Ok, tried Anova for the first time tonight. First thing I thought: this is the worst enemy of the environment, and probably of your wallet too.
Let’s see.
Option 1 - traditional method
Stove of 2000W, 8 min cooking, 22.5 cent/kWh (MA average rate) => 266 Wh used, cost 6 cent, water used (to cook) = 0 liter
Option 2 - Anova
800W, full power for the first hour and then 20% fo the time to maintain heat for 23h (beef shortribs) => 4,480 Wh used, cost 1$, that’s x17 more than traditional cooking!!
On top of that, I’ve used 11 liter of water. Just to put in perspective, in Haiti, one person use 17 liter per day.
It’s time to wake up - our resources are not infinite, nor is our wallet.
Did I get something wrong?
What do you think?
Am I the only one to worry about money and the planet?
What kind of “traditional method” are you using that short ribs are ready in 8 minutes? As fire the water, it’s up to you if you want to “waste” it or not. You can reuse it many times, water plants with it, use for cleaning, etc. Even if you dump it down the drain, it’s not like it disappears, it goes back into the water table. If you’re concerned about the electricity usage, you could always cut down on something else, or choose not to use it, but when i made the choice to cook my proteins predominantly with an immersion circulator vs a stove and oven, i actually noticed a reduction in my electric bill.
Maybe search a little first - someone already monitored their power usage…about 5 cents an hour.
You’re also not providing nearly enough metrics for whatever your traditional method is for there to be a comparison.
Also, a number of geographies generate much of their electricity from renewable resources. If you’re going to go into a forum chastising people for using appliances, please demonstrate how you have a 0 carbon footprint in your life first.
Did you perhaps just “assume” a 20% power usage for every hour? I’ve used a Kill-o-watt meter on my Anova before and I used so little power on long cooks that I stopped bothering to track power usage - though it’s worth mentioning that I did those metered cooks in an insulated container (a Coleman cooler to be precise ).
So the answer to your question is as follows: Take the number of offspring you’ve produced and multiply that by the amount of energy you consume on a daily basis; electricity, food, the cost of energy to produce food, fossil fuels you consume in your vehicle, add on to that disposable diapers, or water and detergents if you wash cloth diapers, cost of clothing which is predominantly produced in third world countries by underpaid labour in unsafe conditions. Then factor in the cost to produce your oven and the fact that you will need to replace it in ten years time because of built in planned obsolescence, the old one will likely end up in a garbage heap somewhere or shipped off to a third world country to end up in their garbage heap.
Even if you haven’t produced any offspring, the carbon footprint left by you alone is already causing insurmountable damage and there’s no turning back the clock on that. So keep your water tank covered to reduce as much heat loss as possible or cook in an insulated cooler and enjoy your SV cooker.
8 min. to cook ribs? really? WTF? It doesn’t cost as much as you say. i don’t know how you did your math, but wrong. So, use distilled water and leave your anova set up at all times. I have mine for 4+years and has been set up this way since week one. You don’t have to keep filling it up every time you want to use it. if anything you just need to add some water now and then. you doin’t need to use don’t even need to use disposable bags. Good Luck! EVERIE Sous Vide Container 12 Quart EVC-12 with Collapsible Hinge Lid for Anova Cookers (Corner Mount) (Does Not Fit Nano or AN500-US00)
SO-VIDA Sous Vide Container Sleeve For The Rubbermaid 12 Quart (18 & 22 Qt Available) - Protects Your Work Surfaces and Saves You Electricity From Increased Insulation
There is no way you cooked ribs in 8 mins in the stove… but you also didn’t mention warm up time on your stove… The only way you could have done 8 mins was if they were pre-cooked, or you pressure cooked them first & you were just browning them in your stove on broil…
You need to do more research on what the Anova uses… and work on your math. If you’re that concerned about using that much energy, just ship me your anova & i’ll have a third one to work with!!
I tried this when I first got a Sous Vide, and again when I bought an Anova.
Initially, it uses 800W as it heats the water.
But when it reaches temperature, it backs off to 0.09A - about 20W - with occasional brief flashes of 4A to maintain the temp, nowhere near 20% of the time, maybe 5% at most. When all the water reaches the target temperature, those “flashes” of power disappear as it needs almost nothing to keep it there - I’d need to use an oscilloscope to be accurate. And heat needed - this power added - depends on how well insulated your vessel is: if it radiates heat like a fire, then it’ll use more power. If it’s well insulated it’ll need less “maintenance power”.
I generally figure that a 18 hour cook of a roast in the Sous Vide costs me about £0.20 (around $0.25) in electricity plus 0.03p for the vacuum bag, and allows me to use the cheaper, more-flavoursome-but-tougher cuts of meat so overall I’m better off!
Also, when the ribs are finished, the water had be used for a multitude of purposes. Heck, one might be to use to cook some veggies as a side, and since the water is already hot, less time heating up “the conventional way”. And has anyone had it take one hour for the water to reach target temp?? I can do 10L from 65F to 150F in less than half that.
Well first off, I start with water as hot as our sink will get it. About 118 in the Summer. Then I use an insulated and covered SV vessel. It usually takes about 5-10 minutes to bring it to 135F, and after that, I think it requires very little juice to keep it there… In the Summer anyway. But whatever it costs, I’ll never cook beef any other way. Well, I say that… but last week, on a spur of the moment thing, my GF insisted we just do an old school BBQ, of a small tri tip roast. I knew that wasn’t a good idea, but instead of arguing, I just thought, “Okay, maybe she needs to be taught a lesson”. BBQ’d it. Just as tough as I expected. I hope she remembers this lesson the next time.
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