Sous Vide Supreme Review

THE REVIEW BELOW IS NOW OBSOLETE.

Rating: 4.4 Reviewed by Susan

The SousVide Supreme Water Oven gives you the precision temperature control required for safe sous vide cooking and excellent results. Unlike other water bath equipment, this is a single, self-contained unit that has no moving parts that are hard to clean or require routine maintenance.

This is a full size water oven designed for home users, with a capacity large enough to cook up to twenty 4-oz. food pouches at once.

The SousVide Supreme has earned rave reviews from consumers who praise the quality and performance of the machine, as well as the amazingly delicious cooking results. Of the few who have experienced any problems with the unit, their praise for the company’s customer service is also very high.

That 4.4 average rating should actually be much higher. In part it is skewed by folks who write glowing reviews and have no complaints yet give it anywhere from 1 to 4 stars – either a simple mistake or folks who don’t understand the star system. More reasons why this model should have a higher average rating are explained below under Customer Reviews.

Read our complete Sous Vide Supreme Review below.

Features

• Temperature adjustable in 1 degree Fahrenheit increments
• Heating range from 86 to 210 degrees Fahrenheit
• PID technology for precision temperature control
• Easy push-button controls
• Digital LED display
• Timer with audible repeating beep at end of cycle
• Cool touch housing with added insulation
• 1 year limited warranty

Just to clarify: Many people tend to use “sous vide” and “sousvide” interchangeably. To be more specific, “sous vide” is the name of this particular cooking method, and “SousVide Supreme®” is the registered name of the manufacturer of the water oven in this review.

The SousVide Supreme Water Oven SVS10LS has a brushed stainless steel finish exterior and a stainless steel interior cavity. The lid is also stainless steel and is constructed with insulating fabric that helps keep heat loss to a minimum during long cooking periods.

It’s a user friendly machine with push button controls that are easy to understand. Temperatures can be programmed in either Celsius or Fahrenheit, and the timer has a range from 1 minute up to 99 hours.

Perhaps the most important feature is the patented PID technology that enables this unit to consistently maintain temperatures with extreme accuracy (within 1 degree Fahrenheit). For example, some appliances use a simple on/off thermostat to control heat, which works but allows for wide up and down swings in temperature. That’s fine for a slow cooker but a disaster for this water bath method. The PID technology of the SousVide Supreme keeps the cooking temperature even and within the very narrow range required for sous vide cooking.

To avoid disappointment, be sure you understand how the timer functions. Its only purpose is to alert you when the cooking cycle ends, at which point it will sound a repeating beep. For safety reasons, the timer will not automatically shut off the machine. That might sound inconvenient, but the fact is that if the machine shut itself off and you got distracted and left cooked food unattended for too long, the water temperature could drop low enough to allow bacteria to grow. You could end up with spoiled food and maybe extremely ill.

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Size & Capacity

Exterior Dimensions: 11.4″H x 11.4″W x 14.2″L

Interior Dimensions: 6.75″H x 9.75″W x 12.5″L

Weight: 13 pounds

The maximum fill capacity of this model is approximately 3 gallons (9 liters). It’s interior is large enough to hold approximately twenty 4-oz. food pouches for cooking.

What’s Included

• Universal Pouch Rack
• Perforated Bottom Grill with side handles for easy lifting
• Detachable Power Cord
• Owner’s Manual & Recipe Book

The pouch rack is used when cooking 2 or more pouches of food at once. It helps keep the bags submerged and separated to allow for proper circulation and ensure that foods are evenly cooked.

The bottom grill keeps food bags up off the interior floor, and it has side handles that make it easier to lift from the water when you’re finished cooking.

Another convenient feature is the flat, stainless steel lid. If you flip it over it will sit level, and it has insulated fabric to help protect your counter top from the heat. Sides of the lid curve upward so it can serve as a drip pan when you finish cooking, or as a tray to carry cooked food pouches from one place to another.

Bags & Optional Accessories

There are no accessories for this appliance because it comes complete, but you do need bags.

The SousVide® brand bags are recommended by the manufacturer. They are good quality food pouches that are free of BPA, lead and phthalate, and they have been safety tested for high temperature cooking. They’re available in 1 quart and 1 gallon sizes, as well as in pouch rolls that can be cut to the desired size and sealed.

SousVide® also offers quart and gallon size zip cooking pouches that do not require the use of a vacuum sealer.

You also have other options in purchasing bags. Many other brands of pre-cut bags and pouch rolls will work fine, as long as you make sure they are approved for cooking and rated for high temperatures used in sous vide cooking. You also want to be sure to buy food grade plastic that does not contain BPA or any other materials that may become harmful when heated.

FoodSaver and a number of other brands of food pouches can be ordered from Amazon. SousVide® brand pouches and rolls are available directly from the manufacturer and also from Amazon. If you love to save a couple of bucks, always check prices. For an example, click here to see Amazon’s price on the quart and gallon pouches.

Don’t own a a vacuum sealer? There are lots of good ones available in a wide range of prices. You can get details and compare features of the best selling models in our Vacuum Sealer Comparison Charts.

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Customer Reviews

Personally, I always like to hear the bad news first, so let’s start with complaints. A few users were of the opinion that compared to the base unit, the lid seems somewhat cheaply made. It’s stainless steel and sturdy enough, but some were dissatisfied with the insulating fabric pad, claiming that it can easily come off and may not hold up well over the long term. That doesn’t seem like a terribly big deal because that pad, the “insulating lid blanket”, is a replacement part that can be ordered for about $5.00.

Despite their low opinion of the lid, those very same owners were adamant about how much they love this machine. Like all the 5 star ratings, these consumers agree that it works perfectly and the foods they’ve cooked are more tender, more juicy, and more delicious than any dish they’ve ever prepared before.

A small number of others stated that after a few years of use there was some slight leakage around the lid seal. What’s impressive here is that everyone reported an excellent experience with customer service. The company either replaced the faulty lid or clearly explained an easy fix for the issue.

Aside from that, the only complaints seem to be about price – again from people who give only rave reviews and high praise. They just want it to cost less. Well, it’s sort of like loving that new car you bought but hating the monthly note. If you really want the car, the only option is to pay the price.

Far more frequent are comments such as: “best kitchen purchase I’ve made in years”, “best food I’ve ever cooked”, “glad I got it”, “superior results”. Just about everyone is completely happy with how the machine performs. It does exactly what it says it will do, and as long as you understand what to expect from a water oven, you will not be disappointed.

Users have successfully cooked every kind of meat, fish, and poultry you can imagine, including lamb, brisket, turkey, chicken, salmon, ham, pork roast, tenderloin, rib eyes, chuck steak, leaner grass-fed beef, and beef cheeks. (Cheeks? Wow, we eat most anything down here in the deep south, but that’s a new one for me!) Other favorites include eggs, potatoes, zucchini, carrots, and all sorts of other vegetables.

It’s not at all uncommon to find people who say this machine has changed the way they cook because the food is so much better. My favorite is the skeptic who openly admitted he bought the unit with the intent of trying it once and returning it. He was convinced it couldn’t possibly be worth the price. However, the first thing he cooked was a chuck steak, and when it turned out he could cut it with a fork, he kept the SousVide, gave it a 5 star rating, and is one very happy customer!

To sum it up: The few people who have had problems have been delighted with the way customer service deals with any issues, and the vast majority of those and all other owners have only good things to say about this model and the delicious foods it cooks.

Average Customer Rating (Out of 5 Stars): 4.4

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Pros

• Simple controls make operation easy
• Extremely low noise level, virtually silent
• Insulation keeps appliance from heating up kitchen
• Cleanup is quick and easy
• Very accurate temperature control for optimum results

Cons

• Large footprint for both counter use and storage
• Cost – much less than professional models but certainly not cheap
• Sous vide beginners may have a slight learning curve (learning about sous vide cooking, not about how to operate the water oven)

SousVide Supreme Review: Summary

The SousVide Supreme is designed to enable home users to get gourmet quality results using the same process that chefs have been enjoying for years. Controls are very simple to understand, so operating the unit is as easy as cleanup when you’re done. Problems with this unit seem to be quite rare, and reports about customer service indicate that this company definitely stands behind its product. Consumer opinion is virtually unanimous that this model delivers what it promises, and its precise temperature control makes foods turn out perfectly delicious. If you want a full size water oven that gives you maximum cooking capacity, the SousVide Supreme is definitely worth your consideration.