Would Like Some Help Building a Sous Vide Cooker

[NerdNinja]

Hello guys,

 

After @Slick did the awesome video on the Joule, I decided I wanted one!

 

Now 200 USD isn't that bad of a price, especially considering what one will spend on PC parts 

 

But to a 18 year old in college, with a average paid job as a cook, It's just...not as appealing 

 

But the concept is pretty simple! There's got to be someone who's made one right? Well, yeah! I've found a bunch of well documented

build logs where people have made the same thing for less than 75 USD!

 

But all of the solutions I've found still lack what IMO makes the Joule so appealing! And that's the ability to control from the app on your phone!

 

Now, I've found a few builds where a web interface for monitoring was made, but I also want to be able to control my cooker remotely!

 

What I'm looking for, isn't difficult. But I have no experience with either a Pi, or and Arduino  

 

What I want to do is combine this tutorial I found. But add some features.

 

Like using a heating element instead of a crock pot to make the unit portable and usable in different containers.

Adding a circulation Pump.

And linking up a Pi to be used as a web interface that will allow monitoring and control of the temperature from a remote location or just adding code and a WiFi enabled board to the Arduino.

 

Basically a BrewPi I guess, but I want to be able to build it in a elegant looking container like the Joule.

 

But, I don't know where to start  I would like someone who knows the in's and out's of these control boards to help me out!

 

Or maybe we can get Luke and Linus to take their best shot at it for our entertainment! 

 

Hopefully I can find help here!

 

~NerdNinja

 

 

TL;DR

I need help making a feature rich DIY Sous Vide Cooker with Arduino and/or Rasberry Pi

 

[Huntsman]

First of all, an Arduino by itself would provide enough processing power for this.

 

Secondly, the hardest part of this entire project is not the programming. Those can be easily done with existing libraries and copy pasting from around the web. The electronics too isn't too challenging neither.

 

The only hard part is the physical device itself. How would the pumps, heaters, casing etc go together? Are they food safe? Are they easy to clean after use?

[Hackentosher]

I'm thinking a fountain pump for flow and a shit load of neochrome wire for heat. 3d printer heater cartridges are also an option, but I don't know if those guys have enough power. For monitoring temperature, use a thermistor. 

[NerdNinja]

2 hours ago, Huntsman said:

First of all, an Arduino by itself would provide enough processing power for this.

 

Secondly, the hardest part of this entire project is not the programming. Those can be easily done with existing libraries and copy pasting from around the web. The electronics too isn't too challenging neither.

 

The only hard part is the physical device itself. How would the pumps, heaters, casing etc go together? Are they food safe? Are they easy to clean after use?

 

Can the Arduino still interface with the web to both send data and be controlled remotely? Like say I want to turn it on after I've set everything up, but I'm not near the device.

 

And I still have no idea what I'm doing with the programming. I've seen bits of code that can do one thing or another but I don't know how to combine them  

 

My thought right now about the parts is the following:

 

Pump: little 5V motor I have lying around, wouldn't be submerged. I'd have a impeller that goes down and constantly mixes the water

 

Heating element: I'm really hoping this would work. It has the wattage and it's food save but I'm worried about the shape, I want the impeller to be under the unit and the shaft would have to pass through the heating element.

 

Casing: not too sure. In order to make it fit in the form factor I want I imagine I'd want to use PVC pipe. If not I'll make something that hangs outside of the container. 

 

Food safe and cleaning aren't really a big issue. But I will keep them in mind, but the food never touches the water or elements due to the nature of Sous Vide.

36 minutes ago, Hackentosher said:

I'm thinking a fountain pump for flow and a shit load of neochrome wire for heat. 3d printer heater cartridges are also an option, but I don't know if those guys have enough power. For monitoring temperature, use a thermistor. 

Look above, I got the parts pretty much figured out.  Just need help with the wiring....

 

 

 

 

But for the both of you, let's say I build this guy: https://learn.adafruit.com/sous-vide-powered-by-arduino-the-sous-viduino/sous-vide Step for step and just plug in the before mentioned heating element and pump instead of a crock pot.

How would I go about enabling it with WAN control and monitoring??

[Scheer]

On 10/18/2016 at 10:45 AM, NerdNinja said:

But all of the solutions I've found still lack what IMO makes the Joule so appealing! And that's the ability to control from the app on your phone!

I used the app the first time I used my Anova cooker out of curiosity, and haven't used it since. Its not a great as it is played off to be, I found it much easier to just set the temp on the unit, then start a timer on my Echo. Speaking of, the older Bluetooth only Anova (new one also has WiFi) is $130 at Target.

 

 And while on the topic of sous vide, it really is amazing... I always hated porkchops because of how dry they usually are. Just made some tonight by sous vide and it literally falls apart it is so tender and moist. I'm still working on getting the seering part figured out though...

[NerdNinja]

1 hour ago, Scheer said:

I used the app the first time I used my Anova cooker out of curiosity, and haven't used it since. Its not a great as it is played off to be, I found it much easier to just set the temp on the unit, then start a timer on my Echo. Speaking of, the older Bluetooth only Anova (new one also has WiFi) is $130 at Target.

 

 And while on the topic of sous vide, it really is amazing... I always hated porkchops because of how dry they usually are. Just made some tonight by sous vide and it literally falls apart it is so tender and moist. I'm still working on getting the seering part figured out though...

<picture>

 

Well, I'm not sure what the app is like for that one, and the Joule one just looks cool. I'm just trying to get control from my phone.

 

For my use case, I'd be using the cooker the most when I'm miles from home. And I want something to be cooked and ready when I get back. 

I'd like to be able to check up on my unit for any potential mishaps, start it when I'm not around, and get notified when the meal is finished for say when I'm working on something elsewhere in the house but don't want to have to set a timer on my phone.

[corrado33]

I'm confused. First off, why do the parts need to be food safe? The food is cooked inside a plastic bag... It's not like it's directly touching the water.

 

Secondly, why is this hard? Just attach a 110V heater to a relay controlled by a thermistor. Drop a metal pump in there and be done... Heck, you can do this with discrete logic extremely easy.

 

In actuality, you really don't even need all of that. They have temperature controllers built exactly for this kind of thing that people in industry use every day. No programming required. Super easy to build. Literally has all of the connections in the back for the 1: heating element, 2: thermocouple and 3: power. No need to build one yourself. Just make it so that there are external plugs for both the heater coil and thermocouple and you're done. Easy peasy.

 

 

EDIT: Even easier.

 

 Literally find a 110V heater and drop it into a bucket of water. Set your temp and you're done. 

 

I know these devices are fancy and what not, but jeeze, all we're doing is heating up a bit of water...

[Scheer]

18 hours ago, NerdNinja said:

 

Well, I'm not sure what the app is like for that one, and the Joule one just looks cool. I'm just trying to get control from my phone.

 

For my use case, I'd be using the cooker the most when I'm miles from home. And I want something to be cooked and ready when I get back. 

I'd like to be able to check up on my unit for any potential mishaps, start it when I'm not around, and get notified when the meal is finished for say when I'm working on something elsewhere in the house but don't want to have to set a timer on my phone.

 

I'd never understood how this was possible, since if you prepped it in the morning the meat would be sitting all day at room temperature and spoil before it started cooking... so I just looked into it and all you do is put a bunch of ice in the water, I can't believe I didn't think of that lol.

 

Now that I realize this, I actually may use the app... thanks!

[NerdNinja]

On 10/19/2016 at 8:48 PM, Scheer said:

23 hours ago, corrado33 said:

I'm confused. First off, why do the parts need to be food safe? The food is cooked inside a plastic bag... It's not like it's directly touching the water.

 

Secondly, why is this hard? Just attach a 110V heater to a relay controlled by a thermistor. Drop a metal pump in there and be done... Heck, you can do this with discrete logic extremely easy.

 

In actuality, you really don't even need all of that. They have temperature controllers built exactly for this kind of thing that people in industry use every day. No programming required. Super easy to build. Literally has all of the connections in the back for the 1: heating element, 2: thermocouple and 3: power. No need to build one yourself. Just make it so that there are external plugs for both the heater coil and thermocouple and you're done. Easy peasy.

 

 

EDIT: Even easier.

 

 Literally find a 110V heater and drop it into a bucket of water. Set your temp and you're done. 

 

I know these devices are fancy and what not, but jeeze, all we're doing is heating up a bit of water...

 

Quote thing is bugged....uhm, sorry Scheer didn't meant to quote you 

 

1 reason I've seen for food safe materials is eggs. You don't bag the eggs when cooking sous vide.

 

And I get what your saying. This definitely isn't the easiest way to accomplish this task. And if all I wanted was a simple cut and dry method I wouldn't have made this post.

 

I mean just look at what I said before.

On 10/19/2016 at 10:01 PM, NerdNinja said:

 

Well, I'm not sure what the app is like for that one, and the Joule one just looks cool. I'm just trying to get control from my phone.

 

For my use case, I'd be using the cooker the most when I'm miles from home. And I want something to be cooked and ready when I get back. 

I'd like to be able to check up on my unit for any potential mishaps, start it when I'm not around, and get notified when the meal is finished for say when I'm working on something elsewhere in the house but don't want to have to set a timer on my phone.

And there's also the learning part, and I think it's fun to try to do all this. Plus trying to fit it in a elegant design will be a challenge that I am more than willing to accept.

 

 

[corrado33]

46 minutes ago, NerdNinja said:

 

Quote thing is bugged....uhm, sorry Scheer didn't meant to quote you 

 

1 reason I've seen for food safe materials is eggs. You don't bag the eggs when cooking sous vide.

 

And I get what your saying. This definitely isn't the easiest way to accomplish this task. And if all I wanted was a simple cut and dry method I wouldn't have made this post.

 

I mean just look at what I said before.

And there's also the learning part, and I think it's fun to try to do all this. Plus trying to fit it in a elegant design will be a challenge that I am more than willing to accept.

 

 

Many of the industrial temperature controllers can easily be connected to a computer. Which then you can use macros to use with your phone, instead of trying to make an app.