KitchenBoss G320 Review
Our Verdict
Compare to Similar Products
This Product KitchenBoss G320 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Awards | Best Overall Sous Vide Machine | A Model with Excellent Circulation | Budget-Friendly with an App | ||
Price | $150 List $114.99 at Amazon | $130 List $99.99 at Amazon | $149 List $80.99 at Amazon | $100 List $49.77 at Amazon | $100 List $46.99 at Amazon |
Overall Score | |||||
Star Rating | |||||
Bottom Line | This sous vide offers stable temps and an intuitive interface at a more-than-fair price point | With its stellar circulation, it's no surprise that this budget-friendly model heats up quickly, and the large LCD screen is very easy to see | An overall excellent product that doesn't sacrifice much in performance and boasts the addition of an app | If you want to try out sous vide cooking without spending a ton of cash, this is a great choice | Offers exceptional performance for the price, though for a little extra cash you can get significantly more features |
Rating Categories | KitchenBoss G320 | Greater Goods Preci... | Anova Culinary Prec... | VPCOK Sous Vide Cooker | Wancle Thermal Imme... |
Temperature (40%) | |||||
Circulation (30%) | |||||
Ease of Use (30%) | |||||
Specs | KitchenBoss G320 | Greater Goods Preci... | Anova Culinary Prec... | VPCOK Sous Vide Cooker | Wancle Thermal Imme... |
Clamp/Mounts | Adjustable and removeable screw clamp | Fixed plastic clip | Fixed screw clamp | Removeable fixed plastic clip | Fixed spring clamp |
App Control | No | No | Yes | No | No |
Wattage | 1100W | 1100W | 750W | 1000W | 850W |
Our Analysis and Test Results
The powerful 1100-watt KitchenBoss G320 is great for beginners and experts alike. The adjustable and removable screw clamp is versatile, and the whole-body IXP7 waterproofing makes clean-up a breeze. The pre-programmed time and temperature settings coincide with a recipe book. It's made of food-grade stainless steel, and the TFT (thin-film-transistor) color screen is very easy to see.
Performance Comparison
Temperature
The temperature test has four parts: heat time, accuracy, stability, and recovery time. Offering a quick heating time and a stable temperature is imperative to a consistent cooking experience. The G320 heats up very quickly, takes a matter of seconds to recover from a cold piece of meat being placed in the water, and offers a very stable temperature throughout the cooking process.
The G320 reaches a piping 147 degrees from cold tap water, at 48 degrees, in 37 minutes. This is one of the fastest sous vides in our test suite, making your overall prep time significantly shorter. You can also delay the start time, which is a unique feature.
The accuracy is another area where this model exceeds expectations. We set each sous vice to 135 degrees and 147 degrees and measure the temperature seven times to calculate the discrepancy. The discrepancies range significantly from sous vide to sous vide, but the KitchenBoss comes in with a small average discrepancy of 0.18 degrees. This small temperature fluctuation reflects some of the best accuracies we've seen throughout our testing and is unlikely to negatively affect your end result.
Over the course of one hour, the G320 does not fluctuate at all, except for a few seconds when the food is initially added to the water. This is a near-perfect performance of temperature stability and ensures an evenly cooked meal. We tested the recovery time with the help of three frozen hamburger patties, each one weighing 135 grams. The G320 takes roughly 10 seconds to rise back up to the desired temperature of 147 degrees. This is incredibly efficient and most likely has a lot to do with the stellar circulation, which brings us to the next metric.
Circulation
A sous vide pulls water through its internal heating element, circulating the liquid in your container to ensure that it never rises above or falls below your desired temperature. We test circulation with the help of a few drops of food coloring.
Ten mL of diluted food coloring is injected into the bottom front left corner of the tub, using an aquarium hose fitted to a syringe tip to ensure minimal disturbance to the water. The G320 takes roughly 12 seconds to homogenize the color of the water bath completely. Anything around 10 seconds is very impressive.
Ease of Use
Our ease of use section focuses mainly on the interface and the attachment. While a clip may seem convenient, the screw clamps are much sturdier.
The G320 rocks a button and dial combination interface. The button starts and stops the sous vide while the dial adjusts the time and temperature. Having a start and stop button is a surprisingly unique feature that the G320 offers. You can also set a delay time so that the cooking starts hand-free.
The TFT (thin-film-transistor) color screen is very easy to see, and the screw clamp is durable and secure. The pre-programmed recipe feature is efficient and easy to use. It comes complete with 20 built-in recipes and five personal recipes that can be adjusted at your leisure. The waterproof rating makes clean-up as easy as a quick rinse and wipe-down. The dial is magnetic and works by turning smaller magnets inside the machine. Unfortunately, it doesn't turn without a hitch and tends to stick a bit. This is a small inconvenience considering the dial is built this way to improve its overall waterproofness.
Should You Buy the KitchenBoss?
High-quality products do not always need to cost an arm and a leg. The value of a product is determined by how its performance measures up to the price, and we must say that the G320 is a very valuable purchase. This sous vide falls somewhere in the middle, price-wise, and is our highest performer. It is versatile, accurate, waterproof, easy to use, efficient, and equipped with presets for your convenience. The only things it does not offer are Bluetooth capabilities and an app.
What Other Sous Vides Should You Consider?
Whether you are looking to make your kitchen experience less hands-on or you're on a mission to make the perfect filet mignon, the KitchenBoss G320 will get the job done. And, it's our highest scoring model in the fleet. If you are looking for an easy-to-use, reliable sous vide at a reasonable price, our first choice is the KitchenBoss G320.