Sous Vide Immersion Cooker

This is the most difficult part of the project. For your cooker to be sturdy, water-resistant, and decent looking, the mounting holes must be cut precisely. I used a CNC laser cutter I have access to at work, but with a steady hand you can achieve the same results using a rotary tool like a Dremel.

Download and print the cutting template from Files (after Introduction). This template matches the heaters, controller, and switches I used, so you’ll need to adjust the shapes and sizes if you use different parts.

Following the template, cut out the 3 holes for the immersion heaters on one side of the acrylic container, near its base.

Mark and cut the small oval-shaped hole for the water pump power cord and a circular hole for the thermocouple

Follow page 2 of the template to mark and cut openings in the lid of the container for the controller, switch, and power cord.

Cut the power cord off each heater, leaving an 8" tail of wires from each coil end.

Using your hobby knife, scrape the flat sides of the heater handles to remove the lettering and flatten the circular rim where it meets the cord.

Fit all 3 heaters into their holes in the container, such that the coils stick out and line up. Your finger should be able to fit through all 3 coils at once. Trim the holes if needed to make the heater handles fit snugly.

Caulk a fully waterproof seal around the heater handles on the outside of the enclosure and let dry overnight. For added strength, add hot glue over the caulk after it’s dried. The hot glue only needs 5 minutes to dry before continuing.

Cut a 7"×2" rectangle out of ¼" acrylic. The cut sides don’t have to be perfect as long as the rectangle dimensions are approximate. Use a rotary cutter to rout a shallow recess that’s the same shape and size as the nut for your eye bolt, centered at one end, as shown on page 3 of the template. Drill a ¼" hole through the center of the recess for the eye bolt to pass through.

It’s time to bend the acrylic sheet. Clear a countertop near your stove, put a bowl of cold water within reach, and mark the bend point lines from the template onto the acrylic.

If your countertop is too thick or thin for this process, you’ll need to bend the sheet around a hard, stable object, approximately 2" thick, such as a 2×4.

Turn one of the front burners on high, hold the undrilled end of the acrylic with an oven mitt, and place the drilled end with bend lines a few inches above the burner, moving the acrylic around and turning it to heat both sides. If it begins to form small bubbles, move it away from the heat a little. When the acrylic starts to curl away from the heat, it’s ready to bend.

With the recess for the nut facing outward, bend the acrylic around the edge of the counter (or other object) approximately along the marked lines to form a “J.” While in place, press the middle segment of the J against the edge of the countertop to make it flat. Immediately drop the acrylic into cool water so that it holds its form.

Position the middle segment of the J bracket against the heater side of the enclosure, with the bracket’s nut side aligned along the enclosure’s rim. This is how you’ll bolt these 2 pieces together. Mark and drill two 1" holes through the bracket and 2 matching holes in the enclosure. Check that the 4-40 machine screws fit through both pairs of holes.