ChefSteps Reviews 1,200

For the second year in a row, I have been charged despite cancelling my subscription. I have now had to cancel my credit card to prevent further charges. There was no email notification or warning—just money taken from my account. This is extremely disappointing, and judging by similar complaints from others, this appears to be a recurring issue.

I had a subscription for one year and got nothing out of it. When the renewal came, I rejected the renewal request. Unlike most subscription services, ChefSteps actually fought to keep my money!!! Since I didn't save my email, they win! How low!!

By far the best content out there. So much love and dedication to the craft. An inspiration

This company developed the App to manage Sous Vide devices but for over 6 years end-users have asked for them to add a simple function of being able to add details about "manual" cooking (ie. not using their recipes). I tried to reach out via Messenger to their FB page and got a lame-ass BOT response pointing me to the same community forums that I found the 6-year old posts asking for the feature that went totally unanswered/ignored. What sort of company would ignore such a simple request. It's program that can be modified. End users at a minimum should get a TEXT FIELD added for notes on THEIR OWN COOKING so they can track variations/times/temperatures etc. with the outcomes. How is this not a valuable and useful, simple request and why is the company tone-deaf to a very reasonable user request???
And just to be clear, I LOVE the product (Breville Joule Turbo) and I just wish that the people that write and support the software it uses would respond to their customers with simple requests like this.

It was supposed to have a safe-guard where it turns off when the water is low. Well, it did not and my suis vide stopped working. I was offered a discount to buy a new one, but I find irrational to buy again something that breaks, so will go for another brands. No repair option given.

__________________________

On you reply, sorry, are you again suggesting you give me a discount to buy another one? then when it breaks (because it does) will you give me a discount to buy another one that will break again? and we will keep doing it?... sorry, you should have a descent warranty. Lost this client...

I missed the free trial subscription deadline and they charged my card. I emailed them the next day saying, I did not want to continue and could they refund me. They were very helpful and refunded me straight away.

failed after 1 year, has only been used +/- 20 times and nowhere to repair it.
Very very disappointed

I signed up and paid for a Studiopass membership a few days ago. Tried to login today and failed. Repeated attempts to reset the password have failed.
There is NO SUPPORT without logging in - that’s a great idea, ChefSteps!
No phone number of alternate way to get help.
A complete joke. I consider my money to now be lost and seriously question the integrity of the company for this kind of runaround. Completely unprofessional.

Broke after less than a year. Same problem many have had "critical error" after hitting start. The Chefsteps guys are super cool but this was not. I run an experiential kitchen and I liked that little unit. But all my other circulators have been around for years and they're still kicking. 250 down the drain and they'll fix it if i have "receipts". Yeah....sure.

It does everything I want and more. Yesterday our hot tub's heater died as the Christmas vacation started for most people, No way to get a replacement part, so Joule to the rescue - I put it in the hot tub, set it for 104F and in 2 hours it was up to temperature and now my baby's happy.

I brought a Joule sous vide cooker off Amazon and it was shipped with a US plug to the UK. The appliance malfunctioned after a couple of months and when I contacted Joule they offered me no compensation. This tells you everything about this business and the risk you take buying an appliance from them.

Grant, I trusted you when you offered a lifetime all-inclusive membership for a single payment. Now you tell me that you are reneging and breaking that trust. Yet, in the same breath, you want me to trust you again to the tune of $70/year. This, because, well, you didn't understand what you were doing in offering a lifetime membership.

No.

We conducted a business transaction, you and I. I upheld my end. Now you do the same. Those of us with a lifetime membership should be grandfathered in to Studio Pass. That is the only honorable thing to do. Failing that, I want a full refund.

I have recommended ChefSteps to scores of people.
At least 3 Joule's, shipping delays and all, have been purchased on my recommendation.
I have prepared and shared dozens of your recipes.
I have spent money at companies you recommended.

You started a business. That comes with risk. You don't just get to call a do-over. I started a business once--ran it for 5 years until it became obsolete. I lost my house as a result and had to explain that to my wife and children. I didn't get to tell my creditors: "Golly, I didn't know what I was doing. Can we just start over?"

If you want to be treated like an adult and be trusted like an adult, then you must act like an adult.

Your choice: Please grand father me into lifetime Studio Pass (terrible name, BTW), or issue me a full refund.

I bought a premium account that promised me access to all recipes on the website. Nowhere in the terms and conditions say that this would change. I now cannot access any recipes on the site. They are deceptive money grubbers. I want access to what I was promised, or a refund for the incomplete product.

The Joule works. The company Chefsteps however is what this review is based on. They are very deceptive. When I purchased the Joule several years ago you had to purchase a Premier lifetime membership to view all the recipes. I did. Since then almost all new recipes now require a a new membership level, Studio Pass. So what value doe the Premier membership now offer? Not much. And based on this experience why would anyone buy Studio Pass when no doubt it will be superseded by yet another more costly level. Avoid this deceptive company.

I have owned my Joule for over a year now, purchased directly from the site. I have a Chef background and it is clearly the best device in my kitchen. I use it 3 times a week or more, never any issues with the wifi or bluetooth connection, my Joule has been fantastic, I am thinking of purchasing another for myself and as a gift for friends this Christmas. Buy one.......

Love the Joule BUT now I cannot sign in. Says the password/email I always used is incorrect. Tried to reset password but got no email in response to multiple attempts.

There appears to be no other way to contact ChefSteps: no telephone number, no email address. So the Joule will no longer work as I cannot get into the app.

Unbelievable and extremely frustrating!

I have been using Joule since I received it as a Christmas gift last year. I have had no problems using it with WIFI but Bluetooth is sketchy...so I don't use it. I host the app on an iPhone. It has worked well. There is room for improvement but even my Apple Watch works to notify me when the water is heated and the food is done.

The good: The unit has been rock solid. It seems built well. It heats very quickly and the pump is quiet. I've had a great time experimenting but the app provides great guidance by prompting me to enter the type of food I'm cooking, then suggesting a temp and time. This removes most of the guesswork in learning how to cook using sous vide. One of my experiments involved cooking/smoking 4 pork shoulders first using sous vide then into the smoker. I used the Joule in an ice chest big enough to hold all 4 pork shoulders, cooked them for over 24 hours, then smoked them. Perfect...

The 'bad': Others have pointed to giving users the ability to program the unit manually. Add me to this list. It would be better if I could run it manually.

It works only with 2.4 GHz Wifi, it works more reliably than Bluetooth but it would be great if it worked with 5 GHz. Bluetooth is bad because connectivity is lost when the phone/app is beyond bluetooth range.

Also, it would be nice if it could be programmed and run from a web browser rather than relying on an app which must be updated and supported. My concern, ChefSteps had layoffs, some internal shakeups and perhaps could have gone out of business when Grant Crilly and a financier had differences. The reliance on an app which might stop working someday, could be unsupported and leave me with a useless paperweight causes me a little concern. It sounds like some users had trouble contacting support and getting help with their Joule during this period. Breville has acquired the company but still... now they've launched a $69/year subscription plan called "ChefSteps Studio Pass". I'm left wondering whether my continued use of the Joule and its app will be affected, watered-down if I choose not to buy into this new effort to generate revenue.

I like my Joule, it was a gift. If you're buying one for yourself, you may wish to consider these things before purchase.

Like the other reviewers mentioned, the product when it works is great but it doesn't appear to work 75% of the time. The other drawback is the unavailability to actually speak to someone about any problems. I'm so completely frustrated that I'm considering returning the item.

The best addition to my kitchen! My Sous vide has changed how I cook and I’m loving it! Also, their customer service is quick and amazing! I would truly recommend this to everyone (and I have! 😊)

From the App setting I read my new Joule's software is at verison 70.39. when I try to update it, the system noticed it was up to date. I opened tickets, but not any response.