Just bought my first APC and i’m so pumped!
we are having a dinner party over christmas, and wanted to know whats the max amount of water i can use? and how many steaks can i put in my container?
is there a limit at all? or can i have as much water and as many steaks?
please help 
I cannot find the maximum amount of water that can be used. I am sure @HunterC has it at her fingertips for the various models. I have found that if you start with hot tap water the unit does a great job of maintaining it in larger vessels.
As for the number of steaks; you want the water to flow freely around all of the bags. I have only done 4 at a time in a roughly 20 quart Cambro poly carbonate container. I hung the bags from rods I set across the top.
Hey @scottie!
It depends on the model you have, but the 800W version (bluetooth and most Wi-Fi models) can circulate 5 gallons of water, and the newer 900W Wi-Fi version can circulate up to 5.5. gallons.
If you recently got it, you know it is the newer version if it is WI-FI and if the packaging has red on it.
You can put as many steaks as fit in there, you just don’t want them overlapping too much, I recommend putting them in separate bags because you want them to all have equal access to the water so they all get cooked the same.
My guess is you can do around 5 or 6 if you place them in the water really well.
I would definitely agree with John’s suggestion of using hot tap water as it speeds up the heating up process.
i bought the 800 W as i will only use it when im home not from outside the house.
so 5 gal water , how big should my container be? any idea on the best container to use? A cambro ?
Yup, then it can circulate 5 gallons. I would recommend checking out this thread: Best Vessels/Containers for Precision Cooking - #30 by jim777 (some of the photos don’t load on it, but there is enough written to understand what vessels they are using)
I personally use a cambro and it works great, but I have heard that people also like to use stock pots and coolers, check out the link though it has lots of good ideas!
If you want to be a full capacity maybe buy something that is around 20 liters (or more to have a little extra space), because 18.9 is the limit in liters and you want enough room to account for displacement and a little wiggle room for placing your steaks in the water.
also , how long can the meat stay in the water for?
It depends on the cut, but generally, one of the amazing things about the precision cooker is that you can leave it in for up to 3 hours after the cook time is done.
So generally, the range for steak is 1-4 hours you can leave it won’t over cook and the texture won’t change too much, but if you leave it in longer than that, it starts to become more of a pulled texture, it doesn’t over cook per se, but it does change.
You really want to get familiar with the Serious Eats site - those guys do an amazing job!!!
For steak, check out their guide here: Sous Vide Steak Guide | The Food Lab
hi magiske68, what a great idea. may i know what thermal box was this? and you actually drilled a hole in the middle of the box to slot in the APC.
I have used my 900 watt Anova in a 48 qt cooler and had no issues if I preheat the water. I use the “hole in the lid” method for maximum heat retention. I do this when cooking 20 to 40 lbs of pork shoulder cut into ten pound chunks
Has anyone else gone big?
I got my 800 W model as a gift and didn’t know much about the product as I do now. If I were to purchase again, I’d for the WiFi model even though I just use it when I’m in the house as well. I find that the Bluetooth connection gets broken very easily – typically just as soon as I leave the kitchen, let alone go upstairs. Furthermore, the Alexa integration (and I imagine Google Home eventually) is only available for the WiFi model.
no problem but personally I feel if you are home you don’t need the tech. Just the temp and do a timer of some sort if you might get distracted although it’s really hard to screw it up. jmho…
Could you tell me the unit of the gallon is the imperial gallon or the US liquid gallon? Or tell me how many litres, please? Thank you so much!
1 US gallon is 3.7854118 litres. 1 imperial gallon is 4.54609 litres.
Seeing that Anova is a US company, when gallons are mentioned, it seems likely that they mean US gallons.
Thanks you
It is indeed US liquid gallon.
