Submersible circulator cooker
A sous-vide circulator cooker for home or small restaurant sous-vide cooking. The sous-vide circulator cooker is particularly suited for use in home kitchens and on small countertops. The sous-vide circulator cooker can be fully submersed into water and not be adversely affected. The sous-vide circulator cooker includes a detachable skirt which allows for cleaning the skirt itself and cleaning of a heater and ring clamp that can adjust the optimum output location of the pump and account for shallow pots. In at least one embodiment, the sous-vide circulator also contains electrodes that can detect water level.
1. A fluidic temperature control device for sous-vide cooking comprising:
an upper portion including a display and an input device coupled to a microprocessor controller;
a middle portion connected to the upper portion, the middle portion housing a temperature controller controlled by the microprocessor;
a lower portion removably connected to the middle portion, the lower portion housing:
a submersible fluid agitation device including an impeller and a motor, and
a heating element coupled to the temperature controller and positioned between the impeller and the motor,
the lower portion configured for at least partial immersion in a fluid and including a fluid intake opening above a fluid ejection opening enabling flow of the fluid past the heating element to the impeller and out of the device through the fluid ejection opening; and
a ring clamp that can be secured to the middle portion to allow vectoring and vertical height adjustment of the fluidic temperature control device.
2. The fluidic temperature control device of claim 1 , wherein the upper portion and middle portion are sealed, thereby preventing water entry, thereby protecting electronics, the display and other electrical devices within the fluidic temperature control device.
3. The fluidic temperature control device of claim 1 , wherein the agitation device is a submersible pump system.
4. The fluidic temperature control device of claim 1 wherein the impeller comprises a rotatable impeller blade.
5. The fluidic temperature control device of claim 1 , wherein the lower portion is composed of at least stainless steel, aluminum or plastic, and is removable without tools.
6. The fluidic temperature control device of claim 5 , wherein the lower portion contains slits or openings running along at least a portion of a length of the lower portion.
7. The fluidic temperature control device of claim 5 , wherein removal of the lower portion exposes the agitation device and heaters.
8. The fluidic temperature control device of claim 1 , where the middle portion has two adjustable electrodes configured to sense a water level.
9. The fluidic temperature control device of claim 1 , wherein the heating element is proximate the agitation device.
10. The fluidic temperature control device of claim 8 , wherein the electrodes have adjustable lengths to allow detection of different water levels.
11. The fluidic temperature control device of claim 1 , wherein the temperature controller is configurable to control the temperature of the heating element and is configurable to receive data inputs inputted via the input device, the inputs comprising control commands to control the temperature of the heating element.
12. The fluidic temperature control device of claim 1 , wherein the ring clamp can be a ring or semicircle, that allows the fluidic temperature control device to be secured to the container while allowing the fluidic temperature control device to be positioned vertically and turned.