Rationale
I’m doing sous vide on a budget, because I don’t think you have to spend a bunch of money to get great results. My personal sous vide device of choice is the InstantPot AccuSlim v2, which sells for about $75 on Amazon, and is frequently discounted a few dollars. Good Housekeeping recommended it as the Best Value in a test of over 20 sous vide devices. An app-controlled sous vide device can cost $400 and up.
The InstantPot AccuSlim v2 doesn’t have WiFi or Bluetooth, and frankly who needs all that anyway? I just turn it on, set the temperature, and then set a timer on my phone. I also don’t have any dedicated sous vide containers. I just use pots that I already own. Who needs another giant single purpose thing cluttering up their cabinets?
But what does come in handy for longer cooks is a lid to reduce the amount of evaporation. I could have just forked over a few dollars for a dedicated sous vide lid from Amazon. They’re not terribly expensive–around $10. But I figured, why not just 3D print my own lid? So I did. It’s not only cheaper, it fits the 9 inch Emeril All-Clad pot that I already own, and it’s sized exactly to fit MY sous vide device.
There’s a 1/4 inch hole in the middle in case you want to attach a knob. So far I haven’t found the need for one.
Filament choice
At a minimum, I suggest printing with PETG, which has a glass transition temperature of 80C / 176F. That should be plenty to handle dishes that cook low and slow, like this Sous Vide Brisket Recipe that cooks for 36 hours at 68C. If you’re cooking something hotter, chances are you’re not cooking for extended times, so evaporation is less of a concern. But should you want your lid to handle temperatures hotter than 80C, Overture ASA is a solid choice, with a glass transistion temperature right around 100C. As always, check the specs of your particular filament brand.
Print Times/Settings
You’re going to need a bigger printer like the Prusa XL to print this design, as it’s designed to fit a 9 inch pot. My trusty Prusa Mk3 was JUST too small with its 9.8x8.3 inch bed.
I printed my lid with a 0.6mm nozzle. Using a smaller nozzle results in mimimal quality improvement on this design. I used 15% infill, which is plenty.
This design uses between 145 and 150 grams of filament, depending on your nozzle size and slicer settings. I printed my design using Overture black PETG Filament that I purchased on Amazon. At $14.99 a kilo, this lid cost me about USD $2.25 to print. If you print it using ASA Filament expect filament costs closer to $3.75. (Prices were accurate at the time of writing this blog).
If it’s not obvious, print this design with the top of the lid face down on the build platform, and as usual this design requires no supports.
| Printer | Print Time |
|---|---|
| Prusa XL (0.4mm nozzle/0.3mm layer height) | 5 hr 37 min |
| Prusa XL (0.6mm nozzle/0.4mm layer height) | 4 hr 19 min |
| Prusa XL Input shaping (0.4mm nozzle/0.2mm layer height) | 4 hr 28 min |
| Prusa XL Input shaping (0.6mm nozzle/0.32mm layer height) | 3 hr 12 min |
Downloads
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How To Support Me
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