How to Clean Anova Sous Vide? Detailed Guide for Beginners

When you’re cooking proteins like a flaky and buttery-soft salmon or a medium-rare steak, you can’t really think of anything better than the Anova Sous Vide.

Anova comes with highly efficient devices that need to go under regular maintenance like any other kitchen appliance to keep its efficiency at its peak.

Cleaning is the key part when it comes to the maintenance or TLC of your kitchen companions like the Anova Sous Vide. There are several ways to clean this immersion circulator.

In this article, we’ll not only guide you on its cleaning methods but also answer all the possible questions you could have regarding it. So let’s start!

Why Should I Clean My Sous Vide?

Simply, you should be cleaning your Anova Sous Vide to keep its heating unit working efficiently.

With frequent use, there will be mineral buildups on different portions of the device. The main reason for these buildups is the deposits from the tap water, which tend to get heavier day by day, and at one point, they halt the spinning impeller from working properly.

So, to maintain the operating efficiency of the circulator or sous vide, it requires a periodical cleaning.

How Often to Clean Your Anova Sous Vide?

Anova Sous Vide isn’t the kind of machine that you need to clean daily but they certainly require periodical cleaning. From personal experiences, we’ve found two scenarios when this sous vide needs a thorough cleaning.

If you use it frequently for cooking, you should clean it once a week as a routine task. Considering the lime buildup, stains, or murky water, you can adjust the time span accordingly.

Generally, a weekly cleaning should get you rid of all these. Besides, you should also see if the components lose their luster as this will also mark a perfect time for cleaning.

Another instance is when you encounter anything catastrophic such as getting any food dropped, the sous vide bag leaked, or an egg ruptured onto the machine.

These scenarios can happen anytime, and you should clean these unwanted things as soon as you notice them.

What Cleaning Products Can I Use For My Anova Sous Vide

Let’s get to what cleaning products you need to clean your Anova sous vide. It depends on the cleaning task you’re up to.

If you’re cleaning the skirt only, then you’ll need a mild cleaner like dish soap. But for cleaning buildups and getting your machine through a vinegar bath, you’ll require white vinegar or CLR solutions.

For cleaning the inside components, you’ll need a scrubber or toothbrush. Also, you’ll require a damp cloth to rinse in all cleaning methods. And finally, dry microfiber to get your machine dry after cleaning.

How Do You Take Apart an Anova?

You can take apart an Anova to access its internal components. Accessing these components may be required because of hard water or a leaking bag.

Follow the steps below to take its components apart or disassemble the unit:

At first, unplug the sous vide device from the electrical outlet
Now you need to take apart the steel skirt, but to make it easier, you’ve to take apart the adjustable clamp first
Wipe off the water and get it dry to have a better grip while removing the skirt
To finally remove the steel skirt, place one hand beneath its display screen and the other one in the middle of the skirt. Hold the upper half steady and apply a little force to rotate the skirt clockwise until it clicks a sound.
You can take apart the skirt from the upper half when you hear the clicking sound. Be careful that you don’t hit its impellers against the steel skirt.
You can also take apart the clear end cap at its bottom by rotating the cap counterclockwise.
Now lay the head of the machine down on a delicate surface to make sure the impeller doesn’t jostle.
Finally, the skirt and its bottom cap should be free.

How To Clean Anova Sous Vide Machines? 4 Easy Steps to Follow

Now coming to the main part — to clean your Anova Sous Vide Machine. There are several ways you can do that. We’ve got four types of cleaning tasks for your Anova sous vide machine based on your cleaning desires. These include:

Cleaning the Skirt
Vinegar Bath
Cleaning the Insides
Cleaning the Display

Before you apply any of these cleaning procedures to your Anova Sous Vide, make sure to follow the tips below.

Always follow the instruction manual that comes from the manufacturers
Do not use any toxic or harsh chemicals as a cleaning agent
Find and get a cleaning agent with antibacterial properties

Check out all these methods down below and see which one’s the easiest for you and meets your cleaning requirements.

1. Clean Separate Components

When we say cleaning the separate components, we mean taking the skirt and end cap of your Anova sous vide apart and washing them individually.

For that, what you’ve to do is:

Remove the steel skirt and its end cap at the bottom by following the disassembly method discussed earlier in the article
Now take the steel skirt and the end cap to place them in the dishwasher carefully or wash them in the sink using a mild antibacterial soap.

2. Applying Vinegar Bath

Taking your sous vide machine to go through the vinegar bath is the most effective cleaning method for such kitchen appliances, especially for cleaning build-ups.

You should apply this cleaning method when you see black, brown, or green color buildups. The color of the buildup varies according to the mineral deposits coming from water pipes and sources.

It’s a pretty straightforward method, and you can do it in the following way:

Make a white vinegar solution in a pot by diluting an equal amount of water and white vinegar
Place your Anova sous vide in that pot
Connect your Anova Precision Cooker to an electrical outlet and turn it on
Now heat the liquid on the pot by setting up the machine temperature to 140F or 60C
When your machine reaches the temperature, complete the cleaning procedure

3. Cleaning Internal Components

You should clean the inside components of the Anova Precision Cooker to maintain its efficiency. At least once in a while. You can clean them in the following way:

Make sure you can access the components such as impeller, circulator, shaft, heating coil, and sensors.
These components will need scrubbing, and you’ve to use a toothbrush to scrub these components with a mild liquid cleaner.
Don’t bend the impeller shaft while cleaning; otherwise, it can rub and misfit against the steel skirt after reassembly.
Once scrubbing is done, rinse all the components with a damp cloth

4. Cleaning the Display

The display of your immersion circulator is an important part that needs regular cleaning. It’s also probably the easiest one to pull off. The steps to clean the display of the Anova Sous Vide include:

Dampening a soft microfiber cloth
Wiping the display thoroughly and gently
Finally, dry it up gently using a dry microfiber cloth

What To Do If A Sous Vide Bag Leaks

Seeing your sous vide bag leaking could be really frustrating. It can accidentally happen since all food ingredients produce juice, and if there’s a hole in the pouch, your sous vide bag could well be leaking.

Now coming to what you should do when faced with such an incident. It mostly depends on how early you notice the problem.

If you notice it early enough, you can transfer the contents of the food pouch to another one, rinse your circulator machine, change the water, and resume your cooking again. You may still notice a change in the flavor or texture, but it should be good enough to eat.

But if you delay noticing the leak in your sous vide bag, you’ve got some work to do. And if it’s delayed too much, you may have to throw the ingredients out of the bag and start over again.

Because in such cases, your food may have lost most of its flavor. In both scenarios, your sous vide machine will need a deep cleaning.

You’ve to sterilize it, get it through a vinegar bath, and wash its components properly to remove traces of juices.

Pro Tips While Cleaning Your Anova Sous Vide

Whether you’ve got an entry level sous vide or commercial sous vide, you need to ensure proper cleaning and maintenance for your device. Here we’ve got some pro tips to help your cause. Check them out below.

Practice regular cleaning after every use by simply wiping through the machine.
Descale once or twice a month or when you see an alarming mineral buildup.
Always use high-quality pouches for your sous vide and seal them properly. Also, make sure you don’t overfill them as it can lead to burst bags and end up in spoiled food and brown water.
In case of stubborn stains or buildups, the white vinegar solution mightn’t work properly, and you’ll probably need a heavily diluted Anova descaling solution such as a CLR solution.

Conclusion

To get the most out of your Anova Sous Vide cooker, it’s important to know its cleaning procedure. The mineral deposits or food stains can affect the performance of this immersion circulator.

So what you need is an appropriate and timely cleaning method to keep it in prime condition. In this article, we’ve covered some burning questions you could possibly have regarding how to clean Anova sous vide.

Moreover, we’ve dug into all the cleaning tasks and methods you should be adopting for the Anova Precision Cooker. We also cover some tips and techniques that can keep your machine working as efficiently as it was on the unboxing day!