There are two major components when cooking sous vide; the circulator and the water bath. Many may not realize how important a good and proper water bath is, but Tuxton Home has! Today I am reviewing the Sous Vide 9.8qt water bath sous vide pot sold on Amazon. To start, I have been using this container for the last 6 month, and for just about every food item I cook. To blatantly put it, I love this pot and it is simply 100% a great product; Totally deserving the recognition it receives. If you're looking for a great water bath this is definitely an item to strongly consider. With the ability to hold just over 2 gallons, you will be able to cook a plethora of foods. However anything larger than a pork loin, well you may struggle at cooking in this pot. Never the less, I am the type of person who does not cook many large items. So I can really use the heck out of this pot.
The construction of this pot is made from stainless steel. This is including the stainless steel handles as well. For an added bonus in my eyes, they are welded on. Rather than bolted or riveted on. You won't need to expect them to wear off after years of use. The base of the pot measures about 14 inches in diameter and the whole unit weighs 9.5 pounds. The interior contoured edge is built to disperse the heat meaning your contents will get hotter quicker. Moving upwards from the base of the pot you will notice the finish is quite beautiful, so I wanted to note that for you all! The rim at the top of the pot is flared, this should ideally mean you can pour out the contents a bit more cleanly; a drip-free kitchen accessory. The inside of the pot is finished the same as the outside and again looks very pretty. The interior of this stockpot also has an easy measuring guide in quarts and liters. What makes this pot special, however, is the lid. The lid is a tempered glass lid meaning you can look into the pot and see just how well your food looks. But its more than a window, this lid provides the perfect access to fit most circulators such as the Anova precision cooker. Have a joule? That's ok, Tuxton Home sells a fairly cheap adapter to allow you to slide the joule in (photos below).
Did you notice I called this pot a stock pot, not just a water bath? That is right ladies and gentleman, this is a multi-use item. Not only can you cook with sous vide in this pot, but whatever else you could want as well. This pot is induction, oven, and dishwasher safe too.
Concerned about the large hole in the lid when not circulating water? Well, Tuxton complements this with a stainless steel plug which fits snugly into the hole capping it shut. This little feature built into the lid is why I really like to use this as my water bath among my other options. I must say, although it is not going to keep 100% of the evaporation at bay, it will significantly reduce the time it takes for the water bath to lower from evaporation. Your long cooks won't have any problem, literally set it and forget it. Plus, because of the way this lid is designed, expect the contents of the pot to get hotter quicker.
Tuxton rated it to heat from 80°F to 160°F in 24 minutes. This, however, will vary significantly based on the circulator you opt to cook with. The Tuxton Home stainless steel stock pot is wonderful, I love it and have had no major problems with it. However, I did notice that the stainless plug that is included when you are not cooking with it in sous vide can sometimes get a bit hot. Be aware if you are going to handle it after cooking; It may very well have gotten too hot and you could get burned.
Overall, I am very pleased to own one of these cooking utensils in my kitchen. It has multiple uses, however, I only use mine for sous vide purposes. It is shipped and sold with a custom wire rack for food organization, but also conforms around the space your circulator needs unlike the standard ones sold on Amazon. To sum up my review, I must say that the Tuxton Home sous vide pot is a wonderful 2-gallon water bath option, that if you can afford it, you should get one! The custom cutout for circulators is a wonderful feature to have and more companies should adopt this as a standard. Thankfully, this pot does not need to be a sous vide only product, so feel free to make soups, sauces, or anything in it as well.
