ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide review

The Chefsteps Joule Sous Vide is a revolutionary, innovative home cooking device, bringing the renowned sous vide technique into home kitchens and restaurant-quality meals to dinner tables throughout the United States.

Operated through a mobile app, this sous vide is smaller, faster, and easier to use than many other similar devices.

The app also provides cooking tools useful for both beginners and veterans, including easy to follow recipes, a new Visual Doneness feature to guide and educate the eye for a completed meal, and the quickest, simplest way to bring water to the precise temperature needed for the best possible results for any specific food product.

However, some users have found that this sous vide device and its connected app prove inconvenient in poor WiFi zones, due to its lack of manual controls.

Interested in adding Joule to your kitchen? Take a look at the details below, both positive and negative, to decide whether this smart sous vide will fit your cooking needs.

ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide: The Details

Specs

• Product Dimensions: 11 x 1.9 x 1.9 inches
• Product Weight: 1 lbs (2.25 lbs shipping weight)
• Product Type: Cooking Device
• 1100 watts of power
• Visual Doneness feature in Joule app
• Works with 120 V outlets only
• Compatible with Amazon Alexa? Yes; the Joule app also works with iPhone or Android, connected via Bluetooth or WiFi.

How Does it Work

Sous vide is a cooking technique which involves vacuum-sealing food into a bag and cooking the food to a precise, specific temperature in a water bath.

This technique results in restaurant-quality food and is quickly becoming a household process with handy, easy to operate products like this one.

The Chefsteps Joule Sous Vide brings the sous vide technique into your own kitchen and utilizes the tools that you already have at home.

All you have to do is attach it to your favorite cooking pot via either its magnetic base or convenient clip, fill the pot with water from your own sink, and seal the food you’re cooking in a ziplock-style bag, the kind of which you either already own or could easily find in any store.

The final necessary tool that you already have to operate Chefsteps Joule Sous Vide is your cell phone. Joule is exclusively controlled by a mobile app, which you can operate through Bluetooth, WiFi, or even Amazon Alexa.

This app allows even first-time chefs to quickly set the precise temperature needed, accurate within 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit.

The app also includes over one hundred easy to follow cooking guides and a revolutionary Visual Doneness feature that allows chefs to see how the food will look when it’s complete, removing guesswork and adding confidence to the cooking process!

This sous vide provides excellent results for both beginners and experts, and is a simple addition to any home kitchen.

The device is small enough to fit inside a silverware drawer, but don’t let the size fool you; the ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide still heats water faster than most other sous vide machines!

Chefsteps: The Brand

Founded in Seattle in 2012, ChefSteps is a relative newcomer to the cookware industry, but is already making waves with its innovative products.

In this company, a team of chefs, scientists, writers, engineers, and photographers join forces to not only provide products that help people cook, but also that help them learn how to cook, encouraging creativity, confidence, and experimentation.

Their website and companion app are their prized features, and they actively use these mediums to provide resources to their customers; they share recipes, promote classes, and encourage forum conversation among chefs of all experience levels.

ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide Review

The Positives

Cooks Restaurant-Quality Meat

The ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide delivers on the promises made about the sous vide technique, turning out restaurant-quality meals from any home kitchen.

These results are consistent and reliable, turning frozen meat into a completely done meal in a reasonable amount of time and with admirable accuracy.

Quick and Easy

Even first-time cooks can get great results out of the ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide. The device is quick and easy to set up and the app contains clear and simple instructions for use.

The sous vide heats the water to the requested temperature with a speed that must be seen to be believed.

Equally quick is the clean-up afterwards; Joule is sturdy enough that it does not require much effort for care making it an effortless tool to have on hand.

Here’s what the ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide looks like out of the box.

Visual Doneness Removes All Guesswork

Even experienced chefs can have a difficult time with the sous vide technique, particularly when it comes to determining whether the food is completely done without removing it from the vacuum-sealed bag.

The Visual Doneness feature on the Chefsteps Joule app is a great asset for these chefs.

It talks the user through the entire cooking process, and provides visual images of how the finished product should look for comparison, so the chef knows exactly when it’s done.

The app is consequently a great help for both sous vide newcomers who want to get it right on their first try and veterans who want to refine their technique.

Compact

If you’re always in the kitchen, chances are you already have a number of gadgets to help with your ever growing recipe list. Adding another to your already crowded counter, or too packed cupboard is something you may try to avoid.

Fortunately, the ChefSteps Joule is small enough that it does not require much space for storage. It can easily fit in kitchen drawers, or be tucked into a cupboard where it won’t be in the way.

This is a great bonus for smaller spaces and growing kitchens.

Works with Your Own Pots and Utensils 

Unlike other smart kitchen devices, you won’t be required to purchase utensils or cookware that is compatible with your ChefSteps Joule.

This device works with any pots and utensils you have on hand, saving you the need to spend extra on unnecessary add-ons.

All you need is a smartphone!

Warranty

It shows that a company backs its product and promises when they include a warranty. In the case of the ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide, you’ll receive a 1-year limited warranty with purchase, as well as a 90 day guarantee.

In the event that you’re just not satisfied with the device’s performance, contact the company and they’ll be able to fix the issue, or offer a refund.

The warranty covers any damages or errors in craftsmanship and manufacturing with a promise to repair or replace your device at no additional cost.

Note that this warranty doesn’t cover any damages caused by wear and tear or the owner so be sure to handle your Joule Sous Vide with care.

The Negatives

Can Only Be Used Through the Mobile App

Unlike other sous vides, this device is only able to be operated through an iPhone or Android cellular device.

Joule has no view screens to display temperature level or cooking time, nor are there any manual controls with which to operate it without using a cell phone.

Consequently, if something has gone wrong with your phone, such as the battery dying, or if you have a Windows device instead of an Apple or Android device, you will not be able to use this sous vide.

Also, if the WiFi or Bluetooth connection in your home is spotty, the app and device may not function correctly.

Can Only Be Used in North America

If you’re thinking of bringing this overseas to show off your cooking skills, you’ll have to find another way.

The ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide is made to be only used in North America, as the voltage in other regions of the world like Europe, Africa and Asia, are usually higher than in the US.

While there are adapters and converters to help with this hiccup, using this device outside of North America will void your warranty, so it’s best to play it safe.

App is Sometimes Inconvenient

Though the instructions for cooking provided on the Joule app are clear, some chefs have found that the app, which again is necessary for operating the sous vide, has some inconvenient properties, such as continual requests for password input, excessive amounts of notifications, and undue draining of phone battery.

The app also only works with the specific cell phone linked to the specific sous vide, limiting how many members of the household can operate the sous vide.

Fortunately, these points won’t be too cumbersome for most users, and you’ll still be able to cook a mean dish. 

Stable WiFi Needed 

The Joule Sous Vide needs a reliable connection to perform at its best.

It works poorly in areas without a stable WiFi connection, limiting the amount of places that this sous vide can be used aside from your house.

This won’t be too much of an issue if your modem is positioned near your kitchen, but if its, say in the attic, you might want to try repositioning your modem before committing to this device.

High Level of Noise

Some users of the ChefSteps Joul Sous Vide report that while heating the water the device makes a level of noise that might be uncomfortable for sensitive ears in a living space.

Overall Verdict

We would recommend the ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide to beginner or veteran home cooks interested in adding the sous vide technique to their kitchen repertoire.

The cooking directions on the app lead to quality meals and are a great educational resource for chefs of all experience levels.

However, homes with multiple cooks or a poor WiFi connection might find that a manually-operated sous vide would fit their needs better than one solely operated by an app.

Where to Buy the ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide

While the ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide is a relatively new product, it has become popular with both home chefs and professionals.

Not only has its performance proven this smart device to be a helpful tool around the kitchen, the ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide has been featured in tech magazines, making it a sought after product, available both in-store and online.

To start, check out the following online retailers.

• Nordstrom (from $199)
• Sur la Table (from $199)
• ChefSteps (from $199)

And of course, it’s also available on Amazon.

That wraps up our review on the ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide. Tempted to give it a try?