Are Container Lids Necessary for Sous Vide?

I’ll cut right to the chase. Yes. There, I’ll let you get on with your day.

But really, having a lid on your container when using sous vide immersion circulators is highly recommended for a few main reasons:

1. Helps keep an even water temperature by holding in the heat
2. Reduces how hard the immersion circulator has to work to heat the water
3. Prevents water from evaporating. This may not be too large of a concern when only cooking 1-2 hours. However, when cooking a large roast, evaporation becomes a factor.
4. Prevents contaminants from getting inside.
5. Prevents people from getting burned. “Ooh! What’s this?” (reaches hand in water after never hearing of sous vide)

Polycarbonate Lid

Now that we’ve identified the concerns and reasoning behind using water bath container lids, let’s look at our options. First off, most polycarbonate containers, which is our recommended sous vide container, are sold with lids. If you own one of these and do not have the associated lid, check out Amazon as they most likely sell it. Polycarbonate lids are also pretty easy to cut a whole large enough to fit the immersion circulator through it, since they stick out over the top of the container. If you are all out of options and cannot get your hands on the lid to your container, or you are using a MacGyver container such as your kitchen sink or beer cooler, you’re not out of luck just yet.

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Aluminum Foil or Plastic Wrap

Wrap your container in aluminum foil to help prevent evaporation, among the other concerns noted above. However aluminum foil does not hold in the heat very well at all. You can still cook sous vide using this, its just that your immersion circulator will have to work a little harder.

Plastic wrap can be placed over the top of your pot or cooler to help hold in some of the heat. The translucent plastic also allows you to keep an eye on the cooking status by checking out your food.

Ping Pong Balls…

Yep, this is a weird one. People have placed ping pong balls on top of the water in their container to cover the entire surface. I really can’t think of a real advantage, but I guess it’s better than nothing.

View PriceOverall, buy a proper polycarbonate container with a lid on it, if possible. If not, you can still float by with using aluminum foil or plastic wrap as a temporary lid.