Is there a way to have the Precision Cooker, that is already plugged in to start heating at a specific time (via WiFi), so it’s ready to add food when you get up in the morning?
Depending on generation used the idle time draw of the anova is negligible, if you have a phone you can just dial it in with a pre-existing recipes temperature & tweak it from there when you get to the kitchen, unless you sleep in the east wing of the mansion & it is far, far away in the west wing & out of communicable range with your wi-fi connected to the home network?
Is your phone on the w-ifi network?
I do not have that problem as my pot is well insulated so heat up & retention times are speedy so gonzales, thus no really serious wait, or hot water from the kettle?
Simple pre-heat has sadly been an easily resolvable factor to anova programming which leaves you gnashing teeth.
It’s on WiFi and I have very good coverage throughout the house. That’s how I set the Anova. I use a 12 quart plastic food storage container for the water. I can wrap a towel around it as well as the top and let it run over night, but I just thought there might be an app to start on a preset time. I’m sure the power usage would be minimal, as you said, but it’s a lot of pump time and nothing lasts forever. Thanks.
You are not thinking out of the box.
Insulation, as I’ve said way too often here & on renewables forums, DECENT insulation means the cool down to room temperature may be as much as 24 hrs, what is the base surface? …can you use some PIR foil wrapped insulation board cut to the shape of the container?
With just a base covering & a silicone lid this is how my instantpot inner holds temperature (uk cold kitchen) making a proper snug pot fit will increase heat retention massively.
Open or uninsulated, or both is the basis of many a problem involving heat & water.
Evaporation on even a few short cooks is damp into plasterboard walls, ceilings voids etc (think about it) …a close fitting cover reduces loss by moisture by a likely 90+ % (really)
Add into that water carries heat away as it evaporates unhindered, necessitating frequent fills… of likely cold or energy heated water.
Depending on where you are insulation board is cheap or stupidly expensive, all my little jobs are via offcuts, so cheap as chips! if you have enough to spare box your container in (the reflective foil is key to keeping insulation from breaking off onto surfaces / somehow in your pot! …I use proper foil tape, not “hobby” foil tape, thus it endures.
Even a pot base insulation that doesn’t leech heat into a work surface is going to up your heat retention massively (& therefore heat cycles) combine with a thick close fitting lid & your retention will be 30% + increased.
If you have wifi (you do) then are you out of range of pre-heat nearer to time of use? OR did the app &
anova lose connection too many times to have any faith in that element of it?
What are you sous cooking first thing? Eggs? & what is the temperature differential for the water, room & water temp requirements?
I will batch cook my soft eggs, store them in the fridge (3c) & the heat up time is 20 odd minutes thrown in when I turn the anova on, which if used day before is likely still holding heat some (minimum) 15c above room temp, so my re-heat time (eggs thrown in there & then is minimal) …for instance.
If I then use walled insulation on the (round) pot it will have a temp of some 30c above room temperature, this is a uk winter.
Can you achieve these sorts of levels without much hassle? (the returns are very worthwhile from a speed of heat & retention perspective) …the clear polycarbonate “dedicated” (expensive) vessels suck imho, exposed sides, typically no tight seal (esp if generic)
Because pre-heat is unlikely to ever arrive, unless a later model with alexa / siri works flawlessly!
Cooking atypically for one or two people my instantpot s/steel inner pot is an 8 litre capacity, filled to 5, the rest raised by volume of food & anova unit, …so the other question is, "are you heating up a lot of water & walls, & air forsmall amounts of food? …if I stick 10 eggs in the water raised “a bit” compared to 3 small portions of steak which raises water levels a lot… happy medium is to scrutinise as to whether volume of pot is oversized or not as part of the bigger picture.
Neoprene is an alternate (good for heat retention) used as a close fitting skin on my brewing kit & easy to cut wrap & bodge fit with minimal stitching, use hook & loop tape to fit & seal, again it endures well if glued & stitched.
Your 13.6 litres (if fill not capacity) is big, compared to my 5 litres, so your impeller & heating cycles are hefty by comparison, start there.
Afterthought, it’s a shame there is no “plugged” usb port for updates, re-sets & future proofing, being able to re-write (add versatility) did make me ignore the limitations of the anova from the beginning, after all, it’s phone connected right? …took me years to get a phone that worked with it, (then the software was so badly aligned I gave up) …& kindle, sold millions of units, is where alexa sprang from, …still no kindle connectivity, but eventually there was / is some alexa compatability that seemed to surface & sink, so I’ve no idea where the heck we stand for “the future of cooking” …i’d have paid money for an ugly looking plug in device that fixed the pain & anguish, but ANOVA decided to go into the oven market & screw the pooch there with more flawed construction & software …I think the sous vide is now an afterthought yet that’s what brought them to the fore!
Feel very let down, considering my mates instantpot cooker with wifi? works just fine. (overnight porridge, rice that is ready for release pressure when you walk in, allowing further use within a few minutes for more meal prep) …& I cannot even pre-heat my water because the connection for anova is just give up on because it happens too often for no good reason.
A countdown to operation timer with a pre-heat is pretty obvious really where food safety is concerned.
We lost our cooler circulation function which I loved too.
Being as you can start the cooker with the phone app, that’s all they need to change. You simply plug it in at night and don’t hit start. The app starts it at a predetermined time. I don’t want to put any food in it until I wake up.
IF, IF the software isn’t broken, I gave up after the fumphtifumph time it disconnected, dialling temp in ever since.
“alexa heat anova to 63.3c” …would be a way of pulling some satisfaction back after all these years 