@pzettle: I’m sure you’ve figured this out as your post was in August, but I’ll weigh-in none-the-less. I have the Rubbermaid 12-quart container and position the Anova in a corner with the opening in the water pump cap facing the opposite corner. I did this after reading a number of comments that suggested a diagonal water flow would produce optimal circulation. I’m a SV newbie and used my setup for the first time last night (experience posted under appropriate category); so perhaps my opinion will change as I have more experience. I can offer one more suggestion: I used a permanent marker to ink a downward arrow (
︎) at the top of the “removable skirt” to denote the placement/orientation of the opening for the water pump in the translucent cap. The opening is not directly in line with the face of the cooker, and with the container filled with water it was hard to see the direction of water flow. The arrow now allows me to orient the cooker before securing the adjustable ring clamp. (While I was at it, I also used the permanent marker to ink the “min” and “max” lines on the skirt so they’d be more readily visible when adding water to any cooking vessel.)
Lot of interesting info here, thanks for sharing will come in handy.
Here’s my down-and-dirty setup. My hole-saw is in storage while we’re overseas, so I used a Leatherman tool to cut the opening. When I’m back in the U.S. I’ll fill the lid with insulating foam to keep the water out of it.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3nr9irmmlxg4g80/2017-01-11%2009.03.37.jpg?dl=0
Absolutely - A nice thick Yoga mat was the way I went.
And the remaining piece makes a lid and a wrap around to go on my stock pot when am SV’ing smaller amounts.
Yoga mat cut to size is perhaps easier to manage?
There are several good cover ideas that have been posted. I use bubble insulation (such as Reflectix or Infra Stop) cut to fit two sizes of cooler I have. I have cooked over 40 hours at 150 degrees F with no noticeable water loss in a Coleman 20 can cooler, and heat loss is much reduced.
Any vessel that doesn’t leak is the best way to start. Don’t go spending a whole lot of money until you’ve had some experience with the device and work out the sort of things you’re likely to cook. The super clear Cambro containers are pretty and all, but do they really warrant the expense? Have a look in the garage, you might find something useful there. That’s where I found my ratty old cooler. Check out second hand shops. For regular cooking I use a 10L plastic food storage box that I bought for $5 from the local tight wad shop. I turned it over to look at the base and it is microwave and dishwasher safe. Bingo. Most dishwashers heat water to higher temps than you’ll use for most sous vide.
I’m sure some folk are just looking for excuses to spend money. Me? I’d rather save money here and spend it on ingredients with which to experiment.
To add to @Ember point, I personally have a deep pot at home that I use for all of my little sous vide experiments. For now, it works. I sometimes borrow a Cambro from work if I am cooking there, which I might mention - does allow for much more food.
But I also think there are lots of benefits to using a cooler, or a really cool container like a Cambro, especially if you’re really going all in right now, and you’re looking to cook large cuts/ many servings.
Heh, yep, I’ve spent too much on accessories - especially when you see people having such success with that IKEA pot stacker. 
Where the clearness of the Cambro really comes in handy is when you are cooking something that is prone to leaking (creme brûlée anyone?) (yes, I’ve had really bad luck with those little jars).
Still, I like being able to check on it just by walking by (doing an outside round roast at the moment for 48 hours). Nice to be able to walk by it and see that the roast is still firmly planted on the bottom of the rack/container (ie. hasn’t wiggled free and floating about). More prone when you’re doing items from frozen. I’ll buy several roasts when they’re on sale, prep them, seal them and freeze them, so I can just pop it into the sous vide right from the freezer. They don’t have any give when frozen, so prone to lift out of your rack when they thaw.
In the U.S. a good place for polycarbonate containers square or round in all sizes is Polycarbonate Food Storage Containers & Lids | WebstaurantStore I order from them quite a bit. You do need to multiple items so that shipping doesn’t kill you. It doesn’t take a lot to make it reasonable and I can find enough items that I actually need to make the cost quite reasonable. I’m not sure about ordering from Canada. Also check out https://www.katom.com/cat/storage-containers-food-bar-crocks.html another site I’ve purchased from. I highly recommend both companies.
Any food safety concerns with any of the materials yoga mats are made from, e.g. EVA, TPE, NBR etc?
The mat never comes in contact with the food. I most often use cellophane or the lid turned a little for the Anova device. I do not have anything dedicated and I like to use my Cambros for other things as well. For me evaporation is the biggest issue with long cooks. A bit of insulation is also a bonus.
This may not spark a discussion, but I wanted to get the info out there. I’m Very happy with the performance of my cooker but I was confounded in trying to find a large enough (and correctly-dimensioned) cooking vessel. I’ve got alot of pots and pans but none were hitting the mark, so I started searching restaurant supply stores. I figured that a large mise tub would do the deed… but no, too small, no lid, flimsy construction. The “aha” solution? I bought a camping cooler for thirty bucks and cut a hole in the open edge of the lid! My Anova clamps to the side, the lid closes over it, there’s no evaporation, and it’s insulated to boot!
You don’t need to cut anything now. Dometic fridges do the trick without any custom modification. Check the reviews. Maybe you’ll open the whole new world for yourself here 🥇 Best Coolers for Camping 2021 – Reviews And Top Picks
You missed the entire message didn’t you? Even the coolers you’re advertising (#spam) would need to be cut to perform the task Kevin was referring to, because even the best cooler out there isn’t designed with a hole for an immersion circulator.
What kind of container is that.