No matter if you’re trying to cook steaks and chops, shrimps, vegetables, or other meat – sous vide will remove all the guesswork and give you perfect results every time.
Sous vide cookers became popular in the past few years because they’re easy to use and they give fast & precise cooking.
However, not all sous vide cookers are made the same.
We’ve researched over 21 sous vide immersion circulators and looked for something with advanced settings, easy to use, compatible app, fast heating, and many other important factors.
Here are this year’s top 5 picks:
Penny M - Research Specialist
With over 15 years of researching and inspecting helpful gadgets and tech devices, Penny gained an admirable knowledge. Check out her world-class knowledge and expertise in our Top 5 Reviews series.
Overall Grade
A+
Rating
9.8/10
OVERALL ANALYSIS
Osmo Sous Vide is by far our favorite choice on the market.
The first thing that’s impressive is innovative TopCook technology that doesn’t allow food to be under or over cooked ever again. Plus, it ensures that exact temperature is being used for the entire cooking process.
What’s great about Osmo is that you can adjust the timer for up to 99 hours, so it can cook and prepare your food even when you’re not at home – you just need to schedule it.
It would be a huge time and energy saver if food was waiting for you when you come home from work, right?
Their app is amazing.
Although you can control everything from the LCD display, you can also control anything you want from their app.
On the app, there are various different recipes that are easy to follow to prepare delicious and tasty meals.
You’ll be surprised how quiet it is.
Unlike some other sous vide cookers that produce a lot of noise, you’ll barely even hear Osmo running.
It’s lightweight and easy to carry, so you won’t have any issue storing it in the kitchen or even moving it around.
Osmo even offers a 14-day money back guarantee, so you can test it out for two weeks and still receive a full refund.
Pros
Innovative TopCook technology
Programmable timer up to 99 hours
Precise temperature control
Accurate
Overheat protection
Easy to use
Tons of different recipes
LCD display & app control
Lightweight
Super quiet operation
Tasty and more delicious food
14-day money back guarantee
Cons
Often runs out of stock due to high demand
Often runs out of stock due to high demand
WRAP-UP
Osmo Sous Vide Cooker is fairly priced for a market-leading sous vide machine with additional recipes heads and innovative technology. Take advantage of this limited-time discount while supplies last.
Osmo offers a 14-day money-back guarantee and free shipping. Osmo was unanimously voted the best sous vide cooker of 2023.
Overall Grade
B+
Rating
8.8/10
OVERALL ANALYSIS
The Joule was first introduced in 2016 by ChefSteps, a company that has since been acquired by Breville. This sous vide cooker is loaded with great features and is one of the smallest on the market at just 11 inches tall, so it will fit into a kitchen drawer for storage. It has a magnetic base and a side clip, so it can be used in a wide variety of containers, with as little as 1.5 inches of water in the pot. On the other end of the scale, it can handle up to 10 gallons of water.
Performance-wise, our reviewer found that the Joule was quick and easy to use. How quick? It heated a stockpot of water to 130 degrees Fahrenheit in less than 12 minutes. And because of its precise temperature control, even if you leave your food in the water bath longer than you need, it’s unlikely you’ll overcook it.
This is controlled by a mobile app, so you’ll need an Android or Apple device to set and control it. It also works with Amazon Alexa for voice control and feedback. The downside is that you’ll need a phone (or other device) with the app loaded to control the Joule.
Pros
Great technology
LCD Display
Pre-programmable modes
Suitable for any food
Nice design
Free shipping
Easy to adjust
Cons
Noisy
A bit expensive
Overall Grade
B
Rating
8.3/10
OVERALL ANALYSIS
The Anova brand is pretty much the biggest name in sous vide, and its Precision Cooker is the industry standard for consumer-level home machines. Our tester was impressed with this model’s ability to maintain temperature to amazing accuracy, as well as its ability to heat to the target temperature more quickly than even the Precision Cooker’s smaller cousin, the Nano (see below). She achieved great results with cooking steak, chicken, and soft-boiled eggs, all by following the instructions in the Anova app. The Precision Cooker is as simple to set up as just plugging it in, and the adjustable clamp lets you attach it to just about any vessel with the heating element submerged at just the right depth.
For the sous vide beginner, Anova’s app offers a wealth of assistance in the form of recipes and video tutorials, along with the ability to schedule and control cooking from afar using the Precision Cooker’s WiFi connection, which is great when you’re cooking a sous vide meal that might take several days. Unfortunately, our tester found that connection a bit wonky, cutting in and out and interfering with using the app to control the cooker. Thankfully, it has its own onboard controls to set everything manually, and the app’s recipes and demos are still quite helpful. It also doesn’t come with its own bags for sealing food, but you can do that with a standard freezer bag or your own vacuum sealer.
Pros
Advanced features
Easy to use
Quiet operation
Adjustable power settings
Additional features
Made from quality material
Lightweight
Cons
Could be cheaper
Slow preheating
Only 7-day money back guarantee
Overall Grade
B
Ratings
7.8/10
OVERALL ANALYSIS
The same brand that brought us the well-known pressure cooker also developed an immersion circulator for sous vide cooking. It can be used with an Instant Pot (but it’s not required) and boasts a small size and an even smaller price tag.
Its affordability does mean you lose features found in other models, such as WiFi connectivity and remote control capabilities. However, our tester found the interface was easy to read, the temperature accurate, and the slim size a serious bonus for those with limited storage space.
I put it through the paces cooking steak and boneless skinless chicken breasts for chicken salad with perfect results. I also successfully made crème fraîche (cooking it for 24 hours at 96 degrees), crème brûlée in canning jars (“the rich custard came out silky smooth”), and even pickles.
Pros
Smart features
Budget-friendly
Great efficiency
Free shipping in the US
Positive reviews
30-day money back guarantee
Cons
No money-back guarantee
Noisy
Heavy
Overall Grade
c+
Rating
7.5/10
OVERALL ANALYSIS
Most of the options on this list are pretty compact. The Nano is extremely sleek and, like our top pick, the Anova Nano wowed our tester with how perfectly it cooked a wide range of meats—from steaks and pork tenderloin to skinless and boneless chicken.
The Nano costs less, but you will lose WiFi capability and some power compared to the Anova AN500. The Nano’s 750 watts might be a dealbreaker for those looking for a fast-working circulator—in our tests, it took about 30 minutes to heat a large pot of water to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. That being said, it connects to your phone via Bluetooth and can be controlled manually or via the brand’s app—our tester loved being able to remotely set and monitor cooking time.
The one design feature our reviewer didn’t like was the fixed clamp, which limits the size pot you can use (the original has an adjustable clamp).
Pros
Smart features
Great technology
Powerful
LCD display
Free shipping
Cons
No programmable timer
No recipes
They upsell you with additional items
Mixed reviews
WHAT IS SOUS VIDE COOKER?
Advantages of Sous Vide Cooker
- Restuarant-like food at home
- Faster preheating and cooking
- You can prepare any food you want
- Tastier and delicious food
- Easy to clean
- Programmable timer
- Simple to use
- Affordable
Things To Consider WHEN CHOOSING THE BEST Sous Vide Machine
Innovative technology
This is what separates great sous vide cookers from average ones, and high-grade technology will impact usage a lot. Not only does it give a more accurate temperature, but it cooks far more efficiently.
Easy to use
Nobody wants a sous vide cooker that’s hard to use and that has some weird commands, so always look for something that has one-touch operation, meaning you only need to press a button.
App
App can help you control the cooker from your smartphone and it should also have tons of different recipes. With these recipes you can have restaurant-like food in your home.
Programmable timer
This will allow you to cook food even while you’re not at home. Simply select when you would like sous vide cooker to start cooking and you can have prepared food as soon as you come home.
Warranty
If the brand doesn't offer a money-back guarantee or warranty on their machine, you should stay away from it. Always look for something you can try out and receive a full refund if you don't find it useful.
What To Avoid When Choosing Sous Vide Cooker
No overcook protection
Some sous vide cookers from our research didn’t have overcook protection which is a shame as this is one of the most important features to look for. No matter the model, it should have overheat protection.
Large temperature increments
We were surprised that some sous vide cookers have these large temperature increments that don’t allow you to have precise measurements, so you can’t expect food to taste near as good as with solid temperature control.
Cheap knockoffs
There are a ton of cheap products (even on Amazon) that are just pure garbage. They aren’t even tested and they’ll just waste your time and money. In my opinion, anything below $100 can’t be functional.
Penny M - Research Specialist
With over 15 years of researching and inspecting helpful gadgets and tech devices, Penny gained an admirable knowledge. Check out her world-class knowledge and expertise in our Top 5 Reviews series.
Avasreview.com. Copyright © 2023
*This website is owned and operated by Seth Media, the owner of Osmo.
We are not able to review all products in a given category. All opinions expressed on this site are our own. We do not test the products ourselves. Our method is based on “meta-reviews”, where we collect external tests, customer reviews, product specifications and prices in one place via complicated data collection and research, so that you as a consumer get a better basis for making the right purchase decision.
This is an advertisement and not an actual news article, blog, or consumer protection update. This site is owned by Seth Media. Therefore the content may not be neutral, objective or independent, and impacts the location and order in which these products appear. As an Amazon associate, we earn from qualifying purchases ofc certain products. Graphics and product images are provided for illustrative purposes only.