Cooking sous vide (French for ‘under vacuum’) involves the slow process of cooking vacuum-sealed meats and vegetables in low heat in a water bath. The method takes a long time (typically one to seven hours) and is done to ensure that the food gets cooked evenly while retaining moisture. Looking to grab one for Prime Day? Amazon slashed the prices on ChefSteps and Instant Pot Sous Vide for a limited time.
ChefSteps has created what it claims to be the smartest and smallest sous-vide machine on the planet, the Joule. Right now, two models of the Joule are being sold on Amazon. Basically the same in function and form, the difference between the two is weight and material components. The first Joule is made of white polycarbonate, a thermoplastic polymer, and weighs 1.1 pounds. The second one is a little heavier at 1.3 pounds and is also made with polycarbonate, but with a magnetic stainless-steel base and cap. This added feature ensures that it doesn’t slip and slide inside the pot. The Joule Sous Vide white and the Joule Sous Vide white with stainless steel are available on Amazon at $179 and $199 each, respectively, but for Prime Day starting on July 15, they both get 30% off.
WHITE JOULE
BUY THE WHITE STAINLESS STEEL JOULE
The ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide ensures precise and even cooking of food through immersion circulation. Boasting 1,100 watts of power, the Joule is powerful enough to heat your water quickly. After seasoning the food, place it inside a plastic bag and submerge it in the water. The Joule will take care of the rest. It’s basically like a fan that circulates the water up into a heating element that heats the water, shoots it out in all directions, and through precise sensors, once the desired temperature is reached, it stops and holds it there.
The Joule is designed to work with Alexa. Using the app, you can select exactly how tender your steak is going to be and how it will look like when it’s done. Simply say “Joule, cook the steak”. This will allow you to attend to other matters while it is cooking, effectively cutting down the time you spend in the kitchen. You can cook hard-boiled eggs in under 10 minutes, or perfectly tender and moist turkey in eight to 12 hours.
For the immersion circulator to work fully well, ChefSteps recommends a maximum water capacity of 2.5 gallons when you’re cooking without a cover, and 5 gallons if you’re cooking with a covered pot. Such water capacity can cook food for a large family or a small dinner party.
If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t want to completely rely on an app or Alexa to control your kitchen appliances, the Joule may not be for you. Don’t worry. Through careful research, we’ve come up with a list of some of the best sous vide machines out in the market.
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Editors' Recommendations
- Try out your sous vide skills with Amazon’s $80 Anova Nano precision cooker
- Amazon takes 31% off of the Instant Pot Sous Vide for Prime Day 2019
- The best sous vide machines for your home kitchen
- The best sous vide: Anova vs. Joule
- Instant Pots, including the smart Wi-Fi cooker, get hefty Prime Day price cuts
