Oliso PRO Smart Hub Review: Reinventing Sous Vide Cooking
Oliso PRO Smart Hub Review: Reinventing Sous Vide Cooking
- Performance - 8/108/10
- Ease of Use - 8/108/10
- Design - 9/109/10
- Features - 9/109/10
Summary
Oliso PRO is the end all be all sous vide oven. While the size of this appliance is rather large, you receive added benefit from the multitude of features including an induction cooktop to sear your sous vide food once finished.
Full Review of Oliso PRO Sous Vide Oven
We got our hands on the infamous Oliso PRO Smart Hub sous vide oven and put it to the test. Take a look below to see why Oliso’s Smart Hub made our list of best sous vide machines. In this review, we’ll highlight all of the main features in addition to benefits, design, and performance.
Design and Features
The Smart Hub is the most innovative and well-designed sous vide oven, hands down. This product consists of two main (but separate) pieces including the Precision SmartTop and Induction SmartHub. Each serve different functions but work together simultaneously – we’ll dive into both of these below.
Precision SmartTop
The Precision SmartTop is essentially the water bath or container for cooking sous vide. Other sous vide ovens on the market have the water container connected to the heating elements and power cords, preventing you from easily cleaning it. This SmartTop is completely cordless, so cleaning it is a breeze. It also holds in heat extremely well, preventing the cooking element from using too much unnecessary energy to keep heating water. The Precision SmartTop holds 10.4 liters of water providing ample space for vacuum sealed food.
Induction SmartHub
The interesting piece of this product is the SmartHub and how it interacts with the top pot. According to Oliso, the SmartHub and Precision SmartTop is the “first cooktop that talks to its pot, allowing you to cook with a variety of techniques including sous vide, induction, and slow cooking.” Essentially, the induction cooktop underneath the pot acts as the heating element for the sous vide.
Technical Specs
The dimensions of the SmartTop are 13.3″ x 11.25″ x 10.0″, taking up about a square foot of space on your counter. The induction burner can deliver up to 1500W which heats extremely fast, and the temperature also remains very precise (Oliso claims within 0.18 degrees Fahrenheit)
Performance and Final Thoughts
We were a bit skeptical with the idea of simply cooking sous vide over an induction burner, thinking the temperatures would vary as the induction heating element attempts to target the precise temperature set. However, we were pleasantly surprised at just how accurate the temperature remained – much more accurate than immersion circulators.
For the review, we cooked a filet mignon lightly marinade in herbed butter and vacuum sealed. After pulling out the steak at 132 degrees (preferred temperature), I grabbed a cast iron pan and placed it directly on top of the induction burner which was already hot. After a few minutes and the pan was incredibly hot, I seared both sides. Perfect!
Overall, the Oliso SmartHub sous vide oven outperformed expectations. The design is spot-on, and the performance is what really stands out. We highly recommend this sous vide machine even though the price is a bit high. One of the big things to note about the price, however, is how much more you are getting with this compared to other sous vide ovens (a full induction burner).
Lets see $100 for an induction burner. I guess that means the pot is worth $400, right? What circulates the water? More accurate than immersion sous vide? I have my Innova running at 135 right now. Thermapen reports water temp of 134.8. Paid review.