Tribest Sousvant Review: Creative Twist on Sous Vide Machines

Tribestlife entered the sous vide market by introducing the Tribest Sousvant, an all-in-one sous vide machine. In this review, we’ll dive into every aspect of the product including unboxing, design, and features, in addition to a full hands-on performance test.

Unboxing and Setup

When you get your hands on a Tribest Sousvant, the box itself is rather large, leading you to believe the sous vide machine is going to be huge. After opening, much of the box space consists of Styrofoam and other packaging protection. Overall, I was very happy with the size of the sous vide machine when pulling it out of the box. In addition to the Sousvant itself, you should also find a storage bag and user manual in the box. Sounds simple enough, right?

Yes, it really is. Setup was a breeze, because I essential did nothing! The water bath sits on top of the base, which very easily connects. Next, I just filled it with water, plugged it in, and set my preferred temperature for steaks. Perhaps it’s the limited features (no WiFi connections or automatic timers) which make this product so easy to use – but honestly, this is a plus in my book.

Design

The Tribest Sousvant is the most creative and well-designed sous vide oven on the market, no question. Most sous vide ovens look like traditional kitchen appliances; Bulky, heavy, and taking up too much counter space. The Sousvant conserves counter space by having a vertical design with the water bath sitting on top of the base. Perhaps the best feature of the Sousvant’s design is the entirely clear water container that allows you to see your food as its cooking. We also personally love the stainless steel base, which adds a modern touch and also fits in nicely with our kitchen appliances. Let’s just say my wife doesn’t mind having this sitting on the counter after using it.

Features

As I indicated above, the Sousvant may be lacking in features compared to some other sous vide machines on the market, including WiFi connectivity and automatic timers. This means you cannot start or stop the machine without being there to press the button. Personally, this is not a concern as I’ve never used the automatic timers and WiFi much from other devices.

Now that I mentioned what it doesn’t have, let’s dive into the Sousvant’s major features.

Water bath

The Tribest Sousvant’s carafe holds 3 gallons (or 12 liters) of water, providing adequate space for cooking. We tested by cooking a ribeye and strip steak and had a lot of room for more. Unlike immersion circulators, you do not have the heating element inside the water bath with the food, which can take up prime cooking space. With sous vide ovens, the entire water bath can be used as prime cooking space. However, the major negative of sous vide ovens, including this one, is if you’re looking to cook something larger such as a rack of ribs. You are limited to what can fit inside this 3 gallon carafe.

The clear design is something we absolutely love. In addition, the clear lid locks into place and prevents evaporation and helps ensure consistent temperature while conserving energy.

Circulator

The Sousvant has an impressive 1000W heater which brings water to temperature quickly. Sosuvant’s website also claims it circulates 3 gallons of water per minute. While we were not able to specifically test this, it seems accurate. When you first turn it on I was surprised by the amount of circulation – it kind of looked like a weird aquarium. Because of the strength of the heater and powerful circulation, noise was a bit louder than some others (just a low frequency hum).

Another positive of the heating capability is being able to set your desired temperature within 0.1 degree F. A few others on the market provide temperature settings to a full degree, while the Sousvant allows incredibly specific temperatures. We also found the oven held its temperature very well, which is directly related to the sealed lid and powerful circulation.

Controls

The digital display is as easy as it looks. A cook button turns the machine on, up and down arrows changes the temperature settings quickly (and within 0.1 degree F), and a stop button to turn it off. The display itself shows the current temperature in addition to the length of cooking time since it reached temperature (note: this only begins counting once the sous vide oven reached its initial temperature).

Another appreciated feature is the built-in safety indicator which warns you if power were interrupted (such as a power surge during a storm) and food may be unsafe to consume.

Performance Test

This is what we’ve all been waiting for. I can write a lot of words about what a product is supposed to do, but the actual performance of the sous vide oven is what we’re after.

We bought a subpar ribeye and strip to test. Seasoned with salt, pepper, and rosemary, then vacuum sealed with our Foodsaver. I set the temperature to 136 degrees F (wife is pregnant, so we’re encouraged to cook more thoroughly) and dropped the steaks in before it was fully heated to temperature. Within a few minutes, the temperature was at 136 and the timer started. After two beers (1 hour), the steaks were ready to be pulled.

I heated a cast iron on the stove until it was ready to engulf in flames (it did), then turned it down a bit, added some avocado oil (500 degree F smoke point), and tossed the ribeye on. Smoke filled the house, my dog ran and hid under the bed, and my wife gave disapproving looks; however, I got a pretty good sear! After cutting into the steak, I was very pleased with the results.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the Tribest Sousvant outperformed expectations because of flawless temperature control and ease of use. Big thumbs up. This is absolutely a must buy for entry-level sous vide, and still a great offer for experienced sous vide enthusiasts due to its convenience and accuracy. We ranked the Sousvant as one of our best sous vide machines and it is currently our most recommended sous vide oven.

Recent Update: 

January 14, 2022: The Tribest Sousvant is no longer in stock. If you’re interested in purchasing a Sous Vide oven, you can check out other alternative options here.