New Anova Precision Cooker Announced May 6, 2014

[dmg]

Hi everybody,

 

I just received my Anova One. I live in Victoria BC. While I was ordering I could not get a definite answer on what the charges would have been, so here they go:

 

* Anova One was US$150 (50 off due to promotion)

* Shipping via Fedex was US$43.99

* Fedex Import fees were C$10.50

* GST   C$10.80

* PST   C$15.12

 

One thing I noticed. Anova filled in the declaration form a value of US$199, so the taxes I paid are based on that amount. 

 

Anova only ships to Canada via Fedex. This made the cost almost 50% of the cost of the circulator I would have been cheaper via USPS.

 

Another important aspect, you have to have a person signing the package. It arrived exactly in 3 business day after I ordered it.

 

--dmg

Edited September 5, 2014 by dmg (log)

[FauxPas]

Ouch, and paying tax on the higher value must hurt. I wonder if you can dispute that - tax should be based on what you pay, not what the non-sale price of an item is. Not that it will make a huge difference, more of a 'principle of the thing' situation. 

[Anna N]

dmg,

Did you contact ANOVA? This might be your best first move. They are reputable and responsive and if there is someway they can adjust the costs I am sure they will.

Edited to fix typo

Edited September 5, 2014 by Anna N (log)

[FauxPas]

Anna N's suggestion is probably a good first step. I believe the legislative power for tax and duties on imports falls within the Canadian Border Services Agency. I don't know if Anova can request adjustments after the fact or if you would have to.

 

Not sure how easy it would be to deal with CBSA, but you might be able to check out the Casual Refund Program.

 

The Casual Refund Program

Manages the refund and adjustment processes for duties, goods and services tax (GST), harmonized sales tax (HST), provincial sales tax (PST), and levies under the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA), on non-commercial importations brought into Canada by mail, by courier or carried by travellers.

 

See the website details here. 

 

Edited to correct clumsy wording due to severe lack of sleep. :-)

Edited September 6, 2014 by FauxPas (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Not even my deepest "lobster" pot could accommodate the Anova 1. As I recall it needs a minimum container depth of 8 inches. Doesn't sound like much but was deeper than any of my saucepans.

If one is cooking something delicate, lets say like eggs in their shell, then to have the direction of the stream of water contollable can be important. To change that direction with the Anova 1 means removing the skirt. You can contol the direction of the flow in the new machine by simply turning it in the collar in the mounting bracket.

 

The pot I use with the Anova 1 is 8 1/2 inches, I just remeasured.  It is low quality Italian stainless (more or less) steel, but if I recall the price was only about $30.  However that was about 35 years ago.  This is the pot I use for pasta and for boiling/blanching vegetables.  It is the most used pot in my kitchen.  I almost never wash it.  Maybe someday soon I can use it for my mai tais.

[rotuts]

Ouch !

 

I thought there was some sort of 'free trade' thing-y going .....

 

[FauxPas]

Ouch !

 

I thought there was some sort of 'free trade' thing-y going .....

 

 

Sorta. There are no duties on some (most?) goods manufactured within North America. Is the Anova manufactured in the US? 

 

But dmg was being charged mostly for shipping and a brokerage fee. I don't know if the brokerage fee includes any duty or if it's just a fee for doing the paperwork. The taxes are still due when you import goods into Canada, but these taxes were calculated at a higher rate than they should have been. Still it's only about $5 at most, so not sure if it's worth the time and hassle to try and correct it. And I suspect it would fall onto the consumer to request the correction. And I think you would have to deal with CBSA in order to obtain a refund. But if anyone knows better, I'd love to know. 

 

The better way might have been to have someone ship the Anova as a gift to dmg, as some fees may not be assessed when the item is a gift. Still, I once sent a handmade quilt that I made from the US to Canada that was marked as a gift and assessed a value on it only for insurance purposes, but the recipient had to pay taxes and duty on it before they could receive it. Annoying. And it could have been cotton made in the US (Ok, that is pretty rare now but still). No one asked for details, but someone decided to charge the highest fees they could on that gift item. 

 

The whole process can be such a pain.

 

(Better to bring something across the border with you as part of your personal exemptions, but that means you have to travel to the US to purchase the item.) 

Edited September 6, 2014 by FauxPas (log)

[Kerry Beal]

I've gotten a refund in the past for overcharge on the taxes - as you suggested it's probably only worth it if you want to spend the time.  For me it's always the principal of the thing.  I'd do it for 5 cents to prove I was right under some circumstances.

[dmg]

dmg,

Did you contact ANOVA? This might be your best first move. They are reputable and responsive and if there is someway they can adjust the costs I am sure they will.

Edited to fix typo

 

I suspect it was an honest mistake from Anova's part. I know Anova has a good reputation, and I already got a good deal from them. I emailed them let them know that they should pay more attention to this issue. If they reply to me saying "sorry, we messed up, we'll be more careful in the future" that will be enough for me.

 

-dmg

[dmg]

I've gotten a refund in the past for overcharge on the taxes - as you suggested it's probably only worth it if you want to spend the time.  For me it's always the principal of the thing.  I'd do it for 5 cents to prove I was right under some circumstances.

 

keep in mind, fedex charged me the proper tax according to the declaration form, so it wasn't their mistake. The mistake was the amount filled in the form. So to contest this means several steps, I suspect: 1. anova submits some sort of erratum to the form; 2. fedex receives it and credits me for the extra tax I paid. As I said above, because I suspect it was an honest mistake, I am ok with it. If it was 10 times more, I'll be thinking about it

 

--dmg

[dmg]

Sorta. There are no duties on some (most?) goods manufactured within North America. Is the Anova manufactured in the US? 

 

But dmg was being charged mostly for shipping and a brokerage fee. I don't know if the brokerage fee includes any duty or if it's just a fee for doing the paperwork. The taxes are still due when you import goods into Canada, but these taxes were calculated at a higher rate than they should have been. Still it's only about $5 at most, so not sure if it's worth the time and hassle to try and correct it. And I suspect it would fall onto the consumer to request the correction. And I think you would have to deal with CBSA in order to obtain a refund. But if anyone knows better, I'd love to know. 

 

The better way might have been to have someone ship the Anova as a gift to dmg, as some fees may not be assessed when the item is a gift. Still, I once sent a handmade quilt that I made from the US to Canada that was marked as a gift and assessed a value on it only for insurance purposes, but the recipient had to pay taxes and duty on it before they could receive it. Annoying. And it could have been cotton made in the US (Ok, that is pretty rare now but still). No one asked for details, but someone decided to charge the highest fees they could on that gift item. 

 

The whole process can be such a pain.

 

(Better to bring something across the border with you as part of your personal exemptions, but that means you have to travel to the US to purchase the item.) 

 

That is correct. There was no duty on the circulator. I only paid Fedex handling fee + regular taxes. Potential duties was something that concerned me (hence my rational for posting) since duties are the hidden shark under the surface waiting to bite you at the least expected moment

 

Regarding bringing goods over the border, it also means you have to buy it first which is usually the main problem. I know shops some would ship to hotels, but I find it inconvenient and risky.

 

 

-dmg

Edited September 6, 2014 by dmg (log)

[dmg]

Anna N's suggestion is probably a good first step. I believe the legislative power for tax and duties on imports falls within the Canadian Border Services Agency. I don't know if Anova can request adjustments after the fact or if you would have to.

 

Not sure how easy it would be to deal with CBSA, but you might be able to check out the Casual Refund Program.

 

The Casual Refund Program

Manages the refund and adjustment processes for duties, goods and services tax (GST), harmonized sales tax (HST), provincial sales tax (PST), and levies under the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA), on non-commercial importations brought into Canada by mail, by courier or carried by travellers.

 

See the website details here. 

 

Edited to correct clumsy wording due to severe lack of sleep. :-)

Thanks Fauxpas, 

 

It is good to know. As I said above, I'll probably leave it as-is in this case.

 

-dmg

Edited September 6, 2014 by dmg (log)

[Anova Jeff]

-a way to sync with via bluetooth with a computer that could text you when you're not home (I know this would be complicated ... but I don't need remote contact if I'm at home with the circulator).

-alerts in case of wide temperature fluctuations or power interruptions

-ability to program multistage cooking ... like a precook at low temperature for increasing tenderness, followed by the final cook at higher temperature

-ability to set an on-timer, so it can start heating the water a half hour before i plan to get home

 

1) We'll have a solution for this later

 

2) interrupt detection being worked on

 

3) multi-step is in the control protocol set for developers already

 

4) we are having an internal debate right now to include it or not.  This feature might probably get misused and lead to food safety problems. 

[Anova Jeff]

any Idea on how the Hacker Special might differ from the final product ?

 

did they ask for a review ? improvements ?

 

Some changes are being made - including a number of programmatic additions.  That's why the android dev test program is not released yet. 

[Anova Jeff]

I"m confused... that looks almost exactly like the packaging of my Anova One, but with a slightly different cutout in the foam.

 

That's not the final packaging....We are going for something more ostentatious this time. 

 

Jeff

[JoNorvelleWalker]

But Jeff, what about the purple gloves?

 

My Anova 1 would be about perfect if only there was a way to circulate without heat.  One thing you can work on:  my Zojiroshi rice cooker can suffer a ten minute (as I recall) power interruption and recover without harming the quality of the rice.  Why can't you do that with the Anova?

 

I was pleased and surprised that the Anova and the Zojiroshi could run at the same time, from the same outlet, without tripping the breaker.

[SleeperService]

But Jeff, what about the purple gloves?

 

My Anova 1 would be about perfect if only there was a way to circulate without heat. 

 

what color gloves would you *prefer* he wear?

 

and, have you ever tried setting the temp on the anova1 to something less than room temp? mine goes down to 32f.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

what color gloves would you *prefer* he wear?

 

and, have you ever tried setting the temp on the anova1 to something less than room temp? mine goes down to 32f.

 

Ask Leslie.

 

As does mine.  Why can't one just turn the heating off?

[SleeperService]

Ask Leslie.

 

As does mine.  Why can't one just turn the heating off?

so, setting the temp low enough that the heating doesn't come on is not good enough? or am I missing something here?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

In an ice bath it would just be on the border.

[Shalmanese]

This may be super obvious to others but I just figured out tonight that the circulator is also an excellent tool for defrosting meats. Set the circulator to 4C/40F, put your meat in the bath and when the bath temperature goes above 4C/40F, that's when you know your meat is fully defrosted.

The combination of circulation and heating defrosts the meat faster than just putting it in standing water while, at the same time, making sure it doesn't go above the danger zone. I did this using the Anova 1 and it took about 30 minutes to defrost some chicken thighs. I imagine, with the Anova 2, it will be even easier since you can remotely monitor the temperature on your phone.

[Caruso]

Have there been any write ups on the Anova Precision Cooker Pro yet? I googled it and found almost nothing except a short, presumably sponsored video with Ming Tsai. Are there any independent reviews yet?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Not sure about the Pro.  As I recall CI said in this month's issue that the original Anova was their favorite circulator but they were testing other Anova models.

[nickrey]

They have not been shipped as yet (I suspect because of finishing and sending out the Kickstarter models). As such they are unlikely to be freely available for review.

[Caruso]

Just to be clear I'm talking about the beefy $399 Pro model (link here), not the $179 base model.