn't want to melt something....

The Anova ran for over 36 hours non- stop and the stick is just warm, not hot at all. On the other hand, the Cambro is almost as hot as the temperature I set..

..I didn't cut a 3 1/4 hole as suggested but I cut it to measure and I cut out a little square piece in the back to fit the flange.

The lid was pretty easy to cut, you just need a really good pair of scissors. I used a rotary tool kit (dremel) to smooth out the edges. It is pretty air tight.

Edited October 24, 2013 by goodgood (log)

[scubadoo97]

Great job! Sounds like its a nice tight fit

[Jeff Buczek]

Just wanted to say thanks for this thread. Really informative.I bought a chamber vac a year ago with sous vide in mind but I kept putting it off because of the price (despite dropping $1000 on the VacMaster -- figured that would pay for itself in food saved/not spoiled). I got the Anova just now, in black (#1882 was my order number I think). Super excited to get started. Am definitely stoked to use it for cheesemaking.

[EMG]

Super excited to get started. Am definitely stoked to use it for cheesemaking.

I calibrated my PH meter tonight I'm good for making cheese for the first time with the Anova this weekend! Let us know how your cheese turns out!

[Unpopular Poet]

..I didn't cut a 3 1/4 hole as suggested but I cut it to measure and I cut out a little square piece in the back to fit the flange.

The lid was pretty easy to cut, you just need a really good pair of scissors. I used a rotary tool kit (dremel) to smooth out the edges. It is pretty air tight.

Can you take a pic of the cut out -- I am curious. My plan is to take my rotary tool and simply cut out a notch, and then insulate a bit around that. Also, on another note -- anyone give me an idea as to how long it usually took for theirs to ship? Not that I am worried, just curious. I guess in this world of amazon prime, I have become too comfortable with instant shipping.

[Jeff Buczek]

Some heat control tests

I mainly bought the Anova circulator for making cheese... Not sous-vide cooking! (I'll admit that I had my first sous-vide steak today and it was awesome). For cheese making, temp control is even more demanding than sous-vide cooking. Here's why ( and here's where you'll see how powerful the Anova unit is...): Typically, when making cheese, you need to raise the temp by 1C every 5 minutes for a period of about 40 minutes. The 1kw heater and the 12L/m empeller made this task quite easy for the first time in my 4 years of making cheese at home. On top of that, the raised temp is inside the cheese vat (where the milk is), not the water bath. So the Anova circulator raises the temp of an indirect liquid quite fast! I included a pic to show the water bath (plastic container) and the cheese vat (stainless pan) setup. So the Anova's 1kw and 12L/m combination are quite impressive for the temp control of an indirect liquid. Making cheese at home has never been this easy! I'm making some mozz next week and a 2lbs wheel of caerphilly (similar to an old cheddar) the week after.

Brilliant setup for cheesemaking. So inspired, I went to the local commercial cooking store and got your exact setup for my incoming Anova. Carlise vat, 1/2 steam table insert w/ lid and digital thermometer. This should be the ultimate double boiler.

[EMG]

Hi Jeff,

I sent you a PM. It is the ideal setup, but I encountered one problem. Check your messages so we can keep in touch about cheese making and not derail this thread haha

BTW, for those curious, the problem I mentioned is not related to the Anova. The Anova circulator is one sexy cheese making machine oh and an awesome sous-vide circulator too

[Anna N]

Hi Jeff,

I sent you a PM. It is the ideal setup, but I encountered one problem. Check your messages so we can keep in touch about cheese making and not derail this thread haha

BTW, for those curious, the problem I mentioned is not related to the Anova. The Anova circulator is one sexy cheese making machine oh and an awesome sous-vide circulator too

Please do you think you can start a new topic - Cheese Making with an S-V set up or a similar title. I am sure I am not the only one interested. I did this more than a year ago using a SV demi and a stainless steel stock pot. Ill-health de-railed me.

[Kerry Beal]

Hi Jeff,

I sent you a PM. It is the ideal setup, but I encountered one problem. Check your messages so we can keep in touch about cheese making and not derail this thread haha

BTW, for those curious, the problem I mentioned is not related to the Anova. The Anova circulator is one sexy cheese making machine oh and an awesome sous-vide circulator too

Please do you think you can start a new topic - Cheese Making with an S-V set up or a similar title. I am sure I am not the only one interested. I did this more than a year ago using a SV demi and a stainless steel stock pot. Ill-health de-railed me.

I second the starting a thread about SV and cheesemaking - so Anna will start making cheese again and I'll benefit!

[EMG]

Done!

[scubadoo97]

I am continually impressed with the customer service at Anova. When I sent my unit back for the V2 upgrade, a new unit was sent out the same day it was received. All emails have been answered same day. I'm a very happy customer and glad I went with this device

[Kerry Beal]

Here's another use for my Anova - though picture doesn't show it well. Attached to the side of the sink - keeping some fermenting liquid at 25ºC which had stalled at 20º. Now happily bubbling away.

[Anna N]

Kerry,

Is the Anova actually clamped to the sink?

[Kerry Beal]

yup - it's the triple sink in my chocolate room - about 1/4 inch steel sheet between sinks.

[Unpopular Poet]

So, I got my Anova yesterday and gave it a test run. First impressions out of the box were that it is a very well built piece of equipment. I hooked it up and tested the temp with my thermapen and it was dead on -- not even a .1 off. Suffice to say I was impressed. I checked the bath from time to time and discovered it was dead on for the entire time it was cooking. I found the interface to be super simple to use, and except for a slight initial glitch where I set the timer for 45 hours instead of minutes (my problem, not the Anova's), things were going almost immediately. I did 3 eggs at 63 degrees for 45 minutes and could not have been happier with the results -- they were exactly as I wanted. I was, at the same time, finishing some duck confit in my sous vide supreme next to it, and was constantly annoyed by the temperature fluctuation -- sometimes as much as 3 degrees, which in confit world doesn't make a big difference but could in other applications (such as an egg).

Overall, I would give it a huge leg up over the Sous Vide Supreme from a use point of view -- I am curious to see how it handles higher temperatures moving forward.

[scubadoo97]

I've done vegetables at 84C without a problem. Not much past 90-120 min but temps were right on