Yeah, that part bothers me. Also that you have to plan long in advance to cook anything in it. I don’t use slow-cookers, either. Food, heat, eat, is more my style.
I keep being tempted. But then I think about the mess, and the planning, and I haven’t done it, yet.
Oh – I was hoping the get that with the instant pot, but it looked like it wasn’t really supported, you had to cluge code together, and that seemed too hard.
I’ve been very happy with my Joule, using it approximately once a week. Joule was very recently bought by Breville, so it should remain well-supported.
For those people faced with the negativity of “We don’t need another kitchen gadget!” I’ll leave it to your conscience that a Joule is probably the smallest cooking utensil you can buy other than a brûlée torch and it easily slips into a drawer.
I used mine just yesterday - one of the slickest things sous vide cooking does is that it completely obliterates worrying about exact cooking times. I filled an 8-quart cambro “bucket” with hot water, clipped on the Joule, dropped in a pre-seasoned bag of chicken thighs (a Food Saver is an almost required adjunct with any sous vide cooker) and set the cook temp. Selected the option to start the timer once the bath was hot and left the house to fix a friend’s leaky kitchen sink. As I was cleaning up after fixing the pipes, my phone started beeping. He asked what the weird alarm was and I said “My dinner is ready.” No need to run home and grab something from burning. The food stayed nice and hot and won’t overcook.
I use a crockpot and a temperature gauge (same idea as the Joule) for making 63-degree eggs. I’ve also done steak but I still like grilling meat better. And yes, I’d say the biggest advantage is that it’d be awful hard to overcook something.
I’ve got the Anova. There are cheaper ones out that that probably work about as well. Alt Kenjo Lopez is connected with Anova and I like his stuff.
I think it works well for meat that you later grill.
Trouble with a lot of sous vide websites is that they wanna do everything sous vide. Popcorn check, popovers check, green beans check. Be forwarned, not everything is better of sous vide. Meats are great, pasteurized eggs, onsen eggs, but I haven’t found much else.
If you are a beer brewer, it is pretty awesome for smaller ~3 gallon batches with exact mash temp conrol.
anyhoo, my wife hates it merely because I discovered it. So she randomly destroys beautiful cuts of meat that are over done, under done and occaisionally just right. Whereass, I can get it done just right every time. YMMV
Sous vide is the technique, not the device. I have and use an immersion circulator. We’ve had a few threads if you search. I recall posting about making “egg bites”. I puddled our Thanksgiving turkey last November.
I haven’t been happy with eggs in the shell.
I don’t like the eggs, either.
Do a search, there’s plenty of threads about sous-vide. I’ve had one for years. Like any cooking gadget, there’s things they do great (confit, 2"+ steaks, 48-hour ribs) and things they don’t do great (the aforementioned eggs, thinner steaks, some (but not all) veggies, baked goods (!)).
Just tonight I sous-vided a couple boneless, skinless chicken breasts to use in a salad. Threw 'em in the sous-vider at 150 degrees with salt, pepper, and some fresh tarragon from my garden. 2 hours later they were so damn good that Mr. Athena and I were eating them right out of the bag. They were flavorful, tender, really just lovely and the tarragon came through loud & clear. I don’t know how you’d do that with chicken breasts - a notoriously bland and dry cut of meat - with any other technique.
Given that a basic sous-vide setup is relatively cheap and easy to put together, I’d recommend it for anyone who has an interest in it, especially these days when you it’s hot out and you don’t want to turn on the oven!
Never use just a foam/styrofoam/white squeaky cooler for a long cook. They’re porous and leak, especially when warm and especially when circulated. Use a liner or an watertight cooler.
A friend and I made the most amazing beef plate ribs SV. They had to cook for 24 hours. I can’t find the particular recipe during a minute of searching but I remember the sauce had leeks, demi glace & red wine reduced down.
I have an Anova. I first got it to do 75°C Onson eggs after having them at a Japanese restaurant. I have used it regularly since for all sorts of stuff - infallible.
A couple of points:
It is one of those products that you can almost always get on sale if you wait. Father’s day seems to occur about 4 times a year.
You will use it more if you don’t put it away. Leave it clamped to the side of the cooking container.
You only need a power point to run it so it isn’t necessary to have it in the kitchen if space is at a premium.
I used to routinely clean it after use but it turns out not to really be necessary. Maybe if an egg shell broke.
While it’s typically a why-bother situation for thin steaks, I’ve enjoyed it if they’re particularly tough. I made a skirt steak fork-tender. But I had to cool it substantially and give a screaming hot sear so as to not overcook it.
This is especially true with fish. I recommend an ice bath for fish, followed by searing. Didn’t cool my last tuna steaks sufficiently before searing, and they were overdone. 
I have the Joule. Sometimes I would like simple controls on the device, but can’t beat the size.
Be careful about leaving items in too long, even at target temperature. After awhile, texture is affected. Joule does warn you about this on the app. I also wouldn’t recommend for this cuts of fish or meat, the kind that finish as fast as they sear. I would recommend for chicken wings, but you’ll need refrigerator space. Sous vide, cool uncovered in fridge to really dry, then fry or grill. Like confit.
Carrots are really good sous-vide. You have to cook them long enough and high enough, but the fact that you’re not boiling them in water that gets drained away means that they retain all the flavors that usually go in the water.
We usually butter them afterward- it doesn’t seem to do anything useful if you do it ahead of time in the bag, and add some dillweed.
FYI, I have one of the early Anovas- it’s great!
Hmm… I’ve been looking for a way to easily cook veggies until they’re soft enough for my infant son. Making a bunch of mini bags and sous viding them might be a good idea…
You probably will need to use pretty high temps (above 185-190, I’d guess). But otherwise, why not? You could cook them and then freeze them in the bags I think, without any worry.
To me, the benefit of SV carrots is that they get right to that al dente texture but no more. That seems a little firm for an infant. Simply boiling may be faster, easier and better for baby food.
Perhaps those little cans of vegetables I see in the baby aisle at Kroger?