The beauty of an immersion circulator is it’s ability to hold the temperature of a water bath at a precise and stable temperature all the while circulating the water. The implications of being able to cook at such specific temperatures are vast and far reaching. Some of the best examples are eggs. But none of this matters if your circulator isn’t accurate.
I’ve suspected my circulator needs to be calibrated after a couple of run-ins with overcooked eggs. I tried making a crème anglaise which came out of the circulator broken. I also haven’t had much luck making sous vide scrambled eggs. Both recipes (from trusted sources) seemed to be cooked at too high of a temperature. So I set out to learn how to calibrate my immersion circulator.
I use the PolyScience Sous Vide Professional. These specific instructions are for that model, but the overall concept of how to calibrate a circulator will be the same no matter what make and model you are using. To make a long story short, you essentially make an ice water bath with a ton of ice. Let it sit for a few minutes and then put the circulator in the ice water. Turn the machine all the way down so it’s not heating. And then use the calibration function to calibrate the machine to either 32F or 0C. But here’s the long story…
To calibrate an immersion circulator:
- Combine two parts ice to two parts water by volume to create a large ice bath. About 3 to 4 quarts. Allow to sit for five minutes.
- Place the circulator in a tall and narrow container that will have just enough room for the circulator and the ice water.
- Pour the ice bath into the container with the circulator.
- Calibrate the machine to 32F or 0C.
To calibrate the PolyScience Sous Vide Professional:
- Unplug the power cord from the wall.
- Press and hold the menu button while plugging the machine back into the wall.
- Press the menu button repeatedly until the screen says “offset calibration”.
- Use the up and down buttons to change the offset.
- Press the menu button again to exit the calibration mode.
- Never try and use a home thermometer to calibrate an immersion circulator. Most circulators have more accurate thermometers then home thermometers.
- I found it easiest to calibrate the PolyScience on celsius as apposed to fahrenheit. I could only get the offset calibration to show up in celsius.