Review: Gramercy Kitchen Co Immersion Circulator

Gramercy Kitchen Co’s first entry into the world of sous vide immersion circulators is a valiant effort the blends some high quality features with a few reasonable cost-saving options. 

Specifications

Gramercy Kitchen Co’s immersion cooker is definitely heftier than the competition – part of which seems to be a result of its build quality. To summarize, it sits at:

  • 16.2 x 8.2 x 4.5 inches
  • 3.4 lbs
  • 110-120 AC voltage
  • Temperature Maximum: 100C, 212F
  • Thermal variation: +/- 1% C
  • Thermal power: 800W
  • 2″ to min water bath level from bottom of unit 
  • Max bath size: 15L
  • Removable pump housing for easy maintenance 

Much like the TINVOO SVC150 the Gramercy Kitchen Co Sous Vide Immersion Circulator doesn’t have blue-tooth or wireless functionality. This was a conscious decision according to the manufacturer. 

Personally, I don’t have an issue with this as I prefer to plug and play to fiddling with in-app connectivity. 

Build Quality

The Gramercy Sous Vide Immersion Circulator sports industry standard stainless steel, plus 

Personally, I found the plastic shelling around that electrical components to be smooth to the touch. It has a single clamp, but the screw is composed of heavy metal. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure that the screw is actually the heaviest part of the entire clamp assembly.

During out test cook this system lived up to its weight. We didn’t experience any slipping or sliding whatsoever. 

The display, meanwhile, is bright, vibrant and sealed smoothly against the plastic shelling with a rubber seal – much like my personal favorite the Anova Pro

One word of caution here. Although the build quality on the whole seems quite secure, there are a number of obvious joins in the plastic surrounding the electrical components. The seal here seems airtight, but only time will tell how well it stands up to rigorous use.

Gramercy Kitchen Co also provides a handy storage sleeve. Again, this is a little touch and one very much appreciated from a new brand. Storing immersion circulators, as we discussed when reviewing Brito’s Stands a while ago, can be a hassle. This lets us keep all the cables and doodads in one place, although admittedly a storage bag doesn’t necessarily cut down on drawer space.

Form

The Gramercy Sous Vide Immersion Circulator, like most precision cookers on the market these days, features two main components – the stainless steel ‘circulator’ and the hard-plastic shell surrounding the electronic components. Breaking with tradition, the Gramercy’s shell is a soft grey rather than black. 

In a world of kitchen fashioning leaning towards the white, black, and steel it was nice to see something a little bit different. 

The Gramercy’s Sous Vide Immersion Circulator also features a nifty steam guard to reduce the risk of damage over a long cook time. It’s a simple piece of plastic protecting the rear of the unit: a thoughtful touch to be sure.

In light of this feature we decided to go with a full 18-hr cooking window, which we’ll get to in a minute.

Another concern that came up after cooking was the scaling that built-up on the circulator. Although not a deal, the Gramercy Kitchen Co sou vide immersion cooker developed a noticeable amount of grit on its coils after only a couple of uses.

Keep in mind, however, that one of our two test cooks was for 18 solid hours. Those who use their immersion circulator in short bursts will undoubtedly get more mileage per cleaning. 

Functionality

One of Gramercy Kitchen Co’s flagship features with this immersion cooker is the delayed start window. During testing we gave this a run with a twenty minute countdown. It worked like a charm, but I will admit to being cautious about setting up a water bath at the beginning of the day with a delay set for an hour before I get home.

Unfortunately, we did run into a few quality of life issues with the immersion circulator. In particular with the temperature display and dial. 

When I was first testing this unit I thought it had been damaged during shipping. During further testing I found that the wheel frequently took an irregular number of rotations to increase or decrease temperature. In addition, the display only shows increases of temperature by 0.5 degrees Celsius (or the Fahrenheit equivalent).

One other issue is the time it takes to heat up. Simply put, this immersion circulator takes a touch longer than other competitive models.

During cooking itself we found the Gramercy Kitchen Co maintained its target temperature very well. Again, the caveat here is that if you’re aiming for, say, 154 degrees you won’t be able to set it up exactly on the dot.

Perhaps the biggest silver lining in function is that the Gramercy Immersion cooker is quiet. It easily competes with sous vide immersion circulators that cost at least $100 more. 

This was an extremely pleasant surprise. Especially at a low to mid-range price point.

Going Spare

As mentioned above, we decided to test Gramercy Kitchen Co’s immersion circulator with a cook time of 18 hours. 

We selected an affordable, fatty cut of rib – spare – and paired it with the Japanese trinity of rice wine vinegar, mirin, and soy sauce. 

After 30 seconds under the broiler we were presented with crisp, flavourful ribs. They were toothsome, tender, and to the bone.

Verdict

Gramercy Kitchen Co’s first foray into the universe of sous vide is a fine effort. It combines several high-quality features (quiet rotors, well-sealed LCD display, etc) with a few finickity components (scroll wheel and temperature adjustment). 

Still on the fence? Gramercy Kitchen Co provides a one-year limited warranty and, according to their website, will offer a no-questions-asked return or refund. 

Gramercy Kitchen Co Immersion Circulator Review
  • Performance - 8/10
    8/10
  • Ease of Use - 7.4/10
    7.4/10
  • Design - 7.8/10
    7.8/10
  • Features - 8.5/10
    8.5/10
7.9/10

One Response

  1. William salsburg January 28, 2021

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