Not an expert here. Only done a few things Sous Vide. The company I work for their Food Safety Team is not a huge supporter of this cooking style. They allow a couple kitchens to play with it while they come up with a safe process for it. But the kitchen I currently work in was able to purchase one. It is the PolyScience Sous Vide Professional Chef one. It is a model where we can attach it to just about any container. I will say this model has a very high water flow, actually a bit too much and usually tone it down a bit for the size of container we use.
Just tossing out ideas for a water flow method. What if you were to use a magnetic driven water pump for an aquarium for the circulation. Maybe use a cooler with two cambers, one for the food and another for the heater. Put the thermometer probe in the food chamber to be monitored. Another thought is to again use a cooler, but put the heater and aquarium pump inside a 6" PVC casing with holes to allow the water flow, again the probe in the food section for more accurate temp monitoring............. I really like the flexibility the model we have gives us verse the box styles........
I am very interested in this and look forward to learning.
I agree with what was said about food safety. It is all in the freshness and handling. Use only fresh properly handled products and you will lessen the chances of food born illnesses greatly.........