Sous Vide Immersion Circulator - Imersa Elite

I have a nearly 40-year-old home. The kitchen is pretty original, and that means the upper cabinets are close to the countertop. I love to sous vide, but the stick immersers are kind of tall for my kitchen. I used a more professional model as my first sous vide cooker (kind of looked like this one but larger and more $$$) but it died just before its one year warranty, the replacement died within six months, and I felt it was too much of a problem to keep replacing defective cookers.I have had several "regular" stick cookers at different prices, and I was very happy to see this one pop up when I did a random sous vide search. I purchased it immediately after looking at the reviews and thought I would give it a go.So far, it's been perfect. I can use either my Cambro or my stock pot to cook with it. I have yet to give it the ultimate test of 24 to 48 hours, but I have no reason to doubt that it would perform as I expect. It has performed to 12 hours with zero issues.It is very, very easy to set time and temperature which is not always the case in some of the stick cookers. Some of them I feel that you almost have to have a PhD in sous vide cookery in order to figure out how to set time and temperature. This one is really easy.I am not going to give any information on the app because the negative reviews seem to come from using it. I don't need an app to figure out how to do sous vide, so I opted not to download it. The cooker itself works perfectly without it. I highly recommend using this, but I'm skeptical about the app so I have no opinion on it.For me, the most important things about this cooker are that it is easy to set up, it fits on both my round stock pot and my square Cambro, I don't need the app, and it's compact and fits neatly under my cabinets. For my needs, this is pretty damn near perfect! If it dies, I still have a stick machine ready to go!

This is my second sous vide cooker. My first was a Nutrichef Royal, which worked for about 5 months, then stopped heating and the handle broke. I like the design of the vesta,… no handle, and the WiFi interface. I had no issues connecting the app to my machine what so ever. The app is really useful because it has recipes, tips, and you are able to control from you phone.The picture is a standard 8 liter brining container and I cut the lid to fit the sous vide, really helps keep condensation in. For the price and ease of use I would recommend this unit. One other thing, you can cook a different food right away, after you use it. With my previous machine it would not let me for like 2 or 3 hours.

I put the Vesta Imersa Elite to work shortly after receiving it. I did not download the app for the first cook; I simply used the cooker as a standalone unit. That was only a 25-minute cook for sausage, and it worked really well. The Start/Stop button is a bit sensitive, so it would register a touch twice. It was a bit annoying, but nothing I couldn't work around.For the second cook, I downloaded the app, prepared the 12-quart container and lid that I purchased specifically for sous vide cooking, and got ready a 4.5 lb Boston butt. This unit is being returned after the experience I had with it during a 24-hour cook:• The app: The app is so close to being a straight-up joke, but has a couple of redeeming qualities. You need to give it permission to access all of your folders, make calls on your phone, your location, and the camera. I could not get the app to connect the cooker to my wireless unless I allowed the phone, location, and storage permissions. I did not need to allow the camera permission. The Vesta connects to a wireless network and does not have Bluetooth, so none of these permissions make any sense.A 2.4G channel is a must; the cooker will not connect to a 5G network. Once connected, it was finicky and dropped the wireless icon twice before I was able to reconnect and get it to hold a connection. Once connected and I was able to view it on my phone, I kept getting Android notifications stating "Device Timeout," even though the app seemed to be functioning fine.Pressing the Settings function while in the cooker is active and connected will cause the app to crash. I tried it several times; each time the app crashed and logged me in again.The Recipes and Cooking Guide are decent, and I like the ability to select what I'm cooking and send it to the device. It's a bit clunky and doesn't automatically start the device, but that's probably a good thing as it ensures you're ready to cook.There's a definite lag that lasts several seconds when you open the app to check on the cooker, but it does connect remotely while I'm on cellular, so that's a plus.• The sous vide cooker:The box it came in was obviously dropped and had one of the corners pushed in enough that it split the top of the box. The device itself is packaged well, and there didn’t seem to be any damage at all.It’s larger than one would think. The Dutch oven pictured is a 26 cm/4.1 liter, and the cooker barely fits to allow the water line to be above the minimum level.It does not fit round pans/containers very well due to its shape and width. I had to open up the hinge all the way and rest it on the handle of the pot I was using to get it to stay in place properly. You will definitely want to purchase a square container for this.The hinge is weak and doesn’t grab a surface well when closed. There’s a ton of flex in the joint, so it never has what I would consider a strong grip on the container. Probably not a huge deal since I cut a hole in the lid of the container and there’s nowhere for it to go, but it simply doesn’t feel durable.13 hours into the cook, the Imersa Elite threw an E02 error, which translates to “Possible Obstruction of Water Inlets.” There was no obstruction of the water inlets. By the time I woke up and discovered the issue, the water temp had fallen to 120 degrees. Fortunately, the temperature of the roast had dropped to only 133 degrees, which was well within the safe zone for food. I pressed the Start/Stop button and the cooker fired right up and didn’t stop again.It chirps randomly. I don’t know why, and it’s not detailed in the instructions. After it threw a random error, I was constantly checking on the cooker to make sure it was OK. The random chirps make it even more nerve-wracking.On a positive note, the Imersa Elite gets to temp really quickly, then holds temp like a boss. It never fell below more than 0.2 degrees of the target temperature once it got going; the majority of the time it fluctuated within 0.1 degrees. Well, except for the time it threw an error and fell 30 degrees below the target. But it’s seriously good at maintaining temp when it is working.The unit can be descaled and cleaned easily. This is a bigger deal than most people may realize. Remove two screws, take off the cover, soak the unit in vinegar/water, clean, put back into use. That’s such a great feature to have.Overall, I think the Imersa Elite has a lot of potential, but there are some issues that are worrisome/frustrating enough to prevent me from recommending it. It’s possible that I could never have another issue again, but I’m too nervous about the random error and too annoyed by the app’s shortcomings to keep this cooker. If I'm going to give away all of my information to a company, then I'm going to give it to a company that gives me something other than frustration with their app and a constant worry that I’m going to waste food or give my family botulism.

I really wanted to like this sous vide cooker, but I will be returning it. The form of the cooker is really nice. It fits nicely over the edge of a container, puts the large display easily in view, and it fits well under overhead cabinets.I experienced what was mentioned in other reviews where the cooker would stop cooking due to the water level getting too high or too low. It is a pretty small window to hit on the water level; but at least when this happens, it displays an error so you know why it stopped. The water level sensitivity also makes it more difficult to find the right container. If the container is too short, it is difficult to get enough water to cover the food and not have the water too high on the cooker. If this had been the only issue, I probably could have gotten used to it.Unfortunately, the cooker turned off twice during a cooking session for no apparent reason before I switched to a different cooker. It could not be trusted with cooking the primary food it is used for, meat.Another negative for the cooker was that even after it had been stopped, it kept running. There is a cooling fan in the upper part of the cooker that would run for well over an hour after you stopped the cooking cycle. This made me keep checking to make sure I had actually turned it off.These issues along with the higher price compared to other cookers made it an overall negative experience.

Effective and efficient. It has been great to freeze vacuum sealed meals and have the kids throw them in the tub and turn this on when they get home. Now we have a hot decent meal when we are done with practices and work.Purchased preparing for the new school year and practices every night of the week. We knew time would be short and this has made a world of difference.

This is by far the most disappointing device I ever bought. If I add food to the water the circulation slows down tremendously not to mention the max water line is pretty low so it throws an error often

I was so disappointed to have to send this back, but when I tried to use it in my 12-quart sous vide container, I wasn't able to put my food in without the water going up over the Max line and it gave me an error code. It's extremely sensitive and no matter how much adjusted the water level, if it got anywhere near the Max line, it beeped and stopped working. When it did run, it circulated the water nicely and I liked that I could use the control panel without an app, but if I can't put my food in without setting it off, it's of no use to me. I had to pull out my Anova with the taped-on top and use that. This was very poorly designed.

This has been my favorite sousvide so far, my restaurant burns through sousvide machines. We have bought many brands of sousvide including commercial ones from name brands and the Vesta has been the most durable so far. Most of the other round versions have cheap clips that break the first week, the Vesta doesn’t, it simply hangs on the side, simple is better. I hope they restock this version soon as I want a second one for the house.When looking for a good sousvide machine, ignore the apps, WiFi, and other gimmicks. Look for one that is easy to clean, holds a consistent temp, and is easy to use touch interface.

LOVE our sous vide - I cook all meats in it. Even if I'm doing a stir-fry - I first cook it in the sous vide. Soooo tender! I even cook turkey breast in it - MUCH tastier and more tender than when cooked in the oven. Wireless connection works great.

Bought in Jul, by Dec was blowing/tripping my breaker and no longer returnable!Doesn’t work so well with most typical sous vide containers because the water level has to run at such a fine range, you don’t get good immersion of larger items.Would buy one of the cylindrical devices just because of that. No way was it worth the price.Stuck with a broken unit now. Typical Amazon, don’t get involved with returns after more than a month or so…:

I keep my products for 30 days before I do a review. This unit came as an open box. Not too happy and no directions but this thing works awesome I’m so happy.

the temperature on this unit is never correct even with an insulated box

This means NOT from Amazon. I ordered thiswhich did not work. Returned it and was charged over $20 for the shipping fee. Since I had ordered 2 different Sous Vide’cookers’I kept the other one which was $40… much lighter and worked. The one am reviewing won’t fit on every container that has the ‘1/2 U’ cut out… These are just FYI’s and MY experience.

very cheaply made …broke after a few uses

It would not get to the hottest temperature

As I am new to this type of cooking I am limited to what I can write as reviewI will say this, So far every thing I have cooked is better than what I expected.Also its a bit more healthier in that I use less fat.

My mas is in love with this, he has different kind already but this one is easy and you can control with Bluetooth...YES!

Used a handful of times and worked perfectly so far. After reading other reviews about the breville joule and annova precision, feel like this was definitely the right choice. Like that it doesn’t have to be connected to Bluetooth with the joule and read too many reviews about how loud the annova is, plus this price is better. Win-win-win

This is one of the best tools in the life, definitely you need this one in your life , easily you gonna be a master chef in home with it

Este Compacto Runner, puede calentar Hasta 30 Lt de Agua, normalmente equipos con esta capacidad estan entre los 700 a 1000 dolares. Es muy preciso y Facil de Usar, nunca lo he probado con el wifi, uso tres en mi cocina ecelente Calidad - Precio.

A needed item in a commercial kitchen.

Own three other brandsThis one is by far the best

Timer never started. Water pump died at hour number 5 for the 15 pound prime rib.The 67.00 back up saved the day.Water level is a very narrow range. To heat up the water before adding the meat it needs to be nearly full, before adding meat quite a bit of water needs to come out so as not to over flow, then add in water to working level. IRRITATING.Then the water pump starts howling shortly before it died. It was nice to have the warning tho, at least I was able to mostly salvage the meal.

After reviewing endless units for way too long, I decided to go with this one. Packaging was of highest quality, even better than Apple products, if you can believe that. Unit is sleek and compact. Looks and feels like commercial or industrial grade, yet in a very compact footprint. Even came with detailed, thickly laminated, color-coded cards on a metal ring, providing complete information of times and temps for all food groups. Very impressed.