Breville CS20001 Joule Sous Vide Single Product Review

Is the Breville CS20001 Joule Sous Vide a smart buy?

Even accomplished chefs can sometimes struggle in the kitchen. This isn't due to lack of skill or ability — sometimes you lose track or get involved with some other task and you accidentally overcook your food.

Sous vide is a method of cooking that favors the perfectionist. Food is sealed in a plastic pouch and fully submerged in water that's heated to a precise temperature. The process is slow, but the food is heated evenly, has more flavor and it's very hard to overcook.

According to its marketing, the Breville CS20001 Joule Sous Vide has a few benefits, such as a more compact size and a Visual Doneness feature, that make it stand out from other brands. The BestReviews Testing Lab wanted to know if this sous vide machine was a smart buy, so the team tested it to see how it performed.

Testing the Breville CS20001 Joule Sous Vide

The BestReviews Testing Lab is comprised of a cross-section of consumers. Some members are experts who understand the nuts and bolts of how things work, while others are typical homeowners just looking for ways to simplify their life. The goal is to test items in a real-world situation to see if they hold up to the manufacturer's claims.

For the Breville CS20001 Joule Sous Vide, the team wanted to know if this product was faster, smaller, easier to use and offered precise, predictable results. The Testing Lab paid particular attention to such factors as quality, performance and overall user experience.

What is the Breville CS20001 Joule Sous Vide?

The Breville CS20001 Joule Sous Vide is a compact cooking device that heats and circulates water, allowing you to cook sealed bags of food to a precise level of doneness. It has a clean, chic design and looks and feels like a quality appliance. Curiously, however, there are no buttons, screens or controls on the unit. It's 13 inches long, white, weighs 1.28 pounds and is accurate down to 0.2 degrees. The unit is made of polycarbonate and stainless steel for durability.

See how the Breville CS20001 Joule Sous Vide compares to other products in its space — check out our reviews for the best sous vide machine.

Breville CS20001 Joule Sous Vide price and where to buy

The Breville CS20001 Joule Sous Vide costs $199.95. It's available at Amazon.

How to use the Breville CS20001 Joule Sous Vide

The Testing Lab determined the Breville CS20001 Joule Sous Vide was very easy to understand and use. The only caveat is you have to own and be comfortable using a smartphone to operate this machine. Fortunately, most people are already adept at using this technology, so it isn't a real stumbling block. However, if anything happens to your phone or connection, you can't operate the machine manually.

The setup is fairly straightforward. After you download the app to your phone, it walks you through the pairing process and gives you a short tutorial. Once you become familiar with how the device operates, you can explore many recipes that configure the heat and cooking time for you. Advanced users can create custom cooks by manually setting their own temperature and cook times.

When the Testing team used the Joule, it monitored the temperature during a variety of recipes, ranging from cooking hard-boiled eggs and sausage to making a ribeye steak and a 36-hour duck confit. The temperature, as well as the water circulation, remained consistent in all tests. The noise level of the machine was comparable to an electric toothbrush, so it wasn't bothersome.

One of the handiest features of this device lets you see what your food will look like when it's finished cooking. Visual Doneness allows you to select a temperature, then it displays an image of how pink or cooked the meat will appear at the end of the cooking session. This helps because not everyone's definitions of rare, medium rare, medium, medium well and well are the same. 

BestReviews Testing Lab appreciated the magnetic foot, which helps hold the device steady while cooking. The smaller size was nice because the appliance fit in a drawer.

Breville CS20001 Joule Sous Vide benefits

A sous vide machine isn't very complicated: it circulates water at a specific temperature. The benefit of getting this particular model is its clean, white polycarbonate design. It also heats the water up quickly (which isn't a huge deal if you're going to be slow-cooking), and it's small enough for easy storage. The Testing team liked that this model can be clipped to the side of a pot or plunked down in the middle. While this doesn't offer any real cooking advantage, it's slightly more convenient. As with any sous vide machine, cleanup is minimal and nearly effortless. 

Breville CS20001 Joule Sous Vide drawbacks

After the extensive testing, BestReviews concluded there were no flaws with this machine — it functions as advertised. However, there are two potential downsides. First is the lack of manual controls. While this definitely streamlines the appliance's design, it may make some people feel there's a lack of immediate control, especially if there's an issue with connectivity. Second, compared to other sous vide machines, this model is expensive. However, like an Apple product, it's one of the expected drawbacks of purchasing a Breville. You're paying for the quality associated with the brand.

Should you get the Breville CS20001 Joule Sous Vide?

The Breville CS20001 Joule Sous Vide is as suitable for someone who has never cooked this way as it is for a sous vide aficionado. If you have the room in your budget, this precision machine will produce consistent perfection. It's also a solid option for someone who puts a great deal of weight on the aesthetics of their kitchen appliances.