Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker 2.0 (WiFi), 1000 Watts

I do all the cooking for the family, and I cook a large variety of meals, except steaks. For some reason, I could never cook any steak so that it ends up juicy, and tender. I default to the well-known quote, “a man has to know his limitations.” For me, steak dinners required a trip to the local steak house; and even they were seldom consistent with their steaks, but always pricey. Then I discovered sous vide. I now have steaks at home once or twice a week, and always perfect; never tough or dry, and always done exactly medium. This Anova unit is great. It is simple to set up and adjust the settings. The primary function of this product is to maintain a constant water temperature for hours at a time, and it does it perfectly. I do not use the smartphone app, because it is so simple to set up, and monitor as is. To date I have cooked, NY strip, ribeye, T-bone/porterhouse, chuck pot roast (24 hour cook time), pork chops, chicken, and cod fish. Another plus aspect of sous vide is that with the high prices of steak, you have no fear of making a mistake when cooking your steak. In addition, I only buy choice cuts. There is no need to pay extra for prime cuts when you use sous vide. My recommendations for accessories: Buy a plastic container with lid, I use the EVERIE Sous Vide Container 12 Quart. I also bought the EVERIE Weighted Sous Vide Rack Divider, very handy. Many people mention that you do not require a vacuum sealer for sous vide, but I highly recommend it. Personal thoughts on my new sous vide experience. I have taken the same cuts of meat or fish, prepped and separated them into two sealed bags, froze one bag and cooked the other fresh. I saw/tasted no difference between the two; another convenient plus. I like to add one hour cook time on frozen meat, 10 minutes on fish. Note, all my steaks are 1 ½ to 2 inches thick. I found for my tastes, 140 degrees is perfect for all my steaks and pork chops. Times vary from 4 to 6 hours. For cod fish, 135 degrees for 40 minutes. Of course everyone will find their perfect preference. As expected, YouTube has excessive sous vide videos. I found the most useful overall information from the series called “Sous Vide Everything.” After cooking your meat, you will want to sear it. This is my method: I use a simple skillet, and high smoke point oil, above 480 degrees. Therefore, your choices are clarified butter or avocado oil. I heat just to smoke point, place the meat in the skillet, cover with a heavy metal bacon press, and sear for only 30 seconds on each side. To anyone who likes a thick cod fillet, the sous vide method excels, perfect every time. Of course you can add your favorite fresh spices into the bag, and or lemon slices. I may or may not sear the cod depending on the meal. My latest attempt, I covered the cooked cod with sautéed leeks and crème fraiche. I highly recommend this product to all those who enjoy cooking.

I bought this item to replace an Anova Nano that stopped holding the temperature reliably after about 4 years of very regular use. I suspected the issue was build up of minerals and such in the heating element, so I bumped up to this model since you can remove the skirt to clean the heating element properly. I also wanted a wifi connection just so I can monitor temp from another room. I compared to the Joule which is definitely slicker looking, supposedly a bit quieter, and a more impressive app. It also seemed quite fun to use Alexa to control it. What my choice came down to though was that the Joule requires the app - can't just set the temp and start cooking from the cooker. Sous vide is not complicated, just set the temp and walk away. I don't worry about setting a timer because part of the whole point of sous vide is not worrying about over cooking. So it seemed like I might have fun with the app for a bit, but then be frustrated that I had to pull my phone out or walk through multiple Alexa questions just to hit start. I've seen other reviews that complained about the wi-fi being unreliable or difficult to configure. Mine connected without any problem and seems to be working fine. Maybe Anova made some recent fixes? Not sure what else other people might have been experiencing. This one is a bit louder and bulkier than the Nano. The size really doesn't make any difference because you're just connecting it to the side of a container. I actually kind of like having a bit of sound from it, just to remind me that it's there. I typically have music going in the kitchen anyway, so I don't really hear it. For those who haven't tried sous vide yet, it's absolutely the best way to cook pork and beef. I've tried chicken, fish, vegetables, etc, but I don't see any different in results for those. The entire cooking challenge with beef and pork is getting them to the right temp and not overcooking - especially with a thick filet mignon or pork chop. Absolutely no guess work with the sous vide. Don't even need to brine your pork chop because it's going to cook slowly with the salt. I don't bother marinating my tri tip in advance because it's going to slow cook in the marinade. Where you will hear different opinions is the best way to brown the meat after roasting. I've tried various methods. Torch tends to dry out the meat and give it a bit of chemical flavor. Barbecue works great, but I have to heat up the entire thing and go outside. I used to use cast iron skillet, but it's so darn heavy. I now use a Ninja non-stick pan (absolutely love those things) with a healthy amount of butter on heat. While the meat is browning, I continuously scoop the melted butter up over it. Just a minute or two for absolute perfection.

Sous vide is a fantastic cooking method — no more dry, overcooked beef, pork, or poultry. I’ve been using sous vide for years, and I bought this unit as a Christmas gift for my daughter and her fiancé. This model offers excellent controls and a great companion app. The 1000-watt heating element is ideal for larger sous vide containers and heats the water much faster than lower-powered units. I also chose this one because the portion that sits in the water is stainless steel rather than ABS plastic, which feels more durable and premium. The Wi-Fi feature is fantastic — I can start, stop and monitor it from anywhere using the app. Nice because I like to change things.

***UPDATE: About 3 years later from my initial purchase and review, giving it 5 Stars now!! It still works like a champ. I do not use the wi-fi though. It kept disconnecting and honestly, I do not need to start and stop it with my phone. You literally tap the screen to set the time and temp, it is so easy! This makes THE BEST chicken, steaks, chuck roast, fajitas, etc. It turns inexpensive cuts into heaven! You do not need a vacuum sealer. I use ziplock bags and lower the food inside of the bag in the water and the water surrounding the bag helps crush the ziplock as you press the air out and seal it. Google water displacement method. You do not need to make this complicated!!! Keep it simple. Once you are done cooking, pull the bag out and submerge it in a bowl with ice water and leave it for an hour. Then you remove your meat, pat it completely dry. You do not want excess liquid to boil your meat when searing. Remove as much of the liquid from the meat as possible with a paper towel. Then, sear the outside quickly in a hot pan or under a broiler just enough to add a golden brown crust. Not too long, because the meat is already cooked. That is it! Everyone will think you are the most amazing chef. THE BEST PURCHASE!!! SOOO WORTH IT!!! This is my update after several years of use. Still a huge fan! So far so good. It does make noise the entire time it is on. I guess I thought they were all supposed to be quiet. The noise is not super loud. I took a video, but decided not to post it due to the video making the noise seem louder than it is truly is in person. It is a low humming sound. I guess it’s a good reminder that you have something cooking. You probably will not notice it from another room in the house. 4 stars only, because I thought it would be silent. Maybe it truly deserves 5 stars. I love that it is wifi! At first, I ordered a cheaper one that was not wifi as I initially thought, “who really needs that feature?” I sent it back thankfully. I LOVE THE WIFI!! I have lots of wifi products in my home already...I admit it, I am hooked on controlling things via my phone from any location! LOL Buy it. You will not regret it. Yes, it is a little more expensive, but your food will be amazing and it is fun! This one did not take very long to heat up either. I am impressed. This will cook your meat to the perfect temperature. You never have to worry again about overcooking. Click the helpful button below if you found this review helpful at all. Thx.

I had a hard time deciding how many total stars to give because this tool works VERY well at temps at or below 165 degrees but not above. We’ve cooked chicken breast, thick and thin ribeye, NY strip, tri-tip, and pork shoulder. I tried to do eggs, which require 194 degrees, and temp didn’t progress above 154 after 3 hours so I gave up. That’s way too long just to make hard boiled eggs. I ended up using a pressure cooker. We use it at least once a week, but usually more. We’ve also cooked both room temp and frozen food. The temp on our Anova unit is accurate. We used two other thermometers to verify. It circulates water well. We tried it in both a large soup pot and a hard plastic container specifically made for sous vide. It performed well in both vessels. But… it has an audible steady hum. I’m not usually bothered by noise but it’s distracting if I’m reading or painting or doing puzzles. The WiFi works well and we’ve started the unit remotely from work. That’s really cool because the water is heated when I get home and in goes the bag of chicken. We’ve also controlled the unit from the stick and it’s intuitive. We didn’t buy the Joule because it’s only WiFi. I recommend sous vide cooking and using this unit to do it, however, based on other reviews and my experience being different, I recommend testing the unit the day you get it so you can return if you get a lemon. And, to be honest, except for eggs, does the water ever need to be higher than 165? Chicken only requires 145. Pork 155 or 165… I can’t remember which. Sous vide pasteurizes after a couple hours so it’s not necessary to cook to a temp you would using the oven or a grill and this keeps food juicy. Our steaks were tender beyond belief. So far we’ve used choice, prime, and black grade American Wagyu. Even the choice was tender because it’s impossible to overcook using sous vide. I ended up choosing 4 stars because I really like this unit but it’s not without a few flaws. I can live with them though. Small price to pay to avoid using the oven or grill in the middle of summer.

AMAZING! Well worth the money. If you freeze meat, you need one of these! Do your research on recipes. You will probably always need to do a reverse sear. Frozen smoked pulled pork, taste like we just pulled it off of the smoker. AMAZING!

I bought the Anova Precision Cooker 2.0 on a whim three years ago and assumed it would join the graveyard of abandoned kitchen gadgets. Instead, it’s run almost daily ever since. Why it’s earned a permanent spot on my counter Dead-accurate temps. Whether I’m slow-cooking a chuck roast for 48 hours or just bringing chicken breasts up to a safe 140 °F, the display never drifts more than a tenth of a degree. Surprisingly handy for defrosting. A cold-water bath held at 35–40 °F thaws frozen steaks in under an hour without the mushy texture you get from the microwave. Fast heat-up, quiet pump. The 1,000-watt heater gets four quarts of tap water to 130 °F in about ten minutes and hums more quietly than my fridge. Bulletproof build. It’s survived steam, splashes, and even one accidental dry run without a complaint. A quick vinegar rinse every couple of months keeps minerals at bay. Wi-Fi control that actually helps. I’ve started dinner from the office, dropped the temp remotely when veggies finished early, and never once had to babysit a pot on the stove. Tiny annoyances The app’s periodic redesigns sometimes hide the manual temp entry screen. Power cord could be longer if your outlet is far from the counter. Bottom line: After roughly a thousand cook sessions—plus dozens of safe, quick defrosts—this circulator still performs like day one. If you’re even mildly sous-vide-curious, skip the cheaper clones and grab this; it will still be running long after the novelty wears off.

My first attempt using this machine was an expensive steak, which came out perfectly after a pleasantly easy cooking experience. I made this purchase knowing exactly what I wanted to achieve and only after having scoured the internet for reviews and tips. The research paid off and I’m going to share it. This unit was always in the top five of any review site I found; it was often in the top two. My reasons for selecting the Anova from the list of well-reviewed devices were: 1) Ease of use: six simple buttons and a large display that my older eyes appreciate are neatly organized unto a control panel on top of the unit that is slanted for easy access. 2) Power: I felt that 1000 watts was a nice compromise. It’s important that the unit be capable of preheating in a reasonable time and maintain a constant temperature in a larger vessel (if I want to use one). I didn’t believe that my needs (8 or less people) justified the additional expense of a more powerful unit. 3) Comments from somebody who purchased the competing, well-reviewed unit and emphatically lamented the lack of any controls at all on the device itself (i.e. that device relies on a mobile phone app for control and monitoring). As this reviewer pointed out: these units are simple water heaters; that’s all they do. There is absolutely no reason to overcomplicate, glorify or cutsey-fy that simple fact. You will do well to consider that during your evaluation. The Anova also provides an app but one has the option to use it or not. I have not yet attempted to do so, so I cannot speak for ease of connecting this unit to wifi. 4) Price: attractive considering the features, relative to the competition. Anybody who is considering sous vide needs to carefully consider what it is and what it is not. • First off, if you like your meat rare, well-done or charred, don’t waste your money. Lovers of medium-well should also consider carefully. Rare is much easier to accomplish on a grill or skillet (i.e. flash sear on each side and done). Likewise well-done or charred. Medium-well that is truly medium-well can be a bit tricky to achieve consistently and may therefore warrant this device but, in my opinion, it negates most of the benefits (e.g. tender and juicy). • It works best on small to medium-sized meats or fish. You get foods that are perfectly cooked from edge to edge and crackling with flavor every time, because they are slow cooked at a constant temperature inside a vacuum-packed bag that seals in all of the goodness. Assuming that you start off with good cuts of meat, you will end up with flavor, tenderness and juiciness that will blow you away. • You can get a really nice but relatively thin crust on steaks and crispy skin on fish/poultry by finishing with a pan sear. Tips will be shared below. • You cannot get the intense BBQ flavor or thick crusting of grilling but you can get a thinner crusting and some of that BBQ flavor by searing with a grill or blowtorch. Sous vide is probably not for you if you like your steak infused with the smokiness of a grill; you may find this method to be too bland for your liking. • You’re likely to never use this device if you are always in a hurry at mealtime. Sous vide takes time, which is the secret of its tender and flavorful results. The included app and wifi capabilities of this device may be useful to those who lack the necessary time. Set everything up before you leave home and, later in the day, use the app to activate the unit (i.e. such that the food is cooked when you get home). • Sous vide is not suitable for most vegetables. You can make it work for some, notably carrots and corn on the cob, but not for most. It's also not for large chunks of meat (e.g. roasts, hams or whole birds), which I believe do far better in an oven. There are some who claim that they have successfully cooked a roast sous vide but I prefer an oven at 250 to 275 with a good meat thermometer. Tri-tip is an exception to this rule; it does quite well with sous vide. • Everybody at the meal must like their meat cooked to the same level of doneness. I suppose that you could accommodate a guest who wants rare (i.e. briefly seared on each side) or well done (i.e. cooked to death) but anything in between would be better handled with sous vide and, unless you have more than one machine, everybody must like their meat the same way. My experiences: • I am a foodie who enjoys cooking. I want to enjoy the results of my cooking and I am willing to pay for good quality food. I like my meat medium rare to medium. I like a good crust on a steak and crispy skin on poultry or fish fillets. I got tired of the mediocre meats that I was able to purchase at the supermarket. I now patronize butchers and fishmongers, who sell high quality goods at a much higher price. • At these price points, I want to do everything in my power to maximize flavor and minimize the risk (i.e. of me screwing something up). Grilling is fun, sauté and/or baking is fine but the results are all-too-often inconsistent, especially for thick steaks and some poultry (e.g. duck): it's far too easy to get perfectly-cooked flesh and wimpy skin or crispy skin and dead flesh. • Hence my interest in sous vide. Cheap was not an objective. If I’m going to do it at all, I’m going to do it right. So, I also purchased the Anova 12L cooking container and vacuum sealer. The vacuum sealer is unnecessary if you are adept at using Ziploc bags and the displacement method of creating a vacuum; I am not, so vacuum sealer for me. The cooking container is not cheap but there are several reasons that I am happy I bought it: 1) its large but not enormous size fits perfectly inside my sink; 2) the included rack enables me to hang eight bags without impeding water circulation; 3) the cover minimizes evaporation; 4) I can see through the transparent walls from any angle and ensure that none of the bags have sunk, or have sprung a leak (especially important when cooking at higher temperatures). • Everything came well packaged and nothing was damaged. Unpacking was easy (i.e. no chainsaw required) and setup was a breeze. I am very pleased by the high quality of everything. The instructions for the sous vide unit are adequate. I did have to play around a bit with the clip, until I got the hang of it, but everything else was clear enough, even for a klutz like me. I found the controls to be very easy to use and the display is very easy to read. Temperature wavered by 0.1 or 0.2 degrees until preheating was complete but thereafter it was rock solid, possibly because I am using a covered container inside the sink, which provides some degree of insulation. It makes a noticeable hum while operating, which did not annoy me but it probably could annoy some. When the timer expires, it makes a couple of noticeable beeps. The vacuum sealer was more challenging; I had to watch some tutorials – I did mention that I’m a klutz – but this is not a review for that unit. • Most importantly, I got highly-satisfying results from the onset. I am delighted with this purchase. As long as your expectations are in alignment with the capabilities and limitations of sous vide, I am confident that you will also be delighted with this unit. Tips: 1) Do some research! I especially appreciate tips and recipes provided by Food Lab’s J. Kenji Lopez-Alt at the SeriousEats site and Helen Rennie’s tutorials at YouTube. 2) Read the instructions and follow them. The two individuals I named above will tell you everything you need to know about temperatures and timings for myriad types of food and doneness. 3) Temperature is critical; always cook at the temperature advised to achieve the level of doneness that you prefer, no matter how big your pot is or what it's made of or how many bags are inside it. Don’t worry too much about letting things cook longer than the recipe calls for. Most meats are very forgiving; up to an hour longer than recommended won’t make a noticeable difference. Fish and seafood are much less forgiving; up to about 15 minutes longer than recommended is maximum. Eggs are even less forgiving of overtime (i.e. if you want your yolks less than hard). 4) I have two sinks, so I put the container into a sink and fill it with hot water right out of the tap. Cooking occurs in the sink, covered. I believe that the cover and confined space of the sink enhance heat retention. After I’m done, water is simply dumped into the sink. 5) Don’t forget to add your favorite aromatics to into your bags. Do NOT add fat of any kind to meats except fish or seafood (see below). 6) I prepare steak with a generous sprinkling of sea or Himalayan salt on both sides and letting it sit for about 30 minutes before adding the aromatics and sealing the bag. 7) To cook more than one piece of fish in the same bag, it’s advisable to add some oil to the bag to prevent sticking. Vacuum sealers and liquids do not get along, so: a) use a Ziploc bag and water displacement; b) brush the fish with a light film of oil; c) place thin pats of butter inside the bag. 8) A pound of raw, peeled and deveined shrimp should be tossed in 1/3 tsp baking soda (NOT powder) for about 30 minutes before cooking to enhance texture. I like to cook it together with butter, tarragon and several cloves of crushed garlic for about 30 minutes at 132 degrees. 9) The biggest trick to sous vide is the searing process after the cooking is done. There are a million different opinions about how to best sear. You will find some great advice at the websites mentioned above, so I’m going to focus on what I like. I do not much care for the bitterness added to the flavor by placing non-clarified butter in the pan and/or using a blowtorch. I do, however, like a dark brown crust on my steaks and crispy skin on my duck / salmon. Searing immediately after removal from the bag did not achieve optimal results, no matter how much paper towel I applied. There is too much moisture bleeding and too little time to achieve the crust I sought without adversely affecting the perfect doneness. So, here’s what I do. 9a. Meat is removed from the bag and triple wrapped in paper towel. Steak is placed in refrigerator for 10 minutes, rewrapped in new paper towel and put back in the refrigerator for 5 minutes longer. Duck is also wrapped but left in the refrigerator longer, until it has completely cooled, which enables a longer sear. 9b. After removing the meat from the refrigerator and unwrapping it, I preheat my aluminum pan to medium high heat. I prefer aluminum because it preheats more evenly and reacts more quickly to heat changes than cast iron does (e.g. when my stovetop is too hot and I need to turn down the heat pronto). I use ghee in my pan because I like the rich flavor that it adds but any oil with a high smoke point will work too. Since ghee has moisture and milk fats removed, it doesn’t burn as butter does. 9c. The pan is ready when ghee just starts to smoke (at about 450 degrees). Oils with higher smoke points will be shimmering but not smoking. Immediately add the meat (i.e. don’t permit the fat to smoke more than seconds). For duck: place it skin side down for about 7 minutes, jiggling and pressing it with a spatula every once in a while. Start peeking for doneness after about 3 minutes and every 30 seconds thereafter, permitting the skin to get as brown as you like (up to 10 minutes). Finally, flip the piece and cook it for 30 seconds more. For other meats: sear on one side for a minute, flip, and cook for a minute more. If the upside is not crusty enough, flip again and continue to flip every 30 seconds until both sides are satisfyingly crusty. It’s a myth that you ruin the crust by flipping. For all meats, you may want to pour the cooking juices over the meat (not the skin) to add flavor and warmth.

Se ve de buena calidad, muy fácil de usar. La aplicación del celular hace que se configure muy facilmente y ayuda a preparar la carne en el punto deseado. Las veces que lo he usado ha llegado a la temperatura objetivo de manera relativamente rápida. El único detalle fue al configurarlo con la red wifi, tuve que acercarlo a un metro de mi router para que la detectará, pero una vez configurado se conecta a la red sin problema.

I’ve bought the cooker, 45 days ago and after 5 uses, it’s just stopped working. No reason, no life, do not even turn on. Completely dead. I’ve reached out to the seller and apparently I cannot return or exchange the item, as it been 45 days. Stay away from this seller! This is just the waste of your money. To be transparent, as a one off the seller offered me a repair fee of £35, which is marginal compared to the price and I’m not sure it’s even possible to repair.

Really nice thing to have to save time and make tasty food. Happy

Damaged product

Abbastanza deluso per il prodotto che ha una fascia di prezzò molto alto. In primo luogo ha la spina americana e non viene con un adattatore. Inoltre l’elettrodomestico è a 120v dunque facendolo lavorare a 220v come si trova in Italia porta ad un deterioramento rapido del prodotto. Istruzioni assenti e nemmeno un qr code per scaricare l’applicazione corretta. I gradi inoltre sono espressi in F invece che in C!