Our professional thermocirculators for sous vide are very robust pieces of equipment, but they do need attention on a few points. One of these is cleaning, where over time if not done correctly, it can damage important items such as the pump that circulates the water.
In sous vide, food is vacuum-packed and then taken to the thermocirculator where it will be cooked. During cooking, it can happen that the packaging gets punctured, contaminating the water with food residue/fat (such as meat that leaks fat).
Because the pump circulates all the water in the equipment, it will also end up circulating the waste present in it. This is a problem in the medium to long term because the pump becomes contaminated with this waste, making water circulation more difficult (both because the waste is heavier and because it gets hotter) and, over time, the water pump could break down. Periodic cleaning of the equipment is therefore very important.
There is no precise answer to this question, as it will depend a lot on how the equipment is used and how “contaminated” the water is. What we suggest to our customers is to always check the state of the water, if it starts to visibly show a lot of grease, cleaning is indicated.
If, even after a period of use (e.g. 1 month), the water appears to be clean, cleaning is not necessary.
Now let’s get down to business. Cleaning is very simple, basically three steps.
First you need to remove all the dirty water from the equipment, here you can use the water drain valve.
Now it’s important to clean the tank to remove any residue from the walls/base of the thermocirculator. You can use a sponge (use the soft part of the sponge) with neutral soap. Afterwards, use a cloth to dry the tank.
Now you need to refill the thermocirculator with water. Here we have a very important observation, which is the process of removing the water from the thermo-circulator pump.
This process consists of opening the cap (on the side of the equipment) as soon as the water has been replaced in the tank so that the air that was in the pump can escape. Once the air has escaped, replace the cap so that the water in the tank goes to the pump and it is able to circulate the water.
Would you like to get in contact with Orved Brock to know more about our professional sous vide machines? Reach us via phone: +55 85 98793-6777, e-mail: vendas@orvedbrock.com.br or whatsapp.
