Our unit failed during its first use. During that first use, we found the lack of any tactile controls on the unit extremely inconvenient. With no controls and hardly any feedback, troubleshooting it was a pain.

It was the butt of many a joke and spawned philosophical discussions on where the world had gone so wrong, such that a complicated electronic device, special software, and the whole networking infrastructure of the internet was neccessary just to set the temperature on an otherwise simple kitchen appliance.

Over-designed and has too many points of failure.

Returned and replaced with an Anova; it has convenient, on-device controls and doesn't feel like a cheap plastic stick.

Worked great for a while, then wouldn't stay connected to bluetooth and then started having issues maintaining temperature. Called Chef Steps directly and because I bought it from Amazon they cant help me and because Amazon return period has passed, I guess we are SOL.

This review is going to separate out the sous vide cooking method (which I love) from the ChefStep Joule immersion circulator (which I'm learning to hate).

I've had the Joule for about three months now. Before buying it I read the reviews, did my research, and decided on either the Anova 900W or the ChefStep Joule. My brother-in-law was advocating the Anova because it could be controlled directly from the device without a phone app. I smiled, called him a Luddite for dissing the app, and bought the Joule (which seemed to barely edge out the Anova on the reviews).

Do you know how painful it is to admit to my brother-in-law that I was wrong and he was right?

In the three months that I've had the Joule, I've made rib-eye steaks, fillet mignon, chicken stroganoff, beef stroganoff, country style pork, chicken thighs, salmon, cheese cake (absolutely fantastic), coffee, yogurt, and probably more things that I've already forgotten about. Almost everything has turned out excellent.

So, if almost everything is turning out excellent, why am I learning to hate the Joule?

1. The only way to control the device is through a phone app. In my case, Android "“ and the app is PAINFULLY slow. When you first click the icon to launch the app, it takes 12 seconds before you have anything more than the Joule splash screen. Why? Does it phone home and check for something new to download every time? When I launch the app it is because I want to control the Joule "“ not because I want to wait 12 seconds before I can even start getting something useful.

2. Once the first non-splash screen comes up, the app takes an incredible amount of time to find the Joule. Okay, I've already waited around 12 seconds to get here, I *really*don't want to wait around another 30 while the app tries to find the device ("Patience grasshopper." Sigh). Note: I have both Bluetooth and the wireless interface turned on.

3. When I finally get to the point that I can control the device, I punch in the temperature I want (ignoring all of their builtin ivideos, color charts, and other things that I'm sure they're wasting developer time on versus making the app responsive). After the time is entered and the device is purring away, I hit the "back" button to exit the temperature control. I then hit the back button to exit the app. Nope. Doesn't exit the app, it goes back to the temperature control (what?!?). I start hunting around for a way to kill the app and there's no "exit app" or "quit" option.

4. Okay, so you can't exit the app, who cares? Well, my battery cares. With the Joule app in the background, it must be constantly waking up to do something (Checking on the temperature? Searching Bluetooth? Phoning home?) because the battery starts draining at an alarming rate. Normally I can go three days without charging my phone (even with heavy web surfing). If I don't reboot the phone to kill the Joule app, I'll definitely have to recharge my phone that night or sooner. I would hate to think of what would happen if I didn't have an over-sized battery.

5. When I want to turn the Joule off, I can wait around roughly 45 seconds twiddling my thumbs or I can yank the power cord out of the wall. Oh, bad move. The next time that you start Joule it punishes you by popping up an overlay informing you that the Joule lost power (well, no kidding, I yanked the cord). Now I have to wait longer to start it up again. Sigh.

6. I took the Joule over to my son's house to show off sous vide cooking. Now the app pops up that it can't find the network, prompts if I want to reconfigure it for the current environment, and when I say no, informs me that "this cook will not be recorded". Really?!? You're recording every time I use my Joule? Maybe it's just me, but I'm tired of devices spying on me.

So I started eyeing my brother-in-law's Anova with undisguised envy and my wife hears me mumbling under my breath about the Joule "“ so she tells me I should buy the Anova (long story as to why she let me buy another one "“ I suspect it was to take the sting out of something she bought ...). So now when I go to the cupboard to grab a "sous vide machine" I find I'm nearly always grabbing the Anova. With the Anova, I just put it in the water bath, plug it in, spin the fly wheel on the front to the correct temperature, and I'm done in 5 seconds or less.

To be fair, the Joule does have a few things over the Anova. The Joule can hold a lower temperature which might be useful in cheese making. It also can function with less water (which so far hasn't been an issue for me, but it is a selling point).

Bottom line, if you're only going to be able to purchase one sous vide device, I strongly recommend the 900W Anova over the Joule by ChefStep.

I am not one who is easily impressed. While I admit a lifelong love for cooking, and the associated collection of kitchen tools, I can tell you I have sent a number of supposedly high-end items back because they did not live up to the hype.
I got my Joule 3 weeks ago, and I am compelled to write this. On the day it arrived, and anxious to try the new toy, I scavenged the freezer and came up with a rather sad, most likely somewhat freezer-burnt pair of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I religiously buy meat fresh from the butcher, so these had been sitting there so long I did not remember when. They were in a ziplock, not vacuum sealed, so I did not expect much. What the heck I just want to experiment. I grabbed the 6qt stainless liner from my Instant Pot, filled it with hot tap water, clipped the Joule on the side and plugged it in. I had already loaded the app on my phone, so I followed the tutorial and got Joule renamed and running on my WiFi. It had me do a control test and heat some water from the phone, worked great and quite fast. I then selected the app's Guide (their term for recipe) for chicken breast and followed the steps. I selected the "juicy" temp setting of 149°F, looking at the visual doneness videos to choose. I described the breast to the app as frozen and about 1.5 inches, and from that info the app chose the cooking time, and Joule began to heat the water. A few minutes later, my phone notified me the Joule pot was up to temp, and I could put the food in to cook. Since this was an experiment, I took one rock hard frozen breast, dropped it into a 1 gal Ziploc freezer bag, and dumped in some Kosher salt, fresh ground pepper and olive oil. I then slid it into the pot, evacuating the air from the bag by submersion, and zipped it shut. I took the other breast, and left it to thaw, so I could try other things like pounding it to equal thickness, and trimming to shape before cooking. I then left the kitchen and Joule to hopefully do something impressive.
My phone alerted me that Joule was done, and also that I could leave it for up to 2 more hours without over cooking. I got back to the kitchen and set my trusty cast iron skillet on to preheat for searing. I waited for my smoking hot pan, threw some olive oil in there, and opened the Ziploc, fresh out of the Joule. I patted the breast dry, seasoned, dusted with flour, and pressed it into the hot pan. I gave it about 2 minutes, and I had a great crisp brown crust. I transferred it to the cutting board and made a half-dozen bias slices. I noted almost no juice loss from cutting, but when I picked up a slice in my fingers, it was soft and a slight squeeze produced glistening juice. I popped it in my mouth and was treated to an exceptional mouthfeel of soft juicy chicken and crisp skin. Literally amazing"¦I enlisted 3 more family members to taste and they were all completely impressed at how perfectly this was prepared. My son put it best, he said, "I would be impressed if I tasted this at a fine dining restaurant, to taste it in our kitchen with you experimenting with a new toy you have no experience with"¦just crazy good."
Since then I have cooked probably 20 sous vide meals, my favorite was a dinner party for 4 using Chefsteps Filet Mignon guide with broccoli puree and radicchio salad stack. Plated with puree, then salad, and topped with the meat, cutting down through it all for one great bite is astounding! Puree is silky smooth, flavored with English cheddar, the shredded salad is balsamic, oil and dijon with fresh chives and blue cheese microplaned frozen into perfect flakes of flavor. The sous vide method IMO is the optimum method to do justice to a fine filet, finished with a roaring hot cast iron pan sear in butter and fresh herbs. My guests raved and I just can't see the point of going to a spendy steakhouse when I can guarantee these repeatable results with sous vide.
Probably the most impressive thing I have done so far is cook a 3lb, 2in. thick chuck steak for 48 hours sous vide. I finished it with a sear like the filet, and this cheap chunk of $5@lb meat had a mouthfeel like $45@lb tenderloin, plus a superior beefy taste tenderloin would never have. Understand, the chuck looked red and juicy, not grey like pot roast or beef stew. I may buy a second Joule just for long cooks like this"¦
In conclusion, after 40 years of gourmet cooking, and an extensive knowledge of food chemistry and techniques, literally thousands spent on training, all manner of gadgets to major high-end appliances, I have found something that I am really excited about. I can legitimately say that cooking a protein by any other method will probably not be as good, and absolutely not as reliably consistent. I love the fact that instead of fretting over expensive meats using high heat methods, then having to let them rest, etc.; you can let Joule go past the done time by a couple of hours with no ill effects. It is just holding the meat at a consistent finished temp of say 129°F, waiting for you to finish by a quick sear and serve. Sous vide steak does not need to rest because it is already at temperature equilibrium, and its juices have not migrated"¦they have remained in place and keeping every morsel equally and perfectly juicy. You have to try this, the results speak for themselves.

OK, I will go so far as to say if you are not cooking sous vide, you are not getting all the goodness you paid for in your food"¦and constantly putting your food at risk of cooking errors by traditional high heat methods. Plus, it is difficult if not impossible to duplicate the exquisite mouthfeel of sous vide. Remember this technique was invented in France in the 70s, initially to cook foie gras with less waste. It resulted in a 20% savings and a much higher profit for the restaurant, given the Rolls Royce pricing of foie gras. French cooking has always been about an obsession with perfection"¦sous vide cooking is exactly that.

One other thing, I have read a number of comments with people concerned about cooking in plastic. My reaction is the sous vide results are so good, I would consider the risk for myself and my family mitigated. There is currently no documented hard corollary between cooking in BPA-free food safe plastic bags and direct health risks"¦UNLIKE the direct connection that charring food, especially meat, is carcinogenic. Now beyond government regulation, food purity and safety is always a personal choice"¦For me, I'll chance my black grill marks and crisp corners"¦and I demand the thrill of eating sous vide.

This kitchen gadget is totally worth the hype. My husband and I have been watching ChefSteps videos on PBS for a long time. They have been flogging the Joule since they debuted it last year. We have been intrigued for a long time about the prospect of cooking sous vide, but the price tag was a lot to swallow. The price dropped $20 and that was all the motivation we needed to jump on it. ;)

Since purchasing Joule we have made several cuts of steak, hamburgers, chicken, pork chops, and salmon. I cannot believe how delicious the food is. This truly is the best way to cook steak indoors. I have not had a better steak except for a few fancy restaurants. It cooks them through perfectly, you can leave the steaks in there after they are done without worrying about overcooking them. That gives you some time to roast some veggies or make whatever side you want. Then all you need to do is sear them quickly in a hot pan and dinner is served.

We love the app. It is young and witty with the descriptions of doneness and the alerts for when the water is ready and when your food is done. The visual doneness is a great tool that takes all the guesswork out of sous vide. The app interface is incredibly intuitive and easy to use. ChefSteps has really made sous vide cooking accessible to the masses and for that I commend them.

As far as recipes we are waiting to try, we are looking forward to making a pot roast and creme brulee in the near future!

*Update*
So we have had Joule for 3 months now and the limits of this tool are endless! We made creme brulee and well as chocolate pot de creme in the last month. OMG guys. I felt so fancy eating restaurant quality creme brulee at home. I couldn't believe how perfect and delicious it was. And the Joule app keeps coming out with more guides. Definitely worth the money for how much the app provides.