How I Built a Homemade Sous-Vide Water Oven for Less than $50

If you’re a person of refined culinary stature, I don’t need to tell you that sous-vide (French for “under vacuum”) is a high-class method of cooking food sealed in airtight plastic bags while submerged in a water bath, held at an exact temperature. But did you know that’s how Chipotle makes all their meat too? It all comes pre-cooked from a factory in Chicago; the person behind the counter is just searing it on the grill.

Last week I saw a post on Reddit espousing a particular model of sous-vide immersion cooker. It cost $200. Fuuuck that, but… Amazon had an temperature relay, water pump, and electric burner for around $15 each.

I set out to build my own sous-vide, and it worked splendidly. Details below

The Parts List

Wiring the Temperature Controller

This was the trickiest part for me, but with a little patience and the right tools it proved surmountable.

  1. Cut the extension cord in half. Now cut off another foot from the female side. This gives us the extra wire we need for connections. If you have some extra electrical wire lying around, you can delicately cut the hot and neutral wires of the extension cord, leaving the green ground wire intact. This saves you from having to crimp it back together later.
  2. Run the black wire from the male side of the extension cord into port 1. If the wires in your extension cord aren’t color-coded, the black wire stems from the more narrow of the two prongs. If the prongs are the same size, the black wire is on the right side of an outlet where the ground is on the bottom.
  3. Cut a spare piece of wire and also run it into port 1. Tighten Port 1. Run the other end of the wire to Port 5 and tighten.
  4. Run the black wire from the female side into Port 6 and tighten. Run the white wire from the male end of the plug into Port 2. Also add a spare length of wire into Port 2 and tighten. Connect this loose wire from Port 2 to the remaining loose white wire from the female end of the plug, and crimp or clip.
  5. Connect the sensor to Ports 3 and 4 and tighten.

Initial set-up

  1. When the controller powers on, hold the “s” button for 3 seconds until it displays “F1". Press “S” again to see the set temperature. Now hold “S” and use the up and down arrows to adjust to your desired temperature (I put mine at 51.6 C for rare steaks.) Press the “Power” button to save.
  2. Plug the fifth burner into the female plug wired into the controller and turn the dial up to a little over medium heat. If the burner kicks on, the controller acknowledges that the temperature probe is reading less than the set temperature. Unplug or turn off the burner’s dial until ready to heat.
  3. Place the water pump into the bottom of your pot. Fill the pot up halfway with hot water from the tap (usually around 115 F / 46 C)
  4. Plug the pump into a separate “always on” outlet, making sure water doesn't splash everywhere. You might want to lay it on its side or add vinyl tubing to the outlet
  5. Place the pot on the burner

Cooking

This part is up to you and your preferred recipes, but generally I follow these steps.

  1. Place your food into Ziploc storage bags (I get the ones with the “slider” top so there’s no chance of them coming open.)
  2. Gently lower the open bag into the water. Pressure from the water forces the air out. Squeeze any remaining air pockets and zip the bag
  3. Plug in the water pump, turn the burner to medium heat, place the temperature sensor in the water, and double-check the settings on the controller.
  4. Follow your individual recipe

This was a fun project where I got to use tools and impress friends. I recommend it to anyone who has the ambition.