Kitchen Gizmo Simplified Immersion Circulator Review

Kitchen Gizmo Sous Vide Review

Kitchen Gizmo manufactures and sells a wide range of culinary products from appliances to utensils while focusing on creative designs and colors. More recently, they entered the sous vide industry by releasing their Simplified Immersion Circulator. What makes it “simplified”? Well, it’s very similar to the Anova Precision Cooker without some of the bells and whistles, such as bluetooth and WiFi. Luckily, because of this, the cost is also lower than Anova’s Precision Cooker.

I got my hands on a Kitchen Gizmo immersion circulator and tested it for a few days before ultimately comparing it to the rest on the market. Let’s jump right into the review.

Unboxing

Kitchen Gizmo created a rather unique product packaging for their device. After opening the generic brown shipping box, you’ll pull out a long hexagon-shaped box which securely holds the sous vide device in place between two pieces of styrofoam. Inside, you will also find the paperwork (quick start guide, user guide, small recipe book, and a time/temp chart. There is also a 1 year warranty card which provides instructions to register the device on their website.

We’re a sucker for cool product packaging, and while it definitely was cool, it also resulted in the paperwork bent in the shape of the box because they had to be slightly folded.

Design

Like I mentioned above, Kitchen Gizmo prides itself on creative design elements, bright colors, and great usability. I received their “red” circulator which is actually a really awesome color – definitely more of a dark maroon shade. While the color choices are cool, you can’t help but notice they definitely modeled their device off the Anova. Nonetheless, the design changes they made are actually pretty nice.

Display

The first thing you’ll notice is the display is a bit different than most sous vide machines out there. The temperature dial is located directly on top of the device, just to the left of the display. It has a pretty sturdy dial, unlike the Nomiku that we previously reviewed. The rest of the LED display is also fully touch screen, and the front of the device lights up when operating.

Clip

Since Kitchen Gizmo wanted to simplify their device, they opted to go with a clip similar to Sansaire instead of a clamp like Anova. I typically use my devices with a pot or polycarbonate container (often times without a lid, unless it’s a long cook), so this squeeze clip works perfectly fine. You may have trouble, however, if you use a cooler or use a polycarbonate container with a lid.

Color Choices

Like previously mentioned, the model I used for this review was red (maroon), but Kitchen Gizmo’s sous vide machine also comes in blue and grey. All three color options are really nice, however, at the time of this write-up, it appears there are different prices on Amazon for each one. Personally, I’d go with whatever is cheapest.

Specs & Features

Unique features are pretty non-existent in this device since it aims to be a simplified model. So you will not find bluetooth, WiFi, or an associated app with this immersion circulator. One aspect that I both liked and disliked was the included timer. It’s always nice to have the option to set a timer for your sous vide machine; however, it appears that setting a timer is mandatory for this machine, as it would not let me start heating until I selected a time. Apart from the timer, all other characteristics of this machine are standard for the industry. Here are some of the specs along with a comparison to ChefSteps Joule:

Size Dimensions

Kitchen Gizmo: 15” x 4.2” x 3”
ChefSteps Joule: 11” x 1.85”

Weight

Kitchen Gizmo: 2.88 lbs
ChefSteps Joule: 1.28 lbs

Heater and Circulator

Kitchen Gizmo uses an 800 watt heater with a temperature fluctuation of less than 1 degree F. The circulator can also pump up to 8 liters of water per minute. Both of these specs are identical to Anova’s bluetooth model.

Performance and Final Thoughts

To test the device, I filled a polycarbonate container with 6 liters of water at 75F and set the Kitchen Gizmo to 135F. In just over 20 minutes, this 800 watt heater reached the target temperature, very similar to Anova’s time. Immediately following, I cooked a 2″ thick dry-aged new york strip for 2 and a half hours (added an extra half hour since it was directly from the freezer). The device overall performed well, however I did have a hiccup with trying to get it to work right after setup, as mentioned above, due to the timer. Once I read the user manual, I realized I had to set the timer first so it wasn’t a big deal.

Kitchen Gizmo’s simplified sous vide machine is a great option for those who do not care about connected features (using it with your smartphone) and want to save a few bucks. However, with the recent announcement of Anova’s low-cost Nano coming later in the year, Kitchen Gizmo may have a run for their money.