Anova Sous Vide Circulator (Part 2)

[Adam George]

So, the expense incurred:

199 USD for the circulator

69.95 USD for shipping and handling to the UK

I did get hit for vat on import as expected - 20%.

I did not get hit for Duty as the total value was too low, but if you're ordering multiple items, you may do, so bear that in mind - the best lookup I could do suggested this would be just above 4%. That was classing it as a water heater - bear in mind I didn't have to test that this was what customs would have applied.

Annoyingly, I also got hit by a fixed charge from the courier company for having to handle the customs clearing - I stupidly left the invoice at work, but it was around 14 GBP. The rest of the charges I understood and it's up to me to decide whether I'm happy or not to place an order, but this was a surprise and left me a little less than gruntled given that the courier was their choice and would clearly be dealing with a cross border shipment, I expected this would be included. It's small, but I will complain about this to Anova.

I'm going to leave my comments on whether I'm happy with the overall cost until I have had a chance to use it a bit more - initial impressions in use are great and temp appears to be spot on, but I am heading to Italy tomorrow and won't be using it for a week. I also have a pet peeve about amazon style reviews after owning products for a couple of hours which I don't wish to resemble.

Hope that helps those considering a purchase for now.

Thanks for posting the total cost.

I make that around £195 not including the £14 surcharge - which is very odd considering you're paying for international shipping and handling.

[whughes@bigpond.net.au]

Bad luck. Ordering for Australia post was $72, and at the moment there is no GST or Duty on items here under AUD 1000, but they are about to change the law!!

[johnelle]

Two dumb newbie questions...

Tried to switch to F from C but I can't seem to get to the screen and the silly diagram isn't helping. I thought I saw this in one of the "unboxing" videos but can't quite get there. Hints?

Second question. I remember reading here that the docs came on USB but my unit came with hard copy. I assume they switched to paper but just want to make sure I don't loose something in the unboxing.

Edited December 7, 2013 by johnelle (log)

[Anna N]

Two dumb newbie questions...

Tried to switch to F from C but I can't seem to get to the screen and the silly diagram isn't helping. I thought I saw this in one of the "unboxing" videos but can't quite get there. Hints?

Second question. I remember reading here that the docs came on USB but my unit came with hard copy. I assume they switched to paper but just want to make sure I don't loose something in the unboxing.

Welcome to eG. When you first turn the unit on you should see a screen that offers "Press here to enter system config. Tap to enter. This should bring up a degrees C square. Tap the square to change to degrees F then tap to save and exit. My guess is that if you got a printed manual you will not also have a manual on USB. Hope this helps.

[weedy]

right, my unit came with ONLY the paper, printed, booklet

[alanz]

My first unit came (ordered in August) with a silver usb thumb drive. My original unit was miscalibrated, and its replacement (arrive in late October) came with an orange credit card shaped drive.

I ordered a second unit that arrived this week, it had a printed manual, no thumb drive.

I just completed editing a video showing how I have configured my two Anova units. I will post it here as soon as it has finished rendering and I have uploaded it to YouTube. Hopefully some folks may find it useful/entertaining.

Edited December 8, 2013 by alanz (log)

[alanz]

Here's a video that shows a few configurations I'm using with my Anova units

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h29KEuAFzAA

I'm don't know how to (or if it's possible) to display the video directly in this thread

[Martin Fisher]

Thanks for taking the time to make and post the video Alan, it's excellent and by far the best I've seen.

[lesliec]

My 220v version is working magnificently in its new chillybin/Esky/beer cooler (strike out geographically inapplicable terms). No evaporation I've noticed, and the outer walls stay cool.

Yesterday was my best-ever pork belly (around 11 hours at 78°C), and when that came out I added a couple of litres of cold water to get the temperature down and started some beef short ribs, destined to be tomorrow night's dinner after 48 hours at 54°.

What's was really impressive over the wekend was watching the Anova come to temperature. For the pork belly, it hit 78, wobbled twice back to 77.9 then stabiised really quickly. For the ribs it overshot the target (by a whole 0.1°) and spent a little while alternating between 54 and 54.1 but was rock-solid on 54 when I checked on it this morning.

The sound of the fan/propeller is noticeable - our kitchen is beside the lounge and can't be closed off - but is quite acceptable from the bedroom. And ours is not a big house.

I'm very happy with my Anova. You should get one, too.

[gfweb]

The more water Anova has the quieter she is.

[alanz]

I just updated the video... I'd forgotten include the footage that shows how to set the timer.

The new link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTrYNEeH03I

[FranzWagner]

I think a lot of common sense people on here have higher standards for patents than currently happen in the US market. My common-sense idea is that you patent a somewhat new idea. Somewhat being decided by a patent office, these standards are extremely low. Heating element+impeller+temp regulator=legal, this has been used by science for a long time. I've worked in science labs that used thermal immersion circulators from many different companies.

Heating element+impeller+temp regulator+housing=patent worthy product?? I don't know about this or the details about patent law, I do know that the US has an industry for patents...the question is if you think this contributes to a common good, is our (cooking) society improved by this. My answer would be no, like I said before this has made me lose all support for Polyscience, let them compete by giving people jobs who can figure out a way to create/market a new device, this may lead to new and better devices instead of new and longer lawsuits

It is not the first time Polyscience is fighting against companies copying the design of their Sous vide professional immersion circulator.

A blogger has already pointed out a similar issue in the past with Vac-star on this page. On the same site you can see a pdf document with equipment comparison with this comment "You may have understood that Creative Series of Polyscience is the SousvideChef v1 rebranded Polyscience. This immersion circulator is now officially made in China."

The problem with Sansaire is the lack of innovation in the product (except the low price) compared to the design of Nomiku and Anova. People should understand it is easy to copy each another (Polyscience for instance) and manufacture a cheap product in China but one day you should be punished for that. My understanding is that Sansaire copied the inside casing design of the Polyscience machine (like Vac-star did). This is probably why Sansaire just informed Kickstarter's backers that the launch of the Sansaire is postponed to January 2014. They have to redesign the mold of the Sansaire or pay fines...

Anyway it is a pity such project is going in that direction. Designing a machine by a 3rd party (mentioned in this video) and being sued for patent infringement is so far away from the original idea of the DIY immersion circulator of Seattlefoodgeek...

Edited December 9, 2013 by FranzWagner (log)

[rotuts]

excellent video alanz

this will help many first timers to both SV and Anova.

[Unpopular Poet]

Great video thanks! -- I did have to laugh that I have had the lid on upside down this whole time.... I am definitely interested in seeing the video on how you cut out the cooler -- might just be what I need to get another Anova!

Dan

[Whygee]

So I'm in Canada and I was ready to order the circulator for my birthday. However, shipping is more the 60$ so it killed my enthusiasm. I've tried to contact the company to see if it was possible to get a cheaper (slower) shipping option, but after sending 2 emails to 2 different adresses I've never received an answer. Now I'm a bit worried about customer service. Has anybody else ordered from Canada?

[rotuts]

you might try a call: 281 - 980 - 1236

[alanz]

Thanks for the kind words about the video. When I make a video about cutting the lids, I'll have to show alternate techniques to the one I used (I have a 14" bandsaw that I suspect others do not). So I'll attempt to show using a coping saw, fret saw, or jigsaw to make the cuts.

[johnelle]

One question I was unclear about when I bought my unit was what polycarbonate tub to buy. I went with a 12 quart cambro http://amzn.com/B0001MRUKA which it turns out is a perfect fit for the unit and plenty big enough for a two person household. The only issue was I managed to put an additional crack in the lid while I was cutting it. Their "snap lid" is very flexible but don't be fooled--it is easy to crack if you're not careful. I should have scored it with a utility knife first.

Edited December 9, 2013 by johnelle (log)

[Kerry Beal]

So I'm in Canada and I was ready to order the circulator for my birthday. However, shipping is more the 60$ so it killed my enthusiasm. I've tried to contact the company to see if it was possible to get a cheaper (slower) shipping option, but after sending 2 emails to 2 different adresses I've never received an answer. Now I'm a bit worried about customer service. Has anybody else ordered from Canada?

The shipping to Canada is all in - courier, broker fees, GST etc. It's worth it unless you have a US address to ship to then pick up.

[Whygee]

That's good to know, thanks.

The shipping to Canada is all in - courier, broker fees, GST etc. It's worth it unless you have a US address to ship to then pick up.

[Adam George]

Here's a video that shows a few configurations I'm using with my Anova units

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h29KEuAFzAA

I'm don't know how to (or if it's possible) to display the video directly in this thread

You're a star, thank you very much for taking the time to do this!

[alanz]

Adam,

I do my best to stay off camera... the shy, demure creature that I am <s>

And as a reminder, the new URL for the updated video (not the one you quoted) is

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTrYNEeH03I

Edited December 10, 2013 by alanz (log)

[ejomby]

Wow. What a great video! Exceptionally done.

I think it would be nice to see how easy it is to modify a cooler for the Anova. (I just used a box cutter.) But I think everyone should know that it is something that they can do-- and shouldn't be scared away by it.

[greenmonk]

Thanks for the kind words about the video. When I make a video about cutting the lids, I'll have to show alternate techniques to the one I used (I have a 14" bandsaw that I suspect others do not). So I'll attempt to show using a coping saw, fret saw, or jigsaw to make the cuts.

Any progress with this 2nd video? I have a cooler lid I want to cut and would love to see how you do it.

[alanz]

• Greenmonk,

I might get to do it this weekend. I need to get another cooler for the video, and there is an additional feature I want to add to the polycarbonate lid.

My process for the cooler lid will be this:

• Mark the area that you want to cut out
• Drill a hole or two in the area that you will cut out
• Insert the nozzle of a can of expanding foam and try to fill the area around the cutout
• Let the foam cure overnight
• Cut the top (this area should now have a foam core) with a coping saw, jig saw, band saw, etc.

Sound reasonable?