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I’m fascinated by sous vide cooking, in which foods vacuum-sealed in plastic are immersed in a precisely temperature controlled hot water bath to achieve optimal doneness.
But most sous vide (soo-veed) cooking machines are commercial models that cost north of $2,000, and the first “home” version, the countertop SousVide Supreme, is priced in the neighborhood of $450 (not including vacuum sealer), which is still a steep investment for something that essentially keeps water warm. I decided to build a better device on the cheap.
Behold, the $75 DIY Sous Vide Heating Immersion Circulator! By scrapping together parts from eBay and Amazon, I created a portable device that heats and circulates water while maintaining a temperature accurate within 0.1°C. And unlike the SousVide Supreme, it mounts easily onto larger containers, up to about 15 gallons, for greater cooking capacity. The water is heated by three small immersion heaters and circulated by an aquarium pump to keep the temperature uniform. An industrial process temperature module controls the heaters, and an eye bolt lets you clamp the entire apparatus to the rim of a plastic tub or other container. To cook sous vide, you also need a vacuum sealer, which this project does not include. I bought a good one new for about $112.
This project first appeared in MAKE magazine, Volume 25. Subscribe today!
Foodsaver is a very common brand of vacuum sealer that works well. You want the type that draws air out of the bag and then heat-seals it, not the type that uses a zipper bag with a one-way valve on it. Costco has a feature-rich model for about $150, but I was able to score a comparatively simple model for $26 by watching slickdeals.net.
Can you link a good one to buy?
Also look out for the 20% off coupons to Bed Bath and Beyond. That’s the best price I’ve seen for a FoodSaver brand.
I strongly advise you not to waste money on the cheaper models or the models that use a zipper bag. Nothing but frustration, in my experience.
Yes, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002PIM3R8/?tag=seattlefoodgeek-20. It has a slighly different pin configuration, but I’ll be updating the build on my blog with specific instructions for that model soon.
Max, great solution! Any chance you could email or post a photo?
That sounds like an awesome idea. Could you post a photo of how it looks and any updated instructions.
The notes on this PID state that it works with a K type thermocouple. It doesn’t state that it will work with a pt100 probe. Will the immersion circulator need to be modified to use the K type thermocouple?
I made mine with an outlet instead of the immersion heaters for that very reason. I ran the ground from my plug to the outlet, so the controller isnt grounded, but whatever I plug in can be.
On second thought though, the whole grounding thing is a bit of a wash for me. The immersion heaters aren’t three pronged, my slow cooker isnt three pronged, and neither is my hot plate, so…
On a side note, I have a chuck roast cooking right now, should be ready tomorrow evening!
Here’s an implementation that I’m much more comfortable with:
http://youtu.be/r_piBWikNP0
http://youtu.be/6mMsusYW6qo
In fact, I’m heading to the electronics store to get the parts to make it! :)
Excellent idea. Gluing the 1/4″ nut was a total failure for me. Melting a T-Nut into the plastic around the hole I drilled worked like a charm!
I think that’s due to one of the upper-limit alarms. Try changing the limits or try repeating what you did before and set it to a higher limit.
I should add that I drilled a 3/8″ hole near the top of the side of the cooler that I fed the heater cord, the pump cord and a flexible waterproof pt100 probe. I cobbled together an aluminum frame to mount the heater and pump to that just sits in the cooler in such a way that it can’t tip over. This allows me to put the lid on the cooler (keeping things well insulated) and doesn’t leave anything dangling precariously over the water. Adding a 3 or 5 amp fuse would be a good thing as well but I’ve not done so yet.
did you figure out why it stayed at 40 ….if so could you tell me what to do in order to fix that problem
Ah yes, the ‘new’ cooker, a variation on dropping heated rocks into pots.
But like all appliances, the big problem is the amount of space they use up–either in the open or on the counter or in a closet. Most of the time it’s wasted cubic.
Also, most have no good way to drain & clean them, and while those aren’t insolvable problems, they are a bit of PIA.
So I thought about it for a bit and realized that every kitchen already HAS a waterbath, it’s just not rigged for temperature control (and it ought to be rigged for 25F-190F so you could heat or chill.)
The waterbath is usually called the sink. Easy to fill, easy to drain, easy to access, easy to clean.
All it needs is a heating/chilling unit and a thermostat control and a bit of insulation around the outside and perhaps a cover.
When I get the thing designed & built I’ll post it.
I realize now that the pump doesn’t matter at all. Just as long as it is powerful enough for the capacity of water you want to push through the heaters.
Easy. Just make sure your PID, PUMP, and HEATING elements are rated for 220V. I am using a heating element originally rated at 1500W @ 220V. On 120V here in the US it will only put out about 750W with the reduced voltage.
The PID called out above is good for nearly all international voltages. Just need to keep an eye out for the correct pump and heating elements then.
Uhhmmm… no. Using a 1500W 220V heater on half the voltage will result in 1/4 the power, or only 375W.
Nice build!
I’ve also made one of mine, but with a different design.
http://www.lindens.nu/http_projekt/sous-vide/en.htm
Two of my three immersion heaters were duds (I was careful about not plugging them in without water) so I ended up buying a replacement water heater element. It’s not as portable, but it works like a charm.
Hi,
I’m going to give this a shot – since I’m in Europe I won’t be able to use exactly the same parts, so I’m browsing around for suitable 220V alternatives.
My question: I was wondering if there was any special reason to use 3x300W immersion heaters, rather than one 1000W model (or 2x500W)?
Regards from Vienna,
Richard
Richard, I found that a single 1500W replacement for a water heater was the best. At least one of the immersion heaters I bought was defective. 1500W should raise the temperature of a 5 gallon bath by 60-70°F in an hour. You will have to be careful with the connections to the heating element since, at least on mine, the connections are open.
What is the aquarium pump for exactly?
Circulating the water in the water bath helps keep the temperatures even throughout the water bath. It can be helpful when there’s a lot of bulky items that could block convection currents.
Can the submerge type pump withstand the elevated temperature? I usually cook below 65C (i.e below 150F). I am using an external pump for water blanket. But all the tubing makes thing look rather untidy.
How high does the temperature go up to?
@David, The LightObject pumps listed here will only work up to 55° submerged according to the documentation.
@Rudy, your limited in temp by the container material ( 190° F) for polypropylene, and by the size of the heating elements you use. 1500W heats 5 gal. about 60° in 30-45 minutes.
Clarification: that’s 55° C. The pumps are spec’d to pump up to 100° C, but only up to 55 ° C submerged. For me, I’ve decided the pump is cheap enough to just buy a new one when it dies, so I use mine submerged.
I need it to go up to 80C? Do i just change the pump and container or do i have to do something else? An I’ll have to set it up for 220V
@Rudy, the pump runs on 12V DC, so you’ll have to figure out a power supply for it whether you’ve got 220V or 120V supply. Like I said, I use my pump, submerged, at higher temperatures than 55C. For only $12-$15, I’ve decided it’s easier to replace the pump once in a while than to hassle with setting up tubing every time. I’m using a plastic storage bin for my sous vide, but you have to check out the max temperatures to make sure they’ll stay safe. For example, from the Sterilite website (http://www.sterilite.com/general_info.html) “Our products are made of polypropylene and polyethylene that are safe for food storage.” If you do a little hunting on the web, you’ll find good charts on which plastics can be used at which temperatures. Polypropylene is good to 80C; Polyethylene, 65C; Lexan, 120C.
Thanks. :) I’ll be starting on the project soon. I used a tin box instead of acrylic and covered it with Liquid Tape to insulate it. And I opted for a 2300W immersion heater. As for the pump. I substituted a waterproof PC fan. I asked if it could still function at 90C and they said yes. Hopefully everything turns out okay.
Hello looking at making your sous vide water bath, but am in U.K., so just wondered wether I can still use the components you have as we run on 240v as a pose to 110v, would be grateful if you let me no. thanks theo.
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Hi,
For someone reason it won’t let me raise the temperature to above 40 degrees C…would you happen to know why? your help would be appreciated!
Haha…sorry figured it out…factory setting required that the Code be set to 0001 so that the high limiting function could be raised…
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This. Is. Awesome. If you’re into creating a sous vide cooker, FirstBuild is currently hosting a challenge and the winning idea could win cash and a chance to bring the product to market. Check it: http://bit.ly/PCchallenge
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I can’t seem to find the template files for this project. Am I missing it?
I can’t find the template files for this project…
I found the templates here: http://seattlefoodgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/cutouts.pdf
This is the PID controller I was planning on getting, it comes with a SSR as well as a K type probe, would this work?
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Digital-PID-Temperature-controller-max-40A-SSR-K-thermocouple-probe/678120228.html#feedback
can the white portion of the heaters that is exposed get wet?
Sure Electronics appears to no longer sell the CD101. Does anyone know which of their current models is the equivalent?
Do you have an idea of the average power needed maintain a steady temperature? I filled a Lil Oscar with water started at 152 deg F, and put the lid on. Periodically I measured the temperature drop over the next three hours. I found it came down at the rate of 0.08 deg F per minute. The Lil Oscar holds 8 quarts, so the amount of power that would be needed to maintain a steady temperature is only 23 watts. The two big differences between my test and your configuration are (1) the Lil Oscar cooler is very well insulated all around and (2) it has a lid. So I can see that your setup with a single-wall plastic bin with no lid would take much more power. I’m curious as to what that power was.
I’m noodling out a sous vide cooker that would be made from a 16- or 20-quart ice chest, figuring on filling with about 3 gallons of water and leaving the upper space for the pump and heater box, like you made. I’m thinking a single 300 watt heater is sufficient. With a heater this small it would take a couple of hours or more to elevate cold tap water to the 140 degree range, and so one would want to start with hot tap water and maybe even pour in a couple of kettles of boiled water to shorten the initial heating time.
Great looking build! This seems like an easier and cheaper option: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01G3MKXRI?psc=1
$19 for the controller, relay, and probe. Just add a heater and pump!
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