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Sunbeam Duos Sous Vide MU4000
Caveat emptor
Using the slow cooker mode, I half filled this pot with warm water from the tap at about about 40 degrees C. After 4 hours on "low" it had stabilised with the water at a temperature of about 77.5 degrees C. This was fine, but I then switched the machine off and immediately back on again to a "high" setting. After 1.5 hrs on high, with the water having started at 77.5 degrees C, the water in the put had dropped to 75 degrees C. My other crock pots don't do this and they achieve their working temperatures somewhat more quickly under the same test conditions.
Purchased in April 2021.
1 comment
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Happy User.Victoria
- 2 reviews
- 2 likes
Terrible for slow cooking!
Worst slow cooker I have ever bought. After 8 hours on slow cooking the meat is just starting to be tender on Hi setting. Can't alter settings unless you turn it off. Never again Sunbeam back to Breville.
Purchased in November 2021 for A$98.00.
1 comment
Customer C.Sunbeam
Hi Happy User, from the sound of this it may be the thermostat. I would suggest to return to your store of purchase as it is under warranty.
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Mortbrisbane
- Verified purchase
Not really happy with this......
I purchased one of these last month as I want to try sous vide and I must say I'm new to the sous vide world so this does the job for me for now. I will be replacing it in next year once I get enough experience for one of the higher end circulating sous vide's.
BUT as a slow cooker and I have a lot of experience with this style of cooking the MU4000 is absolutely useless, I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy as a slow cooker as it takes NOT 6-8 hours to slow cook a roast on LOW of any type but up to and beyond 16-20 hours. I have also ...Read more
tried to cook a roast on HIGH for 3-4 hours and it was basically just getting warmed. I think Sunbeam needs to spend a little more time with the slow cooker side of this device BUT as a sous vide for anyone starting in the game I highly recommend it.
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Find out how Sunbeam Duos Sous Vide MU4000 compares to other Slow Cookers
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CarynDarwin
- 6 reviews
- 1 like
Healthier and more efficient meals
Always wanted to try Sous Vide cooking and glad we bought this product. Meal prep is a breeze and we cook a weeks worth of meals at a time and refrigerate until ready to cook. And by cook I mean a quick grill to add heat and colour. Vegetables cooked in portion control serves has us eating healthier and with less waste.
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jondoBrisbane, Queensland
- 23 reviews
- 1 like
It cooks stuff ... slowly
This machine is OK, the sous vide function does seem to get the job done, although lacks the ability to circulate the water so the temperature across the food is not consistent, although I have no complaints. The slow cooking function doesn't really seem to work as well as the traditional slow cooker - it just doesn't get hot enough to properly cook the food - e.g. a pea and ham soup left on for 2 days didn't really go to that "perfect" consistency that I got with the old sunbeam and it's stone pot.
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VVCCMelbourne
- 6 reviews
- 2 likes
temperature is 2-3C off
I bought this when I started sous vide cooking, thought it wouldn't harm to get an entry level machine, but I was wrong on saving a few dollars... The temperature is never the same as the hand held meat thermometer I use, and it's kind of frustrating to always have to manually adjust the temperature to counter its inaccuracy, which kind of muck up the whole idea of SV.
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ClairePerth, WA
- 16 reviews
Slow cooking is too slow .
This device seems to work fine as a rudimentary Sous Vide machine and keeps the temp fairly constant but has no way of circulating the water which is fine at this price point .
The big disappointment is the ridiculously slow slow cooking . After it took 2 days to cook a stew I decided to drop a temp probe in to find that it only ever gets to 83c when in slow cooker mode . You are actually better off putting it in Sous Vide mode and setting the temp for 90c which is unfortunately as high as it will go . You will never see this thing get to anyw...Read more
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Cat
- 4 reviews
I've used better
I'd prefer to have visible temperature ranges on this machine so I could better fine-tune cooking with this slow cooker. I'm not very experienced using them and found that the settings on the machine don't really match up with slow cooker recipes I've seen so it's taken a lot of trial and error to cook things well. I think I'd buy another model if I could go back in time as I've left food cooking while I'm at work and had to come home and finish cooking things in the oven which contradicts the whole point of buying this
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thubleau2Hunter Region, NSW
- 47 reviews
- 1 like
- Verified purchase
Works as it should
The interesting thing I found here are the comments about the temperature on this machine.
Maybe Sunbeam got sick of addressing peoples queries because now you cannot see the temperature fluctuations on this latest edition 2016/2017.
i think this is a good thing because some people tend to worry and fret about things too much.
trust me the temperature is fine, the machine heats to the selected temperature and gives you three rings when its done.
Now you add your product .
next be careful, if you dont press the start again your cooking ti...Read more
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Find out how Sunbeam Duos Sous Vide MU4000 compares to other Slow Cookers
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HaradaFar North Queensland, QLD
- 3 reviews
slow cooker useless
sous vide was ok but tried the slow cooker twice and after 9 hours on high I had to remove and finish on stove top on low forget it only gets warm returned for full refund.Billy Guyatts were great to deal with and there was no issue wit a full refund
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You Have to Trust It - 2
Following my last review I have now cooked steak and salmon. As noted originally forget the built in temperature display, it is reading air temperature underneath the water bath, and not the water bath temperature. Water can never fluctuate in temperature as quickly as the in built temperature display does. If you have purchased a Sous Vide you would have a digital thermometer for food already, if by some reason you haven't spend $10 to get one and use this in the water. The machine actually controls temperature surprisingly well. So the steaks...Read more
were perfect, cooked medium at 61o for 1 hour then lowered temp to 56o and cooked medium rare for another hour, perfect. Cooked salmon at 55o for 40 minutes, again perfect. As for the slow cooker, forget the slow cooker mode, it does not work. Simply set the Sous Vide mode to up to 90o for "high" for as long as you need to slow cook and redice to 70o if you want slow. Forget the machine and modes, it is just time and temperature, use your own thermometer and timer, that's what you get for $120 but it works great.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
Adam
- 7 reviews
- 10 likes
A good starting point
Overall I'm happy with this sous vide. Given the price of the Anova these days, I'd probably go for that (actually I'm considering getting one to allow for cooking larger items).
There are a lot of reports on here about temperature fluctuations. I've experienced the exact same thing. However, whenever I check it with my instant read thermometer it is within 1/2 a degree of the set temperature. I have no idea why the display temperature is so wrong - this is my biggest gripe with the machine, but weirdly if you trust your settings, it will wo...Read more
rk. The other drawback is that the tub is quite small. You have to be creative to fit larger steaks in here if you want them vertical (imagine toast in a toaster). You can't really fit larger items like a shoulder of lamb, so cooking for more than 4 is a bit of a challenge (you could probably fit 6 steaks in there if they were the right shape). This machine also does not circulate the water with a pump, so it relies on convection to move the heat around. Water is an excellent conductor of heat, so I'm not overly worried. But, if you put cold water in and let the sous vide heat it up, it's possible you'll end up with a temperature variation or even a thermocline. My trick is to fill the tub with hot water. From my tap it is around 56C so it also saves warm up time and avoids the temperature variation problem (just remember to give the water a whirl to even out the temp if you need to add more hot or cold). The 1 hour timer problem has never bothered me. I just set it to 5 hours usually and take it out when I'm ready. The beauty of sous vide cooking is that overcooking by 30mins or even an hour is usually no big deal. You'll actually end up with worse results if you use the timer because it shuts off the heat, meaning if you don't take it out at exactly that time you'll end up with cold food! So the timer issue, really isn't.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
Ross Elliotmotueka
- 4 reviews
- 1 like
- Verified purchase
Don't do it! Get a Sansaire or Anova or similar.
Haven't tried it as a slow cooker, but it is a disaster at sous-vide. The temperature fluctuates all over the place +/- 3 deg. The timer cannot be set to less than one hour, which I need to be able to do when cooking for 1.One of the worst buying decision I have ever made.
1 comment
Brendan K.Sunbeam
Hi Ross,
I do apologise for the issues you encountered with one of our Sunbeam products. Your feedback is much appreciated and will be passed onto the product team. ... Read more
Kind Regards SunbeamSimilar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
Andre PMelbourne
Literally threw it out the back door after giving it a second chance!!!
I've had 2 other slow cookers over the years and the best thing about this one was the sound it made hitting the concrete. Both times after prepping for 2 hours hard to get ingredients the food turned up barely warm and on hi after 8 hours just started steeming. poor product
1 comment
Brendan K.Sunbeam
Hi Andre P,
I do apologise for the issues you encountered with one of our Sunbeam products. Your feedback is much appreciated and will be passed onto the product team. ... Read more
SunbeamSimilar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
MarkFMordialloc
- 2 reviews
- 6 likes
Absolute garbage!
I desperately wanted to like this device. I wanted it to work, and I wanted to jump on this site and give it a good review. But the simple fact is you cannot polish a turd! Sous Vide cooking is dependent on control of cooking temperature to within half a degree, the fact that the Sunbeam machine only allows increments of one degree should have been my first warning. If it had been capable of at least managing that I would have been happy, but this machine is an absolute joke. After multiple failures with "medium rare" steaks coming out medium I...Read more
started monitoring the water with several different calibrated thermometers and the results confirmed my suspicions. In a typical cycle the water temperature usually deviates from the display temperature by up to 5 degrees Celsius, and there is only a cursory correlation between those measurements and the one you enter into the control pad. (For the engineers among you poor calibration is only half the problem....the PID, assuming it even has one, doesn't appear to even come close to being tuned properly let alone implementing basic features like derivative kick). There's a common saying: "You get what you pay for". With the Sunbeam Sous Vide cooker you don't even get that.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
Find out how Sunbeam Duos Sous Vide MU4000 compares to other Slow Cookers
Know better, choose better.
alexg81Adelaide
- 11 reviews
- 1 like
Better than it would have you believe!
This is a fantastic entry point into the world of Sous Vide cooking and a good buy at twice the price!
First of all I'll address the elephant in the room - temperature precision...
It's significantly more accurate than the control panel/display would have you believe. At least my one is!
I was concerned about the temperature control after reading several reviews and was disappointed to see my new machine exhibit similar tendencies on the display...however having checked it with instant read thermometer I can confirm that my Duos holds te...Read more
mp within half a degree of target throughout the cook. It is baffling and disconcerting that the display temp swings by several degrees up and down thru the process but testing actually shows this not to be the case - go figure! Normally that oversight would disqualify an appliance from a 5 star review for me but the cost of the unit is so low (sub $200) for what this thing does - AND it doubles as a conventional slow cooker!Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
John the Pom
- 2 reviews
- 4 likes
Rubbish. Spend your money more wisely. Buy a real one.
Sous vide is supposed to be about precision temperature control. This model does not comply. First, when you set the target temperature it will overshoot by two degrees celcius before the start beeps. Then, when loaded, it will fall to less than three and sometimes four degrees below the target temperature. This goes up and down over the cooking period, but averages three degrees below the desired temperature. That is a temperature inaccuracy of five to six degrees. At best that is the difference between medium and well done. At worst, it is the difference between sterile food and food rife with salmonella. This is my second unit. I sent the first one back. Both performed exactly the same. Waste of money.
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MefistofeleVictoria
- 24 reviews
- 2 likes
A worthwhile extravagance!
I had been hearing professional chefs talking about "sous vide" cooking for years and eventually my curiosity could stand it no more, so I took to Google to find out what it was all about, Having initially come from a French chef in the mid-seventies it has certainly taken it's time to get to Australian domestic kitchens. However, it now explains how over the years I have had some of the juiciest and most evenly cooked meats at some restaurants. I think "sous vide" cooking is suitable for people who participate in the Italian Slow Food Moveme...Read more
nt, not for busy Mums trying to get out half-a-dozen meals for her kids in record time. While this unit does represent good value for money, there are now other units on the market, that compete. Online department stores and electrical shops are now stocking "sous vide" appliances more often, so the choice of unit and functions for under $150 has suddenly increased. It needs to be noted, that to use the "sous vide" correctly you also need a vacuum food sealer, which uses disposable plastic bags. So there is an additional expense in buying that unit and the plastic bags, but lookout for some retailers who are selling the "sous vide", the vacuum sealer and a supply of bags for a bundled price, to get the best bargain. I find the most efficient use of the "sous vide" is to buy meat in bulk, divide it up into meal size portions, vacuum bag it, cook it all at once, let it cool and then freeze it until required. All my red meat is cooked to medium rare and after thawing, just require a couple of minutes on a grill before serving. Cooked boneless chicken thighs are fantastic to add in a curry after thawing, a couple of minutes before serving and so on. The second function of the unit, as a "Slow Cooker" is really the same as any other type of slow cooker, but because of the large sized non-stick cooking bowl, it makes it suitable for slow cooking whole joints of meat, like a leg of lamb or a rib eye roast etc. In conclusion, I find my Sunbeam Sous Vide to be useful in certain specific circumstances, but it's not something I use very often, despite the amazing culinary results that can be achieved.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
KomunicateSydney
- 6 reviews
- 5 likes
Brilliant for the money - entry level sous vide
Hopefully this helps some of you out there. Firstly, it's $160. Hard to beat that for a sous vide. It heats water to a set temp for a set time, that's it. There is no water circulation - this is why it's so cheap. The Breville equivalent is $800, twice the size and circulation which is what a sous vide is meant to do. I would have liked the Breville as everything in my house is Breville - but couldn't justify the extra money, counter space, storage space it required.
For the size I think this is great for 2 people / 2 meals.. You might sque...Read more
eze fours serves into it but it's not going to be great for parties or large families. I also considered to Anova sous vide stick - but the iPhone app for that doesn't appear in the Australia iTunes store, so be careful if you plan on buying that to use with your iPhone, it did look like it would fit my price point and storage requirements and it does circulate, this will likely be my next purchase when I upgrade and I will Ebay the sunbeam sous vide now I know how to use it and cook some great sous vide meals. The Anova simply lets you turn any large pot into a sous vide. And that brings me to why I rate this 4 stars.. I've only cooked fish and lobster in it - and it was amazing. Best fish and lobster I have ever made. A $160 spent to see if a sous vide was worth the fuss - and it is, and this unit proved that pretty well for minimal outlay. Circulation would be good to have but from what I can tell only really needed for larger quantities to ensure even temp around the entire food parcel. Also recommend using the vacuum seal food saver appliances from sunbeam or Breville, I already had one so it was easy to start with, don't know if I trust a zip lock bag, and I think the air pockets would make the bag float.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
DarkfalzCanbera
- 17 reviews
- 16 likes
One of the best appliances I've bought
I'd been wanting to try Sous Vide for a while. I can cook a decent steak but I frequently err on the side of over-cooked with meat because of fear of under-cooking. This was cheaper than other Sous Vide machines and it was on special so I figured it was time to try. First thing I cooked was a porterhouse steak. Set it to 56 degrees and put it in for one hour. Took it out, gave it a salt and pepper seasoning, and then did both sides for about 10 seconds on a very hot griddle with a small amount of oil. First go, best steak I've ever made and clo...Read more
se to the best I've tasted. Melt in the mouth. Have since done salmon, chicken breast and lamb backstrap all with great results. Chicken breast especially gives me hope of delicious yet healthy meals to come. Moist with no stringiness at all. The fact it doubles as a slow cooker is a bonus, although slow cookers can be had for about $30 (albeit without even the limited programmability of this unit) so it's nice to have a second unit (you can do a main and dessert at the same time, or two dishes). One minor gripe - the manual talks about "hold time" but after the programmed cooking time is done, the unit turns off (and the temperature will start to drop). So if you want to use this holding time, you need to set the time for greater than you need to include any extra/holding time. Another gripe, but nothing to do with this unit, is that doing meat and vegetables at the same time is not generally possible due to different temperatures required. That's not such a problem as the long water bath gives me plenty of time to do the sides separately on the stove or steamer, but I'd be interested to try vegetables in the machine too. For the previous reviewer, I tested the temperature with milk thermometer and it's spot on. It does what it's supposed to do. Makes cooking meat perfectly very easy. Maintains a steady temperature. Some more programmability would be good, ability to set hold time or change time during cook without resetting.1 comment
A follow up. I still use it regularly. It's great for chicken. I do 6 breasts at a time, individually sealed with just a bit of salt, and freeze them. I can defrost it (overnight in refrigerator) week... Read more
s later and it's still succulent and perfect for either sandwiches, salad or pasta (careful to only reheat it, not cook it too much more). It's important to use the rack to keep servings separate as there is nothing in there circulating the water other than heat. I'm a bit less enthusiastic about sous-vide steak than I was. It's a different texture, and probably depending on the cut, can be better or worse than a really hot griddle. Still superb for chicken, fish and other meats that are easy to overcook. Also great for eggs, although these tend to be done in under an hour so you will need to time these manually. An ideal sous-vide would be able to drop to a second, lower holding temperate after cooking time and it's a big shame this doesn't have that functionality. The slow cook setting is strange - low on this unit is very low (vegetables still have bite after 8+ hours) so it's very different to my cheap slow cooker. I haven't tried it on high, but if high is somewhere between low and high on my other unit, that would probably be a preferred setting. This "lower than low" setting is excellent for sago or rice pudding though. So it is not a great slow cooker. Also, I noticed some comments on the temperature. Yes, the unit typically heats up hotter than your set temperature when you are preparing it. I suspect this is intentional because as soon as you add your cool/room temperature package, the temperature is going to drop significantly. Perhaps it would be useful if they mentioned this in the manual. Once you actually operate it, it doesn't go over again - but for me, tends to hover about 2 degrees under. So I usually set it slightly higher to begin with, 1 degree or so.Similar opinion? Write a review on ieatwords.com.au!
Questions & Answers
AMyrasked
Can you set decimals, as for instance 82,2 degrees Celsius?
Amelia Clarkeasked
Does this have a delayed start function?
3 answers
no
no it just has a timer and a temperature setting .Once the temperature is reached the machine beeps twice and then you have to press the start button again to set the timer in motion.
No, but nor does any other unit that I have heard of. The reason being that it takes a considerable time to heat the water to the desired temperature, and some cooking will start during this time which will alter the end result.
Sandraasked
Can I brown on the cook top before using the sous video on the slow cooking option? Thank you.
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Customer C.Sunbeam
Hi John,
Thank you for your valuable feedback. I will be sure to pass this onto product team. If you have kept your receipt please return to the store of purchase.