Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
all i can think of is the recent story about WiFi-enabled Barbie being hacked and giving up customer data (and children' voice recordings) because a non-computer manufacturer skimped on encryption techniques to get their product out there. i sense a big mess in the near future as this becomes more common and uninformed consumers buy them up as fast as they're made.
My god, you are absolutely right. It's going to be a dark day indeed when ISIS hacks into your sous vide and turns the temp up to 150 degrees, locks you out of the app, and your eggs get completely over cooked! The horror!!

:)
 
I literally just got one of the original Anova units yesterday and am breaking it in tonight. Cool you can get them at Apple now. If you're thinking of getting one, sign up for their emails. There are specials all the time. I got mine for $99 with free shipping.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Keane16
Well, I just ordered one from the company website, it's a good deal cheaper that way than from the Apple store (Sorry MR). My wife is the cook in our family and she's great at it but this looks too interesting to pass up. I hope she likes it as it will be an xmas present.

 
They describe it as "working with any pot", but this is a very inefficient device if the lid can not be placed on top of the pot. Vast amounts of energy would be wasted through the top surface of the water. But I guess if you're one to pay $200 USD for such a device, then cost of energy is of little concern.
 
Well, I just ordered one from the company website, it's a good deal cheaper that way than from the Apple store (Sorry MR). My wife is the cook in our family and she's great at it but this looks too interesting to pass up. I hope she likes it as it will be an xmas present.

Uh oh, you broke the golden rule. :eek: But you can make it up by buying her something else for the bedroom. :p
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ragnar51
I must say it makes for a really good deal - Polyscience's cheapest ones are $300 and don't have the connectivity options.

This is such a great thing to have. I'd love to come back from work or the gym to a healthy and freshly cooked meal just by sending the device an OTA command to start cooking or, as someone else mentioned, just cook a whole batch of things for the week to come and have them on demand in the fridge/freezer.

Dang Apple, bring this to Europe too!
I'll take two for Christmas! (one for myself! ;)
 
So, given that your understanding is so poor, what about reading up a bit before passing your opinions?

Others here have said that my understanding is correct. You're the only one to say I'm incorrect, but give no details. I'm left to assume you're just a troll.
 
[...] As a fellow college student, I think that it would work for making nicer meals for 18 people. But it's possible (probable) no one has time for that in a frat house.

Unrelated, but why FreeBSD? And is there a reason I should get a small server with it? Also, is your PC a hackintosh?
The main problem is that we rarely make anything it could be useful for. Maybe chicken breasts, but those are easy enough to fry anyway. We concede that the house food is going to be decent and healthy but not restaurant-quality. Also, it would likely get lost/stolen/broken within a week.

I've been running small virtual servers to host random things and also for work. I think it's a good learning opportunity to set one up, even if you don't need it. I've tried FreeBSD, Debian, and Ubuntu Server, and FreeBSD has so far been my favorite just by personal preference. Everything seemed to make more sense when I was setting it up, I ran into fewer problems, and it seemed to use less resources. freebsd.org also has nice manuals for everything. That's not really a professional opinion, just what I've observed. I also have something against the GNU license that Linux is under and don't really like Stallman's attitude... And lastly, there's that awesome feeling when I see my university's name in beginning of the bootup sequence :)

My PC is a 2008 Mac Pro with a non-Apple-branded GPU. I've "Hackintosh'd" old computers before, and as fun as it is to build a powerful PC, I must prioritize reliability over power/cost ratio. I only upgraded my GPU because 10.7+ was basically unusable with the old one.
 
Last edited:
My understanding is your food doesn't actually come in contact with the water. You put the food in containers and the containers go in the water.

The whole thing sounds quite dumb to me. You've replaced the heated air from an oven with heated water in this device. Seems like it would be quite a bit slower than the oven, since the water would take longer to heat than the air.

Even then, it sounds like you've baked your food. Baked steak is okay, but grilled is better.

You use this machine to get your steak to your desired Temp; Rare, Medium, Well. Then you finish it with a quick sear on the grill. Best steaks I've ever made was with an immersion cooker and a cast iron pan.
 
Last edited:
Well, I just ordered one from the company website, it's a good deal cheaper that way than from the Apple store (Sorry MR).
The version that Apple sells is the new Wi-Fi model, which allows you to control it over the Cloud. Apple's price is $199.95. The model you can buy direct from Anova is $199. So you save 95 cents. Plus the Anova website says they are sold out, anyway.

Anova currently has older models, with bluetooth, but not WiFi, on sale for $129, and currently available. If you don't need to be able to control it through the interwebz, you can certainly save a lot by buying the model without the WiFi feature. I'm seriously considering doing that myself.
 
  • Like
Reactions: shadowbird423
I have had a different model of the anova for a couple of years (I don't think it has bluetooth or wifi - if it does I have never used those features) - I love it. It is fantastic with meat. I have also made great yogurt (The only method that has worked for me).
They run sales on them and Amazon usually has a better price than the Apple store.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Keane16
I have the original version and love it. If anyone doesn't know what sous vide is, please do a little research as it is amazing. You haven't lived until you've cracked open your first 63* egg, had your first chicken breast that is actually moist and tender (cooked at 140-145*), and of course, the king of them all, a perfectly cooked medium rare steak, all without any worry or fuss over messing them up.

Now, I don't really understand the connectivity on the newer versions. Sous vide is the ultimate set it and forget it style of cooking,so I don't know why I would need to control it from the cloud. But, since these models are actually cheaper than mine was a couple years ago, no reason not to get the smart one.
 
I'd really like to get one for myself. They work really well. Lots of misinformation here. You almost always finish the meat off with a nice sear in the pan. Many high-end restaurants use this method. It helps lock in the flavor, moisture, and evenly cooks the meat to the exact doneness the customer requested. The result is extremely tender, perfectly cooked meat that is dripping with flavor and has a nice crust on the outside. But don't get me wrong—for smoking BBQ I'll always stick with my egg. As my grandpa would say: "Different tools for different jobs."
 
My understanding is your food doesn't actually come in contact with the water. You put the food in containers and the containers go in the water.

The whole thing sounds quite dumb to me. You've replaced the heated air from an oven with heated water in this device. Seems like it would be quite a bit slower than the oven, since the water would take longer to heat than the air.

Even then, it sounds like you've baked your food. Baked steak is okay, but grilled is better.

"Quit dumb"?? Oh boy. You don't know anything about this method of cooking and then you blast it. I wasn't familiar with it. So guess what I did. I looked it up and it only took a few minutes to understand the benefits of this method of cooking and some extra steps that are often taken to finalize the food.

Before people embarrass themselves with silly comments that show a lack of understanding, perhaps they should take 5 minutes to educate themselves. Oh well. I guess this is what make the world go 'round.
 
The whole thing sounds quite dumb to me. You've replaced the heated air from an oven with heated water in this device. Seems like it would be quite a bit slower than the oven, since the water would take longer to heat than the air.

Even then, it sounds like you've baked your food. Baked steak is okay, but grilled is better.

I agree with the others... you should read up on what sous vide actually is.

With a 400 degree grill it would take a steak about 5 quick minutes on each side to reach an internal temperature of 140 degrees. Thicker steaks are tricky because the outside will get done before the inside.

With sous vide... you slowly cook the steak in the bag in 140 degree water. The entire steak cooks at the same time. Yeah it takes an hour or so... but it's completely cooked and at the proper temperature. (and you can't really overcook it if you let it sit in the water too long)

Then you should finish it off with a quick sear in a pan or on the grill.

The point of sous vide is perfect, repeatable results every time.

I wouldn't consider that dumb.
 
I want one of these, and might get one for Christmas. But here's my question: The item description talks about cooking food in plastic bags or mason jars. My wife feels that putting the meat in a plastic bag isn't safe because the plastic, when heated, could somehow contaminate the food in some respect. But where do you get mason jars big enough to fit a steak, full size burger patty, or whole chicken breast in them?
 
I want one of these, and might get one for Christmas. But here's my question: The item description talks about cooking food in plastic bags or mason jars. My wife feels that putting the meat in a plastic bag isn't safe because the plastic, when heated, could somehow contaminate the food in some respect. But where do you get mason jars big enough to fit a steak, full size burger patty, or whole chicken breast in them?
I can't imagine that mason jars would work very well for solid food. Probably something liquidy like scrambled eggs would work. You need the heat transfer to keep it at the right temperature, and air around the food won't work well. Vacuum sealing makes it work best. If you're uncomfortable with plastic, don't bother trying it.
 
I want one of these, and might get one for Christmas. But here's my question: The item description talks about cooking food in plastic bags or mason jars. My wife feels that putting the meat in a plastic bag isn't safe because the plastic, when heated, could somehow contaminate the food in some respect. But where do you get mason jars big enough to fit a steak, full size burger patty, or whole chicken breast in them?

As for your wife's concerns about the plastic leaching into your food...

Skip to time index 4:35


and here is the article...

http://www.cookingissues.com/index.html?p=3908.html#sectionII3a

Most plastic bags for food are made of Polyethylene aka PE which is safe for low temp cooking.
 
Last edited:
The opinions on this product from those that have never used this method of cooking sums up how wrong the average MacRumors comment section is.

This is a good product, and the method of cooking is excellent.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ErikGrim and JCrz
The version that Apple sells is the new Wi-Fi model, which allows you to control it over the Cloud. Apple's price is $199.95. The model you can buy direct from Anova is $199. So you save 95 cents. Plus the Anova website says they are sold out, anyway.

Anova currently has older models, with bluetooth, but not WiFi, on sale for $129, and currently available. If you don't need to be able to control it through the interwebz, you can certainly save a lot by buying the model without the WiFi feature. I'm seriously considering doing that myself.

After I read this article I started researching them for a Christmas gift, and saw the $129 sale on the bluetooth model on Anova's website and went for that. Believe me, getting the newest version with WiFi was tempting, but I couldn't justify the $70 price difference.

A CNET review of the WiFi version mentioned it possibly becoming HomeKit compatible in the future, so opting for the bluetooth only model may cause you to miss out on the opportunity to ask Siri to start cooking your dinner :p
 
After I read this article I started researching them for a Christmas gift, and saw the $129 sale on the bluetooth model on Anova's website and went for that. Believe me, getting the newest version with WiFi was tempting, but I couldn't justify the $70 price difference.

A CNET review of the WiFi version mentioned it possibly becoming HomeKit compatible in the future, so opting for the bluetooth only model may cause you to miss out on the opportunity to ask Siri to start cooking your dinner :p

Hmm. As a big HomeKit enthusiast, I remain highly skeptical of this statement. It has long been known that HomeKit requires a specific chip, which is why so many other manufacturers who claimed to be able to add HomeKit compatibility via software update ended up disappointing buyers. Maybe this one has the chip already, but I would not hold your breath.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.