Sous Vide : Sansaire Cooker FirstLook
Pro gear for home cooks
Sous vide is a cooking method that uses precise temperature control to achieve repeatable results. The ingredients are typically sealed in a water-proof container, immersed in a heated water bath, and cooked for period of time. The temperatures used are low, thus the cooking time is lengthen to compensate. The food is evenly-cooked, at the desired level of doneness, edge to edge, time after time. It sounds almost too good to be true!
When we started looking at sous vide machines, we quickly discovered the two players in this space were Anova and Sansaire. We took a FirstLook at the Anova earlier in the year. Today we will post our FirstLook of the Sansaire machine.
Similar to the Anova, the Sansaire is a wand-style water heater/circulator. Here are the specs for the Sansaire:
- Temperature range: 32ºF – 212ºF (+/- 0.1º at 140ºF)
- Water circulation: 3 gal per minute
- Bath size: 6 gallons
- Safety: Overheat and low water protection
Unlike the Anova, the Sansaire is flat on the bottom and is able to stand on its own. This can be an advantage when using certain types of containers. With the Sansaire, water is drawn up from the bottom, heated by the coils, and exits out the port a few inches above the base. The design is logical as the cooler water will settle to the bottom. Also note that the bottom section opens easily for cleaning…especially nice for users in areas with hard/mineral-rich water.
The oversized clip holds the wand upright against the side of the pot. There are markers on the body for max/min water levels. The Sansaire base is wider compared to the Anova and is designed to work whether it touches the bottom of the pot or not. The clever flare shape of the body allows for unobstructed water circulation behind the wand.
There are three buttons on top of the unit: Target Temperature, On/Off, ºC/ºF Toggle. The temperature is set by rotating the silver ring. The blue LED readout displays the setting and will switch from “target” to “current” water temperature automatically. The numbers are bright and easy to read even from across the room.
To see if the Sansaire could get up to and hold the requested temperature, we tested it at 135ºF, 140ºF, and 155ºF. In our informal tests, we were able to get repeatable water temperature results to within 0.2ºF at all three settings. Excellent!
Next week, we’ll show some results of our FirstUse with both the Anova and Sansaire machines, our results cooking with a variety of meats, and what we thought of each unit. RainyDayKitchen readers will not want to miss this one!!!
NOTE: We had two Sansaire units and one of them worked for a while, but suddenly would not turn on. Sansaire replaced it without any problems and we have had no more trouble with them. We were not able to determine the root cause, but it may have been the overheat protection circuitry being a bit too “protective.”
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