Anova Culinary 12+

This app works great with the Anova Pro. My husband can set up the Anova while I’m at work and I can see on the app if all the settings are correct. I even get an alert when it’s up to temp. I can make changes to the settings and start or stop it from anywhere!
The only real criticism I have is in searching for recipes on the app. To me one of the most important parts of researching a new recipe is reading other users comments. The app allows you to see the overall recipe’s rating. But you can’t read the comments about the recipe. You have to sign into the full website to get the comments. It makes searching for recipes on the app pretty much useless for me. Since I won’t try out a new recipe without seeing that feedback first. That info is incredibly useful and can save you a lot of trial and error. Please make the comments available on the app!

As others have pointed out, sous vide cooking is a game changer and Anova’s wand works well enough. However, Anova also wants to encourage users to enter and share their own recipes with other users. Here, the app is frustrating beyond belief. On the mobile app, you can enter and edit steps but you can’t edit make a private recipe public. Also, you can reorder steps — but only if there aren’t so many of them that they fill one screen on your device. Because if they do, you can’t actually scroll to it to select and reorder it. On the other hand, you CAN change a private recipe to public by logging in to Anova online, where you can also enter and edit steps. But at the online site you CAN’T reorder steps. Since any time you want to enter a new step they get entered as the last step, not being able to do this easily is a major oversight.

All in all, creating and managing recipes is an exercise in frustration. It’s a shame because a bit of attention to the UI could fix these issues and encourage a more social and useful platform.
And as far as I can see, there’s no way to make a recipe “public” if it starts out “private”. Who would want to share a recipe before you test it yourself? Stupid.

Anova intends this to be the directions for using their sous vide machines. As such it fails. There simply are not enough clear directions provided. Very many of the user-contributed recipes are poorly and unclear written as to technique. Those need to be much better-curated. Some examples of issues Anova leaves unanswered: Is there a limit to the amount of product you can cook at one time? When cooking animal flesh, can you put more than one cut (e.g., one pork chop or steak) into a single bag? If so, would you “stack” them one on top of another, or lay them side by side? Do you put the product in the water before it has come to temperature, or after? Many recipes give very large ranges for cooking times, what gives? Do those relate to the thickness of the cut? When the product is done cooking, can/should it be removed immediately, or can it be left in the (gradually cooling) water to keep warm until ready to sear/serve? Is it dangerous if a small amount of air is left in the bag (because it leaves product out of contact with hot water), or is it ok so long as the bag is fully submerged? It is very unfortunate Anova leaves so many basic questions unanswered. Sous vide is a unique technique; I am a skillful home chef but the skills used in other cooking techniques do not directly transfer to sous vide cooking.