Abstract: A portable sous vide cooking appliance that does not require a motor to physically move water or have its own container is provided. The portable sous vide cooking appliance may be used with a separate pot or other container holding water. The sous vide cooking appliance requires no water circulators to function. Unlike immersion circulators, only the heating element and the mechanism for delivering power to the heating element are immersed in water. The sous vide cooking appliance described requires no electric motor, no impeller pump, no water intakes and no water outtakes. Further, unlike immersion circulators, the sous vide cooking appliance passively circulates water through convection currents and are not required to actively agitate the water bath, creating noise and more evaporation and steam.