The Anova is a sous vide cooking device that lets you cook the perfect food with the press of a button. Read our Anova Precision Cooker review to find out if it’s the right device for your kitchen.
What Is The Anova Precision Cooker?
The Anova Precision Cooker is a home cooking appliance that promises to provide restaurant quality results at the push of a button.
It’s a sous vide cooking machine for your home. Sous vide is a cooking technique that lets anyone produce restaurant-quality results by bringing food to a precisely controlled temperature.
That means you get flavor-packed, super-juicy results with every meal – at least, according to the official Anova Precision Cooker website.
The makers of the Anova promise that they’re “changing the way you cook”. By combining modern science and technology with cooking appliances, they’ve created a precision cooking device that simplifies professional-grade cooking.
Sous vide cooking comes with a number of benefits – including waste reduction, improved taste, and no more overcooking.
How To Use The Anova Precision Cooker
The Anova Precision Cooker consists of a temperature-monitoring circulation device and a mobile app. You can create a meal in three steps:
Step 1) Place the Anova Precision Cooker on a pot using the adjustable clamp. The clamp fits on pots of any size. Then, you set the time and temperature in the Anova app or use the Precision Cooker’s simple interface.
Step 2) Place your food in a re-sealable bag (like a Ziploc bag), then clip the food to the side of the pot. The Anova Precision Cooker will cook your food to the perfect level of doneness.
Step 3) Finish cooking by throwing your food in a frying pan or on the grill (optional). Some people like their food – like steaks – crispy on the outside.
Using the three steps above, you can cook foods like steaks to the perfect level of doneness.
How Does The Anova Precision Cooker Work?
After you stick the device on the side of the pot, it goes to work controlling the temperature.
The Anova Precision Cooker will circulate water around the pot. This circulation prevents hot and cool spots from forming in the water. That means you get an even temperature throughout your food.
Your food never overcooks. Anova alerts you when the food is ready to be removed. And that’s it.
The Anova app claims to contain “the world’s largest precision cooking recipe collection”. After installing the app, you can browse through recipes like “sous vide swordfish”, for example. Recipes come from Anova and from other app users.
Sous vide cooking is particularly popular for cooking the perfect steaks and fish. However, the app features recipes across a surprisingly diverse range of meals and beverages – including everything from self-buttering corn to gooey cinnamon rolls to bacon-infused bourbon cocktails.
Anova Precision Cooker Pricing
There are two versions of the Anova Precision Cooker: one uses Bluetooth and the other uses Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi version (900 watts) is more powerful, and is capable of serving 10 to 12 people, while the Bluetooth version (800 watts) serves 7 to 8 people.
- Bluetooth: $169
- Wi-Fi: $219
With the Bluetooth version, you’ll need to be within range of your kitchen. With the Wi-Fi version, you can control your Anova Precision Cooker from anywhere you have internet access. The Wi-Fi version also has a Bluetooth sensor, so you can switch between whatever option is more convenient.
You can buy the Anova online through AnovaCulinary.com. Or, you can find it at Best Buy, Target, Amazon, and other big box retailers. Amazon sells the Bluetooth version for $142.99, so you might be able to get it cheaper than the official website.
What Do Customers Have To Say About The Anova Precision Cooker?
The Anova Precision Cooker is very well-reviewed on Amazon, where it currently holds the #1 best seller spot in Amazon’s Launchpad Kitchen category. It has an average rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 with a total of over 1,500 reviews posted so far.
Here are some of the pros and cons we’ve gathered from the reviews:
Pros
- An excellent, affordable way to get into sous vide cooking
- Can be used to make a surprisingly diverse range of foods and beverages, including eggs, steaks, pork roasts, vegetables, fish, dessert toppings, or even to ripen fruit
- Makes juicy, delicious food
- No need for a vacuum sealer (Ziploc bags work fine)
- Great app
- It’s “going to put the steak house out of business”
- Produces similar results to other sous vide circulating machines, including some that are much more expensive
Cons
- It’s low temperature cooking over a long period of time, so you can’t use it to cook meals in a hurry (you’ll want to plan your meals hours in advance; some steak recipes, for example, recommend a cooking time of 16 to 24 hours)
- Some customers complain that their devices stopped working after anywhere from 2 to 6 months, and that the replacement process wasn’t easy
- Multiple customers complained their Anova was dead on arrival, and did not work out of the box
Anova Precision Cooker Tech Specs
- Temperature Range: 77°F to 210°F ± 0.01°F / 25°C to 99°C ± 0.01°C
- Pump Speed: 1 – 1.2 GPM 7-8 LPM (still optimizing)
- Directional Pump: 360 Degrees
- Tank Capacity: 4 to 5 Gallons (15 to 19 liters)
- Timer: 99 Hours
- Safety: Bi-Metal Fuse
- Power Input: 110-120VAC
- Heating Power: 800W
- Weight: 2.5 pounds
- Size: 14.8 x 2.8 x 2.8 inches
Should You Buy The Anova Precision Cooker?
If you’ve been interested in sous vide cooking for a while, then the Anova Precision Cooker is one of the best options on the market.
It’s available at a competitive price, and it can easily be used by someone with no cooking experience. You basically just press a button, wait for the food to cook, then enjoy.
Like a Crock Pot, the Anova Precision Cooker isn’t designed to make food instantly. Some recipes require 16 to 24 hours of low-heat cooking.
With the Anova Precision Cooker, you can browse a huge collection of recipes in the app – including everything from unique cuts of meat to grains and drink mixers. You control and monitor the cooking process through the app as well, including getting an alert when your food is ready.
The Anova Precision Cooker is well-reviewed online by most tech blogs and users, and it currently has a strong average rating of 4.5 stars on Amazon (where it’s also a #1 best-seller in its category). To learn more, visit AnovaCulinary.com today or check out the product page on Amazon.
