My Brother-in-law is a professional chef and he was researching a lot about Molecular Gastronomy.  One night after dinner he was telling me about some of the techniques. I had seen a couple of Sous Vide machines out there so I said I’d make him one.

I used a Diavolino since I had a couple lying around and I wasn’t going to need the usb port for logging anyway. A few buttons and a big power switch was all thats needed for the front panel. My first prototypes are  always a bit large. This one is no different. I used a 6X6X6 electrical box from Lowes.

I quickly bread-boarded the circuit using an LCD Keypad Shield and a dallas temperature sensor.

Look’s like room temperature to me so it’s time to continue the build.

I got everything mounted in the box. Just have to make labels for the buttons.

The lcd Shield was bolted to the front panel using some 2-56 hardware but the diavolino would pop off the back if you slammed it down on the counter hard enough so I made a small bracket on the 3D printer to hold the board in place. While I was at it I made a nice Bezel for the LCD display.

Another 3D printed clip to hold the wall wart to the side of the case. I used a small heat sink on the SSR but it rated for 260V @ 50Amps so it doesnt even get warm with a crock pot or rice cooker connected.

The back Panel is simple enough too. another 3D printed bushing for the outlet.

So far he’s made chicken cutlet and a poached egg. Please don’t ask which came first. It was the egg…

Next is pork chop or steak. I’ll be back when its a lamb chop.

The basic PID controller is pretty good once calibrated. I plan to use a modified version in a reflow oven made from a toaster. I just have to swap the dallas sensor for a thermocouple and Max6675 I2C chip.

This same setup should be good for coffee roasting, BBQ smokers and a few other ideas I have….

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