Whether you are a hobby or professional cook, it is difficult to navigate through the fog of information provided on the internet.
First question to ask: why choose an immersion circulator rather than a water-bath?
It’s simple, an immersion circulator is compact, can be attached and adapts to any shape and volume of container. A water-bath will be limited to the volume of its container and will therefore be more cumbersome and less practical than an immersion circulator.
It is for this reason that we will focus here only on the immersion circulators also called sous vide cookers.
To choose a sous vide immersion circulator, you must first identify the origin of the immersion circulator on sale on the market. And for that it is interesting to know the “History” of this type of cooking appliance.
Then, in a second post, we will look precisely at certain objective criteria that will help you choose the perfect sous vide cooker for you.

In the 1970s (the beginnings of the sous vide technique) sous vide cookers were mostly laboratory equipments. The manufacturers of these immersion circulators still exist. They are American (Polyscience), English (Grant Instruments, Nickel-Electro), German (Julabo, Lauda) and Spanish (Selecta).

Immersion circulators that came out of these factories were clearly not made for use in the kitchen. They were heavy, could heat oils up to 200°C (while 95°C in sous vide cooking is the maximum), were not easy to use and above all at prices that were far too high for an individual or profi chef.
Until 2000 sous vide cooking was a cooking technique reserved for insiders, mainly used by starred chefs.
Some then had fun (myself included) connecting an industrial temperature controller to a rice cooker or a “Bubbler”. A Canadian guy had even specialized in the manufacture and sale of this equipment: the Sousvide Magic from Fresh Meals Solutions.
This company no longer exists.

Then came on the market, in 2009 (nearly 40 years after the beginnings of this technique), 2 new products that revolutionized and “launched the fashion” of sous vide cooking: the SousVide Supreme and the SWID.

SousVide Supreme is a temperature controlled water-bath, without a stirring pump, marketed by Americans.

The SWID is an immersion circulator designed and manufactured in Germany.
These two sous vide cookers have made sous vide cooking technique accessible to individuals and professional cooks for a few hundred euros.

In 2010, an American guy posted on his blog, “Seattle Food Geek”, the plans for his home made immersion circulator. It is no more, no less than a temperature controller connected to several heater elements and a pump. It is a variant of the solution from the company Fresh Meals Solutions. The success on the internet was immediate. For $75 it was then possible to build your own immersion circulator (not without risk)!

In 2012, young American entrepreneurs launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter and gave birth to NOMIKU.
Subsequently, several other more or less successful projects will follow.
Codlo (2013), which proposes a fancy temperature controller but similar to Fresh Meals Solution’s idea.
SANSAIRE (in 2014), an immersion circulator available for $200.
Anova (2015), the first immersion circulator with wifi and bluetooth connection.
Nise Wave (2018), the first truely waterproof immersion circulator.
Mellow (2019) the first water-bath that cooks at low temperature but can also keep products cool…

In the years that followed, all of these companies went bankrupt except for SousVide Supreme, SWID and Anova.
Note the huge failure of the “Nespresso” of sous vide cookers, the “Chef Cuisine” (2015) with the partnership of Anne Sophie Pic.

At the same time, manufacturers of laboratory equipments are adapting to the market and (slightly) modifying their immersion circulators to make them more attractive in the kitchen. Julabo becomes FUSION CHEF PEARL, Polyscience launches the CREATIVE SERIES…or sell their equipment under other brands (Nickel-elektro becomes Clifton Range)…

At the same time our Chinese friends, sensing a good deal, produce immersion circulators strongly inspired by their American and European counterparts. They are flooding the market with devices at rock bottom prices.

And here we are today, in 2022!
To summarize the situation, there are therefore 3 types of immersion circulator manufacturers:

1. “Historical” manufacturers of laboratory immersion circulators

– Polyscience: Distributed by Breville, the Polyscience brand is popular with Americans but is not well represented on the European market. These products are intended for professionals or individuals.
– Grant and Clifton Range (Nickel-Electro) are UK brands with little presence on the European market. Their products are exclusively for professionals.
– Julabo (Germany): now “Fusion Chef” is a brand recognized by chefs all over the world. Julabo products are exclusively targeted for professionals.
– Lauda (Germany): brand little represented in the world of sous vide. Lauda products are made for professionals.
– Selecta (Spain): brand better known as “Roner” which is distributed by ICC Cooking Concepts.

2. Manufacturers of “second generation” immersion circulators (not laboratory equipment), listed in chronological order

– SWID (designed and manufactured in Germany by Addelice then Sous Vide Consulting): brand well represented in Europe. Products are intended primarily for professionals but also accessible to individuals.
– Anova (American brand part of the Electrolux Group): products made in China, mainly intended for individuals.
– Joule (ChefSteps): American products made in China for individuals, also distributed by Breville. Very little represented in Europe.
– SmartVide (Spanish brand, Sammic): products for professionals.

With a few rare exceptions, all brands of immersion circlators other than those mentioned above are generally products designed and manufactured in China.

3. “3rd generation” immersion circulators designed and manufactured in China (listed in 2022)

– BUFFALO, STEBA, ALLPAX, STALGAST, VACMASTER…you will find this immersion heater absolutely everywhere (ebay, amazon, professional equipment online store) under many different brands. Sous vide cooker rather intended for professionals but also accessible to individuals.

– For individuals you will find on amazon, ebay and all other websites small immersion circulators for less than 100 €: Inkbird, VPcok, Dissna, Aukuyee, Klarstein, Kitchen Boss…and dozens and dozens of other Chineese brands…

Identifying the manufacturer of an immersion circulator allows you to indirectly know his level of expertise and the durability of its product over time. For example, a recent “Kickstarter” product is a more “at risk” device in terms of breakdown and after-sales service than an immersion circulator from a manufacturer such as Julabo, Polyscience or Addelice/Sous Vide Consulting.
As for first-price Chinese immersion circulators…as my grandmother used to say “when you buy cheap and of poor quality, you buy several times!”.
Other criteria than the origin of a sous vide cooker should be reviewed by you. They will help you in your choice of the immersion circulator best suited to your needs. They will be discussed in a second post.