This has been raised before, but I don’t think we got a resolution. Maybe someone from Anova could comment?
Can you leave the Cooker in water between uses? I’d like my setup to sit on the counter, filled with water, ready for use at any time. I think it looks good enough to leave on “display”. The submerged parts are stainless steel and plastic and I have a water softener, so rust and scale shouldn’t be a problem. Power is completely off when it’s not in use, thanks to that Belkin switch I mentioned earlier.
FWIW, I’m using a Rubbermaid FG631200CLR 12 quart container with the matching FG652300WHT lid. I picked this over the Cambro because because it allows the APC to sit straight up, without leaning, and because the container needed no modifications. There’s a lip around the edge of the container, but that just means that the container clamp requires a few extra turns, I usually just use the ring clamp. when I want to remove it.
The lid was easy to modify, I used a box cutter to get through the heavier plastic around the edge, then cut a “U” shaped opening with scissors.
Condensation forms on the underside of the lid, but I’ve seen no trace of it on the Precision Cooker’s body. Evaporation is minimal, I haven’t tried any insulation.
A neat, though unexpected, feature is that the 12 quart mark is right at the MAX level, no more squinting to see where it is!
@TomD Thanks for sharing! Leaving your Anova machine submerged is fine, we have one in the office that we keep in the water and we’ve never had any problems with it. Would love to see the setup you created, could you share a photo?
Good question, thanks @TomD for asking it. @jordan has had better results than I, but I thought I’d share anyway. I would suggest NOT storing the APC for extended periods in water only since water deposits scale as it evaporates. I too have a whole house water softener and water filtration, but I get a small amount of buildup anyway in things that hold water for long periods of time like vases for cut flowers. On a stainless steel pot and the Anova sleeve, this is pretty easy to clean off with a non-abrasive cleanser like Bar Keeper’s Friend, but I don’t know if it is so easy on a plastic container, or around the tubular items inside the Anova unit. Vinegar might work, or de-scalers designed for that such as Durgol.
The problems with scale are that it is unsightly (minor) and is an insulator (major) so the unit would have to work a bit harder to heat water. This is why hot water heaters take pains to reduce scale build up as much as possible, and coffee makers have you de-scale their units periodically.
Nothing empirical here, just my thoughts. Would very much like to hear your experiences over time to add to those of @jordan at her office. Perhaps I just have too much time on my hands right now…guess I’ll go sous vide something.
@Salisbury_Sam Great point, will have to take a peek at my home device tonight. No issues yet with the home device last time I checked, but I do take it out to clean it every once in a while and I don’t leave it in for more than a day or two at a time. The pot I used at home on the other hand had some issues but I’ve upgraded since. Checked the office APC, all is still well with it, no buildup either but I’ll keep an eye on it and let you know since we do keep this one in pretty much 24/7.
If there is any buildup, a quick cleaning should do the job and functionality won’t be impacted. ZEP Calcium Lime Remover / Lime Away work well. I’ve also heard someone mention that they circulated a solution using 10% cleaner + 90% water with their device and then gave it a wipe-down after and it came out as good as new. I haven’t tried it yet but will if it’s needed at any point in the future.
Appreciate your input - will update with any changes to the unit!
When I was waiting for mine to arrive I started to look in to fish tanks. You know, with gravel at the bottom, plastic diver/castle, and fake plastic neutral density fish so they would ‘swim’ around while the circulator was running. I was told that you could run just the circulator of the Anova if you turned the temperature below ambient and it would consume little power. That way it could be permanently set up for convenience plus become an attractive visual feature of the kitchen. I shelved that idea because of concern over the issues mentioned by @TomD and @Salisbury_Sam. One workaround would be to include an aquarium pump/filter to circulate and filter the water and leave the Anova switched off completely when not in use, maybe including UV LEDs or a silver filter to kill off bacterial contamination. @jordan, could the next version of the Anova include ultraviolet LEDs in the heating element assembly?
@Fudspong Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I’m about three seconds away from ditching my plans to be productive and do housework so I can go get the full fish tank setup. Why has no one done this yet?!?! Have you seen those artificial floating jellyfish? Those would be pretty cool.
@TomD If you’ve got any questions, feel free to shoot me a message - happy to help!
@jordan Sorry about the strange message, I thought I was saving a Draft message to finish later. Please delete it.
Anyway…Thanks for the great news about leaving the cooker in water, this also solves the storage problem, at least if you have enough counter space. I’ll try to get some pictures but it might take a little while, I’m still sorting out this message board.
@Salisbury_Sam, thanks for the insight into the evaporation/scale issue. I’m not too worried about it, the lid is always on unless I’m moving food in or out. That said, I just noticed a noticed a ring around inside of the container at about the 10 quart mark, I think this was probably put down before I got up the nerve to modify the lid. I was using plastic wrap and simple threw it away when I was done. Hey, this is winter in Michigan and I thought a little extra humidity would be nice. The ring disappeared when I slid a paper towel with a little vinegar over it, no scrubbing needed. I’ll be keeping an eye on it and report back if it reappears.
@Fudspong Your aquarim idea is neat! I don’t think we’ve found anything that would keep you from doing it. But are we really all that concerned about purity of the bath? The food is (hopefuly) sealed away from direct contact with the water and, worst case, you could always just add a teaspoon of bleach to the water.
@TomD My concern is limescale or mould contaminating the Anova unit and compromising aesthetics/efficiency, plus being plain stinky and gross. Bleach, UV light, silver filters, and using filtered water will help avoid the issue. No time this weekend but next I will try to set one up. Will post pics!