Evan and I are looking to build a DIY sous vide machine. We are sourcing the parts and are just about to ready to rock and roll. If anyone is interested in playing with us, drop us a line…
Here’s what we’ve come up with so far:
-in principal any body of water can be used to cook sous vide.
-the primary concern of cooking sous vide is keeping the temperature as constant as possible
-a PID is a high tech tool used to monitor something or other, but ultimatly is a device we can purchase, program and use to keep the water temperature constant.
-modern immersion circulators are complicated looking but in reality are not. they consist of 3 parts: a PID, a thermometer and a blower/fan used to circulate water.
-technically, one could use a stock pot, large hotel insert or rice cooker for a water bath
-in practice a water bath should have enough thermal mass to limit temperature fluctuations when cold food is added.
-there are not many quality consumer/prosumer grade vacume sealers available on the market. going full commercial grade is big $$$.
-PIDs can be bought for about $50 and will allow you to plug in a heating coil (such as one removed from an electric kettle) to be activated only when certain temperature critriea are met.
-it is important to insulate the water bath well to make the process effecient and to maintain a constant temperature.
I think your idea is good.
You need PID controller plus a rated SSR. The main problem is your choice of sensors (Thermocouple, pt100 or thermistor).
The main problem is finding a sensor that’s 100% waterproof.
I thouhgt of the same thing but decided to buy a sous vide temperature controller called SousVideMagic. It has already solved all the sous vide problems. Only thing is I don’t get to enjoy the DIY experience!
Thanks for your feed back… By the sounds of it, you have been down this road before. Apart from the sensor issues, what made you go for the prefab option? I would love to hear any other thoughts, comments or stories related to your sous vide journey. Thanks for taking the time to comment and I look forward to hearing back from you.