I just got my Anova. I just wanted to ask if anyone else has had this happen. First thing I cooked was pickles. Temp was set to 190F, and I had the water in a stock pot. It was going along, and all the sudden I hear a loud noise from the other room. The stock pot was on the granite counter top, and I guess the heat cracked the granite. I thought Granite was safe from heat.
Regardless, I’m a little disappointed that Anova had no instructions that stated you shouldn’t put the pot directly on granite.
McDonalds coffee is hot, too. Common knowledge. But the seemingly universal nature of this knowledge didn’t stop someone from winning a 3 million dollar judgement against McDonalds. Just sayin’.
Actually there is instructions somewhere about this very topic, I didn’t know myself until I read it B4 I started using my APC. Lucky as the wife wouldn’t have been happy.
Hey @chief113, So sorry that happened. It is in the quick start guide but, based on this feedback it is something we can work on having a little more apparent. 190F is particularly hot cook, which probably contributed to the cracking.
This is a total bummer, I really hope it is able to be fixed!
While I empathize with you over the expense of the repair, do we really need to put a warning on a cooking implement that it may get hot? That’s right up there with “don’t iron clothes while wearing them.”
Actually, the counter installer / kitchen contractor normally tells you when reviewing countertop materials what the limitations of them are. Few people pay attention. More often than not, the repercussions are something mild - like staining or cuts in the material (people using a sandstone as a butcher block for example) - things that can often be buffed out, then the counter re-sealed.
I don’t even think concrete countertops would withstand a shock as significant as a prolonged sous vide cook at a high temperature.
This happened to me as well and cost me $2,500 to replace the countertop. From now on I always maintain an air gap between my sous vide pot and any countertop I am using by placing a thick trivet between the counter and the pot. My accident occurred because I did not have a trivet but simply used a folded towel.
If you use a container that is made from something that doesn’t conduct heat so well it would both protect your counter and require less energy to keep the water bath at the requisite temp. I use a small Igloo cooler for lower temp cooking and a commercial food storage container (attached link) for higher heat. Neither container would transfer enough heat to what they are sitting on to do any more damage then melt butter.
FYI- if the container we sous vide in gets hot on the outside it takes more energy to stay hot on the inside and creates a less stable temperature throughout the bath. Think of those fancy coffee cups that keep coffee hot most the day. The outside of the cup is always cool to the touch, even with scalding hot coffee on the inside. This design isn’t built to protect our hands from the heat but to conserve the heat. Any heat we feel on the outside is lost.
I digress. The point is that good conductors of heat are ideal for the stove top and good insulators are more effective for sous vide.