This is a Crux Sous Vide review, including both PROs and CONs – jaden

Crux Sous Vide Review

We’ve tested so many sous vide machines: Joule, Nomiku, Oliso, Kalorik, Anova….and a few others. Sous Vide is a cooking method used by chefs worldwide to cook to food at the exact temperature every time. The food (usually protein like seafood, pork, chicken, steak) is seasoned and sealed in a vacuum bag or freezer bag. The bag is submerged in water and the sous vide machine regulates the temperature of the water.

The result is stunningly perfect, never undercooked or over-cooked dishes. Salmon is silky-soft, chicken breast is tender and juicy, and steaks are the exact level of doneness that you desire. We cook sous vide at least 3 times a week.

Why? Because of this:

From Crux website

Sous vide pork belly took me 10 minutes hands-on. The rest of the work is done by sous vide. (here’s the recipe)

Sous vide salmon is unlike anything you’ve ever had – so delicate and flaky (here’s recipe for Miso Sous Vide Salmon)

But my favorite is sous vide steak. So crazy tender and never over-cooked.

Crux Sous Vide Hands On

Crux is a kitchen small appliance company based in NYC. Their products are exclusively sold at Macy’s. Crux Sous Vide comes with just 2 things: the sous vide machine and a clamp.

Add a big pot, and that’s all you need for sous vide. Fill a big pot with water and clamp on the clamp.

Insert the Crux Sous Vide. Plug in, and set the temperature and time.

That’s all you need to do!

PRO: Crux Sous Vide is dead simple. No frills, no difficult controls. We have sous vide machines that include bluetooth connectivity (which frequently fail and then it’s more trouble than it’s worth), no app (you don’t really need one). This small, compact sous vide machine fits in your kitchen drawer.

PRO: The separate clamp is AWESOME. Here’s why: fidgeting with the screw-on clamp is so much easier without the machine attached to it. If you need to remove the sous vide, just grab and lift up with one hand.

For our test, we went to the butcher and bought Picanha, a Brazilian cut of the sirloin cap.

Don’t know what Picanha is? It is just THE best, most flavorful cut of steak in the world!! If you’ve been to a Brazilian churrasco or steakhouse, it looks like this:

(this is a photo from my favorite Brazilian all you can eat restaurant, Fogo de Chao)

All that fat is absolutely essential. You don’t have to eat it, you *can* cut it all away….but don’t. It’s part of what makes picanha amazing.

Season with salt and pepper. Vacuum seal. I’m testing the Crux Sous Vide against my trusty (but expensive) Oliso Sous Vide

One bag goes into the Oliso.

The other goes in with Crux.

130F and an hour later (I like to sous vide steak, pork chops, chicken breasts at desired temperature, 1 hour per inch of thickness)

PRO: I constantly checked the water temperature of the Crux Sous Vide with a separate thermometer. The temperature held steady, only fluctuating by a maximum of +/-2 degrees. On the other hand, my fancy pants Oliso fluctuated up to 4 degrees (which is not good).

The results of the steak was exactly the same. Perfectly cooked at 130F. We patted the steak dry, then seared in a screaming hot cast iron pan. Final temperature of steak was 135F, which is exactly how we like it.

PRO: Nice price at $99. Currently, sale code “MOM” gets you an additional 10% off AND if you join Ebates, you get an additional 3% off.

PRO: They are based in NYC, have a customer service line that is answered by someone in the U.S. (I called)

CON: It’s only available at Macy’s.

When testing products, I report the CONs in the product….to be fair in my review. I’ll be honest with you, I couldn’t find any, other than it only being available at Macy’s. I like the simplicity of the machine. It does one thing — it holds temperature of the water and circulates the water. That’s all you need.

Crux Sous Vide Giveaway