The age of the “affordable” circulator is upon us. When I first heard of sous vide cooking, lab quality circulators were priced around $1300 on eBay. “Home units” like the sous vide supreme were large and lacked features like pumps and strong heaters needed for true precision cooking. On top of a lacking feature set, they were still priced around $500, far too expensive to make the jump to “try out”.
In recent years, the cost of home grade circulators has come down and features are becoming more robust. One of the first immersion circulators to break the $500 price barrier was the PolyScience Creative series, which is now readily available for $399. But newcomers to the market like Anova, Nomiku, and Sansaire have driven prices even lower. Ever innovating, PolyScience recently debuted their Discovery Series. Priced at just $299, the bright yellow Discovery Series circulator makes sous vide cooking a worthwhile investment for any avid home cook.
Upon un-boxing, the first thing I noticed was the robust build quality of the Discovery Series. Its sturdy polymer housing feels like my trust PolyScience Chef series. The new Discovery series circulator looks and feels like it will stand up to the physical demands of a professional kitchen despite being targeted at the home cook.
The design is almost identical to the Creative series released last year, except for the bright yellow housing which I think looks great in a modern kitchen… I would say it’s akin to having a bright red kitchen aid stand mixer, a culinary fashion statement.
I’ve been fortunate enough to be gifted an Anova and Nomiku circulator recently. I have also spent some time with a friend’s Sansaire unit. Compared to the competition the build quality of the PolyScience Discovery series is too notch, — easily best in class of the sub $300 marketplace. The clip has a coarse threaded thumb screw for attaching to any size vessel. Truthfully, I like the screw mechanism better than the one on the PolyScience Chef series. One disappointing element is that the new PolyScience Discovery series does not feature a detachable power cord. I believe this would make for more convenient storage and transport.
Using the Discovery series circulator is simple and will feel very familiar for anyone who may have used a chef series circulator at work or in the past. A power switch on the back of the unit lights up the large display is easy to read. There’s a menu button that toggles between Celsius, Fahrenheit, and setting the integrated timer. Standard up and down arrows adjust the set temp and timer time. Like PolyScience’s other models, holding down the arrows adjusts time or temp quite rapidly. Finally, like the more expensive Creative series, separate play/stop buttons start the programmed temp and timer.
The controls are identical to the creative series, which only leaves me wanting a few things. The unit I have defaults to Fahrenheit, most recipes I’ve used and developed are in Celsius. Not a bit deal to change the units with the menu button but it’s an extra step I have to take on this model that is not needed on my go-to PolyScience Chef series.
One excellent feature of the new circulator is the AUTORESUME feature. If, during the run of a programmed time/temp the unit looses power, when power is restored the unit defaults to the previously set temp with a run time of 24hrs. I could see this quite handy in areas like my home in Texas where electrical storms often flicker power for a short time. This is not feature is not found in other inexpensive circulators I’ve tested and could save the day on a batch of 48hr short ribs!
Accuracy in temperature control is PolyScience’s wheelhouse. Not surprisingly, the unit handled my benchmark of 63.2C (1hr) eggs beautifully. The 1100W heating element is impressive too — it achieved stable temp with no overshoot in just 18:54. The heater also had no trouble heating a large cambro sized bath to 75C when I was developing my recipe for Cherve Cheesecake. It also performed stellar getting my standard home size bath to 85C for an egg recipe I’m working on.
One of the most compelling reasons to purchase from PolyScience is their decades of experience in precision temperature control. Their knowledge from being the industry leader in both lab/medical as well as professional kitchen applications produces a reliable and lasting product. PolyScience backs the unit with a one year warranty. And if you ever have to use it, their service is stellar — a point that needs to be proven by some of the newcomers to the market.
In summation, I would recommend anyone interested in bringing precision low temperature cooking to their home kitchen strongly consider the PolyScience Discovery series. At less than the cost of an entry level stand mixer, you can bring precision heat to proteins, flavor intensifying cooking to vegetables, and hours of holding product at temp during dinner parties. Add all of that to the fact that you’ll have a new healthy way of cooking that offers a large margin of error in time, a low cost circulator like the discovery series is the perfect addition to all home kitchens. If you think you may be using a circulator in a more rigorous setting like catering, or a professional kitchen, PolyScience recommends the Chef or classic series, but the Discovery series brings precision and build quality into your home. I would choose the PolyScience discovery series over the competition because of PolyScience’s long history in the field, outstanding warranty, and service. At $299 it’s a great value, and if you happen to catch it on sale, it’s an even better deal- just slightly more than the newcomers and stocked widely at PolyScience’s site and other retailers like Williams Sonoma and JB Prince.
