Anyone by chance see/use something like this for a tempering bath? Thinking this will solve my DIY project. Set increments of 0.5F and accuracy of +/- 0.1F seems too good to be true.
Anova Culinary PCB-120US-K1 Precision Cooker
Temp Range: 77°F to 210°F ± 0.01°F / 25°C to 99°C ± 0.01°C
Pump Speed: 1 - 1.2 GPM 7-8 LPM (still optimizing)
Directional Pump: 360 Degree
Tank Capacity: 4-5 Gallons / 15-19 Liters
Timer: 99 Hours
Safety: Bi-Metal Fuse
Power Input: 110-120VAC
Heating Power: 800W
Pretty nifty. Never would have thought such a thing existed. And connected to my phone. Not sure about the food thing, but might be great in the darkroom first thing in the morning (while I sleep) to get everything up to temp. Very interesting.
What an interesting device -- and an interesting cooking method it is designed for. All new to me!
If it is true to its specs, I can see other uses besides water baths for color chemistry. Carbon printers need to keep gelatin at temp with less accuracy than this device is capable of, and the range of temps is right.
It is for the food industry, thus not priced for the photographer or scientist. I have no idea about the accuracy of Amazon reviews, but for what it is designed for, it gets great ones.
"Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China
Hard to say. I've had recirculating thermoregulators that would keep water baths plus or minus 1/10 degree F. Generally overkill, so I rarely hook one up and
warm up my color chemistry with a simple Jobo tempering box. But you get what you pay for; and a serious thermoregulator would be about ten times the price
of that kitchen gadget.
...More likely, that is just the plus or minus ability of the readout, not the ability to actually maintain that level of bath accuracy. I suspect a significant marketing BS coeffiecint in play. But it might be good enough for some things.
Totally agree on value/cost. I just ordered one. Will test in my small cooler and report back. Even if it doesn't hold temp, it should make heating the bath easier while doing other things.
I thought this too but in the comments it says 0.5F adjustment and 0.1F readout. I'm sure the 0.01F accuracy is the element, not the ability to maintain water accuracy. I should have been in marketing...but then I'd probably own a Jobo.Originally Posted by Drew Wiley
With enough water heated, once development starts, it'll probably get shut off anyway.
I almost bought one of these units yesterday. I held back not because of color temperatures, but because it can't maintain 68F water.
I have a CPE2 that's awful at holding temperatures (probably because I screwed it up when I replaced its thermostat). For the money, those recirculating sous vide jobs sound great, especially calibrated against a known good thermometer.
What a great device! I have a large laboratory water bath that I use to bring chemicals to temperature and for toning (and have used to cook sous vide with a stainless steel insert). It maintains .1 degree with pretty good accuracy, and probably cost thousands of dollars when it was new. This looks really interesting, especially considering the footprint of my water bath. Might just get one...
As an aside, there are lots of DIY sous vide instructions online to make immersion heaters run by a PID controller for less money but more effort, for example this.
I have one of these for cooking and love it. This is a very timely post, as I'm trying to figure out how to setup my own bath system for C41 and E6 processing using the Anova. I have most of the materials, except something to automatically rotate my Jobo 2520 and/or Patterson tank.
It's perfect... the food comes out delicious btw, particularly steaks
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks