and the only diff between this and my $40 Anova clone is toughness?
Toughness & wattage. 1000 watts heats up the water faster than say 750 watts. But, it also depends if you have remote access to your machine & can pre-heat it that way. Some benchmarks:
https://www.amazingfoodmadeeasy.com...blog/more/sous-vide-machine-benchmark-results
The 750-watt Anova Nano took 31 minutes to go from room-temp water to 140F, whereas the 1500-watt Vesta Imersa Expert took only 16 minutes. Granted, the Vesta is $630 & the Anova Nano is currently $72, so is it worth a price difference of $558 to cut the preheat time in half? Depends on your situation. Of course, there a middle-ground options...the new Anova is 1000 watts, and per the chart above, a 1000-watt SV unit typically takes around 24 minutes to heat up the water.
I have a couple of Mellows in addition to my Anova wands, and I've never bothered to time them, because if I'm home for the sous vide process, I'm usually home for the evening, so...whatever. It's like preheating your oven...it takes however long it takes & you just deal with it & kind of ignore it until it beeps that it's ready, lol. If I were buying a wand today, I'd probably shell out for the new "tough" Anova, just for the longevity & extra wattage, but there are literally pages of alternative SV wand brands on Amazon in the $59 price range that have hundreds if not thousands of great reviews, so...meh.
Personally, I've amassed an odd collection of Sous Vide equipment over the last 4 years: (I blame
@Hayabusa Rider for this, lol)
1. (2) Mellow sous vide: These are small AIO units that have a chiller & remote-access (out of network) built-in. The tanks aren't very big (so they don't hold a lot), and the design is kind of 80's style, but they got the WAF stamp of approval to live permanently in the kitchen, so they're on a special permanent shelf next to my 6-quart Instant Pot. They both get used on a near-daily basis for either meal prep or for meals that day, typically for protein, veggies, and desserts.
2. (1) Anova Nano: I use this with the 12-quart bin & silicone lid. They sell a
really nice bundle now ($42, at the moment) that includes a 12-quart bin, beer cozy-style wrap, and silicone lid for the Nano, which is currently
$72 on Amazon, so you can get a
really nice setup for $114 these days. I use this for bigger cooks at home, like ribs (which require a lot of space), or when I'm doing a ton of 4oz jelly-jar desserts (creme brulees, yogurts, pots de cremes, flans, mini cheesecakes, etc.).
3. (2) Anova Bluetooth: These are the older models at this point. I use both with a 120-quart super-insulated cooler (currently
$45 delivered on Amazon!) for large events, like family reunions, get-togethers with friends, BBQ's, weddings, etc.. Having dual wands helps get the water heated up faster & helps to keep the temperature consistent. This setup lets me cook a truckload of food safely & easily, so that it can be seared & served quickly. I typically do stuff like sous-vide burgers, chicken breast, etc. & then have a variety of sauces & toppings available. It saves an incredible amount of both money (over a caterer, or ordering food ahead of time) and time (I can either pre-cook the food, or cook it on-site & hold it at temp as long as needed) & paid for itself the first time I used it a couple years ago. Plus I can divide up the work, so I can easily feed dozens of people myself as a one-person job...vac-seal the meat ahead of time, SV cook & shock the meat ahead of time, and then grill it up on a Blackstone flat-top grill or whatever (gas or charcoal grill, if available - note that
Steelmade makes a flat-top covering for grills that you can lay on directly!) as needed. I've done a couple work-related cookouts for customers like this & it was really awesome because all of the food was safe (pasteurized), well-cooked, and just came out really really good, with not a ton of work being required in the moment...basically just heat & eat!
As a bonus, it greatly simplifies meal-prep because of how automated the cooking becomes, and how reliable & consistent the results are, once you lock in a particular time/temperature combo for whatever you're cooking. Same deal with the Instant Pot...I use both machines all week long. Saves me stupid amounts of money, saves me effort as far as cooking at home goes, and produces really wonderful food for all of my meals. Hard to beat!
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