Instruction: Given a question and the related document, and generate the answer to the question based on the information provided in the document.

Input:
Question: How do you isolate the temperature sensor from the bottom and sides of the slow cooker?
Document: I did not buy a circulating pump because I expected that natural convection would provide enough circulation.The West Bend 84866 slow cooker is a stainless steel 6qt pot that sits on a separate heating module with it's own temperature control (the West Bend heating module can be used as a mini-electric griddle). It also has a stainless steel rack that holds the food off the bottom of the pot.
Together with your crock pot, this poor man's sous vide setup works very well. No, it's not circulating, but for smaller quantities of food, it works very well. The temperature stayed within one degree for three hours (when I pulled out the steaks). The only difficulty lies in ensuring that the temperature probe doesn't touch the bottom or sides of the crock pot. Perhaps with a larger crock pot it's less of a problem.
The bottom line is consider all your options. If you already have and store a slow cooker, this may be a good option for you.
Ideally, too, the sensor would be connected to the controller housing via a plug, rather than be hard wired into the box.On the bright side, to supply the switchable heat, rather than use a mechanical rice or slow cooker or an immersion coil, I purchased a single-burner Aroma hot plate for $16, which keeps the heating element fully below the pot I use as a bath. I find this preferable to an immersible coil, which may come into contact with the sensor or food bag.
Received my Dork a few days ago and used it last night as a trial with two large center-cut pork chops, a vacuum sealer, and a manual slow cooker. The setup is very simple. I started with hot sink water, then added microwaved cups of water to bring the water temp. to 131 (the target temp.) to start. Put a silicone hotpad on the bottom, added the pouch, and set a kitchen timer for at least 45 minutes. Checking the water bath temp.
I, myself, would much rather have the mechanical relay.The only negative aspect I could find besides the very slight clicking of the relay, is for me, having the stiff heavy electrical cord coming out of the bottom of the unit makes it want to be upside down, with the cord towards the wall outlet and the temperature probe towards the heating appliance (rice cooker).
The vacuum sealer is a messy device in my opinion. Sous vide is really all about cooking at low temperatures for a long time. I use simple zipp lock bags to isolate the food and a water bath to cook it. Perfect "sous vide." All recipes that I have tried come out perfectly. Slow cookers generally way overheat and boil the food. With the DorkFood controller you can slow cook at up to 200 F.  That gives no boiling but just the right temperature for excellent slow cooking.
It is also slow to recover once the food is inserted it takes a long time to get back to target temperature so I will be trying a rice cooker in the future. I have to compensate with timing when using it for shorter interval cooking.
This device accurately controls the temperature of a pot of water. The pot can be a simple rice cooker, a simple slow cooker, or any other water heating device that can be turned on and off when plugged into this temperature controller.It is simple to use and works quite well.
I am AMAZED at how well this temperature controller works! I use this with a Hamilton Beach 6-Quart slow cooker and a FoodSaver V3840 SmartSeal Vacuum Sealing System.I have prepared Halibut, Turbot, Salmon, Flank Steak, Beef and Pork Ribs, and Eggplant to perfection.
Answer: I use a small funnel. I run the sensor & wire through the small end of the funnel. This surrounds the sensor with liquid. In addition, I purchased a small stainless steel cooling rack that fits into the bottom of the slow cooker. I believe it aids the circulation of cooking liquid.