Monoprice Sous Vide Immersion Cooker 800 & 1100 Watts Review

Monoprice sous vide immersion circulator review

Thinking of getting into sous vide cooking and looking for an inexpensive sous vide immersion circulator. Or perhaps you are looking to “double up” with another sous vide immersion circulation cooker so you can cook more food at once. Here we review the Monoprice Sous Vide Immersion Circulator to see how it compares with others sous vide machines on the market.

The Monoprice Sous Vide Immersion Circulator comes in black and silver with an adjustable clamp and digital LED Touch Screen. There are arguably two sous vide machine market leaders on the market – the Anova Sous Vide Immersion Circulator and the Joule by ChefSteps. The Monoprice is a cheaper alternative in a crowded market of mid priced options. It fares well in its mid priced category.

A quick refresher on sous vide cooking

In a nutshell, sous vide cooking involves putting food into sealed plastic or vacuum sealed bags, which are then placed in a bath of water. The food is then heated at a consistent low temperature with the water being circulated by the sous vide cooker.

The result is food that is juicier and more tender, sealing in all of the foods’ nutrients, which are often lost when you use ordinary cooking methods.

Want to learn more about sous vide cooking? Check out our FAQ or Start here section to learn more.

Key Features of the Monoprice Sous Vide Immersion Circulator


Here are the features of the Monoprice Immersion Circulator:

  • +41 ~ +212°F (+5 ~ +100°C) temperature range
  • 800 watts maximum cooking power
  • ±1% temperature stability
  • 2.25 gallons (8.50 liters) per minute circulation pump
  • 4.0 gallon maximum bath size

Key Monoprice features include:

  • Digital LED touch screen – which makes it easy to set the cooking temperature and time so you can cook your favorite foods to perfection!
  • Adjustable clamp – which allows the sous vide immersion circulator to attach to a wide variety of cooking pots from 2.6 to 4.0 gallons capacity
  • You can start or pause cooking by touching the start/pause button on the LED touch screen
  • The unit is easy to clean
  • Dishwasher safe – simply throw the stainless steel pump housing and water cap into a dishwasher, then reassemble the cooker when the parts have dried

The Monoprice sous vide immersion circulator is “WiFi-less”

The Monoprice sous vide immersion cooker is about half the price of the more expensive brands like the Anova Culinary Sous Vide Immersion Circulator and the Joule Precision Cooker by ChefSteps. This means it doesn’t come with loads of bells and whistles.

Photo credit: Anova Culinary Nano image from Amazon

This includes the fact that it does not come with wifi connectivity. But to be honest, many sous viders don’t love immersion circulators with wifi connectivity anyway.

So if that’s not your thing, then the lack of technology is not going to be a problem for you.

If you don’t want to spend the extra money on wireless features, this sous vide immersion circulator is perfect, great value and should be on your list of options to consider.

Some tried and true recipes used by sous viders with the Monoprice Immersion Circulator

Here’s a simple steak recipe for the Monoprice 1100W sous vide immersion circulator that one sous vider has tried with exceptional results:

  • Buy a 1 and 1/2 inch thick rib-eye steak
  • Set the temperature to 129F degrees
  • Set the timer to 2 and a half hours
  • The steaks come out a perfect medium-rare and have the perfect texture after searing it in a cast iron skillet with butter and rosemary

Others report huge success with pork shoulder steak sous vide recipes, prime rib recipes, roasts and soft boiled eggs.

Related content: To check out our range of curated sous vide recipes that you can use to cook with any immersion circulator click here.

Why sous viders like the Monoprice immersion circulator range

Here are just a few of the reasons that sous viders are enjoying the Monoprice sous vide cooker:

  • 800W heats a pot of water pretty quickly (and the 1100W makes that heating process even faster!)
  • It holds its temperature nicely
  • For most it works flawlessly, quietly and does the job with no fuss
  • Given operation is on the device itself, their is no pairing or trying to mess about with technology connectivity
  • Easily breaks down for cleaning with cleanable parts that are dishwasher safe
  • It’s an easy immersion circulator to set the temperature on
  • The temperature control on this unit seems to be extremely accurate
  • Sous viders love using the Monoprice with any set up ie in a pot, a larger plastic water container and even an igloo cooler for larger meal cook ups such as ribs

What about the cons of the Monoprice?

There are a few trade offs of the Monoprice immersion circulator when compared with other immersion circulators:

  • Some sous viders have found that their unit make a bit too much noise (this might mean you need to return it for a new unit as when working properly it is a pretty quiet device)
  • The instruction manual is quite sparse, with no recipes or cooking guidelines included
  • Some find that setting the time is a little fiddly
  • There’s no app to control if you like the idea of controlling your device via your smart device
  • Once the time hits the end of the cook, the alarm will go off until you pause and then unpause the unit (this is a minor niggle only)

Tips from those who have used the Monoprice Immersion Circulator

Tip 1. Finish off your sous vide steaks after your cook with by getting the grill hot and then as guests arrive opening up the food pouch, putting the steak on the 500 F grill for 60 seconds per side and voila! It is done!

Tip 2. Consider buying a Rubbermaid tub and lid at the same time (but you probably don’t need an insulation sleeve – the Monoprice is very good at holding the water bath temperature

Tip 3. Couple with with the LIPAVI C20L-AP Lid and the LIPAVI C20 (26 Quart) polycarbonate container. It works fantastically! The -AP suffix designates the lid style that matches the Monoprice model along with a few others accessories

Tip 4. You can use a pot as your water bath container, but you can also use a cooler as another cheap, sturdy and well insulated option.

Tip 5. Cook your steaks and let them cool in the bag. Then store them in your fridge for quick and easy steak and eggs morning

Tip 6. When cooking larger batches for family, get yourself a larger cooler and some sous vide water balls to cover the top of the water bath. The Monoprice can handle over 5 gallons of water with no issue

Tip 7. Make sure your hands are dry when you use any of the controls – if you have wet hands, it may not register your touch

So, is the Monprice sous vide immersion circulator for you?

Whilst the sous vide reviewer community is not as large for the Monoprice as it is for the Anova Culinary immersion circulator and the Joule Precision Cooker, the Monoprice (800 watts and 1100 watts) seems to be get great feedback from those who have used it.

It is often offered at a very competitive price point and does the trick if you are not after lots of bells and whistles like Wifi connectivity and Bluetooth.

Monoprice offers two sous vide immersion circulator versions:

Monoprice Immersion Circulator 800W

Monoprice Immersion Circulator 1100W

Monoprice 800W with a vacuum sealer

Monoprice Vacuum sealer

Related article: What to look for in a vacuum sealer 

Monoprice Sous Vide Immersion Circulator Warranty and Support

The Monoprice has a 1 year replacement warranty and they offer a 30-day money back guarantee as well. If the product you purchase does not satisfy your needs, you can send it back for a full refund.

Based on reviews we have been able to source, it at times sous viders do experience some quality issues with their Monoprice immersion circulators. This relates mostly to the unit working for a brief period of time only.

BUT, it also seems that Monoprice does have a pretty good customer service team too, so people are able to exchange faulty items or get their money back efficiently (some sous vide customer service teams are not so responsive!).

To see a range of Sous Vide Hub reviews on sous vide products, click here

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