New Sainsaire $199 Sous Vide circulator on Kickstarter

[Brainfoodie]

There's a new SV circulator on Kickstarter by Scott Heimendinger, creator of the original Seattle Food Geek DIY sous vide many of us used as a reference and more recently appointed Director of Applied Research at Modernist Cuisine.

It's called Sainsaire - i.e. without air, a play on "Sous Vide".

The design and specs look good - 1KW heater, circulator, good clip to hold it to most containers - especially for the price: $199. With their permission I've attached some images to this post showing the general blueprint and prototype design.

On the last update they've also confirmed they would do a 240V version if pledges reach $250K, which looks very likely as it's already at $214K after only two days.

Kickstarter link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/seattlefoodgeek/sansaire-sous-vide-circulator-for-199
Main website: http://www.sansaire.com

Good review with action photos over at Serious Eats: http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/08/we-test-the-new-low-price-sansaire-sous-vide-ciculator-from-modernist-cuisine.html

I'm looking to replace my complex and slightly unsafe DIY unit but didn't pledge for the Nomiku as I thought it was expensive and risky. This one however seems to hit the spot and comes from a well known SV expert.

Any thoughts?

Edited August 9, 2013 by Brainfoodie (log)

[gfweb]

I'm surprised that the Modernist people didn't fund it. <br /><br />SV needs compact cheap non gadgety sv units to become widespread. This ought to do well

[scubadoo97]

Looks like a similar impeller and heater to the Anova. Not as stream lined as the Anova but looks taller for deep vessels

[gfweb]

I'm not sure that the clip would hold on to a pot with a big lip on it. Anova had a screw clamp.

[furzzy]

Thanks so much for this! I'd found something about it from a Twitter/Tweet - whatever - but the linked site had nowhere to subscribe or donate/pledge. Now I'm in on this!

[cdh]

This looks fantastic. I think I'm in.

[Bill Klapp]

They blew right past their funding target, and are now offering a 220/240V version, with only $20 delivery outside of the U.S. I signed up for that in a heartbeat. I understand that there are never any guarantees with Kickstarter, but Scott's connection to Modernist Cuisine gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling about this one. Also, I like it that the machine has no bells and whistles like a fancy timer, etc. Their philosophy of doing one thing right and uncomplicating seems right for this technology to me...

[dcarch]

1. Unit is made in China. For $199.00, you can buy a lot of quality from China. For instance, you can get a good PID controller for less than $20.00 from China, shipping included.

2. The circulation motor looks like a shaded pole induction motor. Good choice of a motor. It is a very simple nothing-can-go-wrong motor. The only issue possibly would be if the motor is designed for vertical run. Typically the bronze bearings are meant for horizontal operations.

3. Heater looks like custom made just for this and should last.

4. My only concern is the sexy looking temperature adjustment dial, which I assume also is the on/off switch. That is not a very long lasting device, especially for switching high power.

dcarch

[scubadoo97]

Dcarch, do you feel the digital touch screen on the Anova would be any better?

[dcarch]

Dcarch, do you feel the digital touch screen on the Anova would be any better?

I take back my comment regarding power switching. If I was to design this, I would have the PID to control a SCR to drive the heater, in which case, the switch will only be switching a very low current gate voltage to the SCR and about 10 watts for the motor.

Touch screen is good also.

dcarch

Edited August 13, 2013 by dcarch (log)

[rotuts]

Im very pleased to see both this product, and a few recent ones that are fairly similar coming on the market.

I sure do hope that this might spread the real advantage of SV to a lot more people.

all the recent SV items such as this one would greatly benefit from a 'Beer Cooler' : less stress on all the components as a great deal of the heat is not lost in the cooler.

these cooler's come in all sizes. If you do not have a huge amount of room, get the smaller cooler that's about the same size as your biggest stock pot.

done.

[Realeaty]

I'm in. It's another SV solution for me, for certain situations... like a convenient egg or a single serve. It won't be replacing my large system or my outdoor/picnic unit.

[Lukas]

Hello eGullet! I'm Lukas, co-founder and CEO for the Sansaire.

We've been thrilled by all the support we have seen on eGullet and on Kickstarter. We've been extremely busy and will be announcing shortly on Kickstarter that we've begun certification that spans most of the globe. We're also planning updates to show off more of the functionality and clamp capability.

I'd like to take the opportunity to answer some of the great questions that were asked earlier. I'll be checking in regularly so if you have any more questions, I'll be here to answer them.

---------------------

@Scoobadoo97: The minimum/maximum water levels are 3in-6.5in. A 12qt Cambro can be filled almost to the top!

@gfweb: The clamp has two positions with 1 inch and 1.5 inch clearances. You'll be hard pressed to find a pot it won't fit on.

@Bill Klapp: Thank you Bill! One of the reasons we chose to go minimal is because of our research on the eGullet forum. For sous vide lovers, simplicity is king.

@dcarch: You are correct. The temperature ring on the top is used to dial in the target temperature. A small voltage signal from the microcontroller turns the coils on and off. This ensures longevity and accuracy of the circulator. Also, on the top of the Sansaire is a dedicated power button.

[Bill Klapp]

I looked at the Polyscience products and decided that I am not serious enough about sous vide to make an investment of that size. We are now confronted with the option of buying two (or maybe three) comparably priced products for less than a Polyscience machine (no knock on Polyscience). If sous vide is going to catch on with a wide home audience, it seems to me that you have to make it work at around the $200 price point, and win, lose or draw, I applaud Sansaire and the others who are leading that charge...

[rotuts]

Lukas:

do you have a rough idea when you will ship?

[Dave the Cook]

Kenji over at Serious Eats got his hands on a Sansaire. He really likes it,

[Lukas]

@Bill: I like how your frustration of purchasing one unit has turned into an outlook for getting multiple. Since the beginning, we saw $200 as the important threshold. We are happy so many people agree.

@rotuts: We are on track for shipping in November. This morning we announced our application for certification.

[Robenco15]

I think you may have answered this but:

I have an 8 quart stock pot that is 6.5inches high. Will this work with that stock pot?

What issues with water and electricity could I encounter with the Sansaire? Is there a point to where the water can't come up the circulator?

Thank you!

[Beusho]

Can you calibrate this unit to a temperature if the software/thermometer goes off?

[Lukas]

@Robenco15: That is the prefect pot for the Sansaire. The maximum water level is 6.5 inches so you can fill your pot to the brim. As for water contact, the chances are unlikely. All the sensitive internals (which are water resistant), are located above the clamp. The Sansaire would have to tip over into the water for internals to make contact and the clamp is sturdy. However, if that does happen, the worst case is an internal fuse is triggered. We'll be able to repair it for you.

@Beusho: Yes, we programmed an offset calibration mode that is easy to enter and use.

[cdh]

I've jumped in as a backer. The Anova gave this a good run for its money, but after a few days of cogitation two things nagged at the back of my mind: touchscreens and highly warm humid environments just scream malfunction to me, and the Anova looks like it can't stand up on its own, which will make it a drawer resident rather than sitting on the counter. I think we've been presented with a pair of winners here. Best successes to both projects.

[Robenco15]

Lukas,

When you clamp it to a container, does the top/lip of the container come all the way up to the inside of the clamp? Or is the clamp strong enough to suspend it at different heights. Does that make sense? That way I can control how close to the bottom of a pot the bottom of the circulator is.

Is the clamp completely metal on the side that would touch the container or is there rubber to provide some friction?

[cdh]

While we have Lukas here, a couple of questions about the project going forward:

Since the body is going to be cast plastic, how much abuse can it take? e.g if it is standing on a countertop and falls over, is the housing likely to crack? If so, are housing parts going to be made available to replace cracked parts?

Edited August 29, 2013 by cdh (log)

[Lukas]

@cdh: Thank you. We had two inspirations for the design: pepper grinder and wine bottle. Though tall and skinny, these don't fall over easily either.

The body of the Sansaire is made of BPA free Polycarbonate-- one of the most durable plastic available in terms of impact resistance and temperature tolerance. It doesn't shatter or crack when dropped, though you may see some blemishes. The internals can break as much as anything else but drops off the counter should be okay in-as-much as dropping a smartphone off the counter is okay. One of the certification steps is the drop test so we'll know exactly how durable it is in a few weeks. If any internals do break, we'll provide repair options (but due to liability we can't send internal components directly to you).

@Robenco15: Yes, that makes perfect sense. The clamp has two heights it can rest on a lip. One is at the regular clamp attachment point near the middle of the Sansaire. All the water-sensitive internals are above this level so, provided the Sansaire is clamped to a container, there is very little risk of overfilling the bath. The other attachment point is between the two metal parts of the clamp (see below). If the lip of the container is placed in-between, the Sansaire rests a little higher. This has some nice uses for several of our pots. The material is completely metal with no silicon pads. we find the attachment to be stable as it is.

[rotuts]

Lukas: thank you for answering our questions.

If one were to place this in a 'beer cooler' ie Colman etc in either of the positions you mention above, high high can the water level be in relation to the top lip of the cooler?

many thanks