NEW! The Control Freak™ Home! It's HERE!

ChefSteps has always been at the forefront of bringing cutting edge, professional cooking tech and techniques to home kitchens. We did it with Joule Sous Vide, bringing laboratory-level precision and temperature control to home cooks. And now we’re bringing that same freaky precision and control to your stovetop with the NEW Control Freak™ Home!

The Control Freak Home from Breville is the next generation of high-performance precision induction cookers, and it’s being launched exclusively through ChefSteps. The Control Freak Home delivers the same unrivaled precision and performance of the original Control Freak—beloved by professional chefs and the gold standard for commercial kitchens—but it’s been completely redesigned with the home cook in mind.

We're so excited for this product launch. Check out the Control Freak Home page for more information. Get the conversation started, and hit us up with questions in this thread.

If you’re having an issue completing the purchase, here are some troubleshooting pointers.

If the product page displays that the Control Freak Home is sold out, please wait a minute and refresh the page.
To get the members-only discount, make sure to enter your personal promo code and then click the Apply button before finalizing the order.
If you have an issue when clicking on the final Buy Now button at checkout, do not click on it multiple times in a row. There may be an error that needs to be resolved with the shipping address or purchase card. Please resolve any errors before clicking on the Buy Now button again, or reach out to us for assistance!
If you’re still running into issues, please email us at customerexperience@chefsteps.com and we’ll get it sorted ASAP.

EDIT: Please note that that the Control Freak Home Studio Pass discount ended on September 2nd. If you wish to hear about sales in the future, please make sure you are on our mailing list!

We deeply regret any inconvenience this issue has caused. We work hard to earn your trust, and we understand completely how frustrating these kinds of technical issues can be. We will continue to do our best to resolve any other issues that crop up as soon as possible.

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Well dang… this makes things interesting! One thing that put me off considering the OG was that it was a commercial warranty only. This being a home version, I assume a warranty is available. What is it? And can you elaborate on the better cooling that the OG has over the new version?

My intuition says "none" but can anyone speak to temperature overshoot if any? My Volrath mirage pro’s are les enfant terrible in this regard… one may just have to be moved soon

Edit to ad: When I first saw this post’s headline, I thought it was spam.. lol. I just went down through posts and realized the CS team cleaned the forum up nicely.. 👍👍

@pd3ski_278514OK! The first few questions! I LOVE IT!

Q1 - The OG Control Freak has two slightly larger louder fans and a taller and larger volume base / shell that allows for more air flow, the Control Freak Home has still two ( and quality) but quieter ball bearing fans and a tighter airflow loop so it moves slightly less air through the unit, but this design allows it to be quieter and smaller overall.

Q2 - The "overshoot", so this is amazing. Some induction out there lets you adjust the "temperature" but it is measuring the glass temperature not the pan or food. Both the CF and the CFH measure the pan temperature 20 times a second (with two NTC sensors) and allow you to adjust the temperature (target) AND the heat (wattage) so you can arrive at just about the exact temperature more slowly or slightly overshoot and arrive there very fast.

Q3 - The original Control Freak has a 2-year commercial warranty and our all new Control Freak Home has a 2-year consumer warranty. At ChefSteps and Breville, we stand by our products, they are designed and manufactured to the highest standards and we believe you will have no issues at all with your new Control Freak Home

Why doesn’t it have an app? That exponentially increase the awesomeness!

Peter_Birtolo_475324

I've been thinking (dreaming / planning / hinting) about a Control Freak for more than two years now. And I am bound to take action sometime this year. But now I am uncertain ...

Given a choice between the CF or the CFH, which should I choose and why? Leaving price out of the equation is important. We can add that in later. What were the modifications in CFH other than the fans? Anything else to consider?

Thanks in advance for any insights. It's almost time to stop dreaming. :-)

robert.c.brown15

Is the Home version able to use the same diameter pan as the OG or do we lose a pan size with the Home version?

ChefSteps_customer_105056

Will it ship in the EU??

Mark_Levine_1168837

Will there be a Joule version in the future?

Where can I get a .mp3 of the startup sound? - I need this in my life!

Control Freak has been on my wish list for quite some time. Given the overall price, the differential for the home version is small $200 not on sale). The commercial version periodically goes on sale which puts it at the same price. Plus, often the first version of technology is buggy. Woulda’t I be better served getting the bigger-badder version?

Chuck_Canyon_84696

Have the Commercial version. The Home version has ingredient and technique temps/settings that would be nice to have for my original Commercial version. I’d like a copy of these preset recipe temps pls.

So it does not come with the USB that the pro model does, will I be able to transfer my saved recipes from the pro to the home?

Will there be software to write recipes to save to the USB, instead of having to use the wheel to enter them?

Cheers!

Chad

Is Breville going to make the long probe again?

Yes! The Control Freak Home has the same size cooking surface and custom 10-inch copper coil as the original Control Freak. The Breville engineering team managed to reduce the overall footprint of the machine for the Control Freak Home without sacrificing cooking area!

The recommended minimum pan/pot diameter is 5.5 inches*, and for optimal precision performance the maximum recommended diameter is 10 inches. That said, you can certainly use larger pots and pans without issue, you just begin to sacrifice precision performance across the parts of the pan's surface that extend beyond the 10-inch coil.

* Smaller pans can work, as functionality is dependent on the amount of ferromagnetic material in the cookware.

robert.c.brown15

10” floor diameter right? Or 10” total?

Not at launch, sorry. The Control Freak Home will only be available for US customers at launch.

It has been so long since the original version has had updates, and there was so much untapped potential, I was worried the CF line was in maintenance mode. This is great news. I'm a huge CF fan, I bit the bullet last December when there were coupons and have been kicking myself for not taking the plunge years ago. It's so good that I immediately wanted two, and it sucks when I have to use a legacy cooktop! I look forward to adding a CFH.

Congrats on the release and it is nice to see ChefSteps continuing to be a close part of the Breville family.

(Grant, please tell the nice people at Breville to make a full size slide-in range with electric convection oven and Control Freak burners up top.)

I don't think we can answer that until we see what the differences really are. The CFH might have some really meaningful usability updates. I can also tell you that the original CF is huge, I mean, laughably big... A slimmer model would be welcome. Especially if you are going to have more than one.

The CF is also supposedly warrantied only for commercial use. So, if anything goes wrong with it at home, you are just out of luck. I've yet to see anyone saying they were bitten... But it's certainly a concern.

Glad to hear that you are loving the Control Freak—Studio Pass members will be able the get the NEW Control Freak Home for $999! So if you want a second one, mid April is your chance. Limited supplies and I am assuming we will sell out fast. Both units are identical from a measure and output performance standpoint. The only difference is the brains inside the Control Freak Home are much more home user friendly, and the Control Freak was built for abusive hotter, wetter commercial environments.

The CF is good about managing overshoot, and it also has three speed modes... So if overshoot is critical to avoid, you can tell it to change temperature more slowly to really guard against it. But even on fast mode, for normal cooking tasks, overshoot is not really a concern.

I CAN get substantial overshoot if I abuse it... Turn the speed up to max, use my thinnest carbon steel wok -- which doesn't even have a perfectly flat bottom so sensor contact sucks -- and heat the wok empty. But that's not a fair test, IMHO.

I think they may be at least partly from https://thecontrolfreak.breville.com/

Correct, 10-inch cooking surface diameter. So for skillets, which are measured/sold by dimensions of total diameter from edge to edge of the lip of the pan rather than cooking surface diameter, you can use a 12-inch skillet without sacrificing any precision performance.

Thomas_Jackson_1507552

Two points - 1) my understanding is the original control freak warranty was expanded in the last year to include home use, is that changing back to commercial use-only now on existing units? 2) I second the request to bring back the long probe for making stocks, etc. The current probe just doesn't cut it for deep pots.

I've had my Control Freak for several years now, it stays on the counter because I use it every day in spite of my 48inch BlueStar range sitting next to it.

I have a few questions.

How does the heating element size compare to the original control freak?
How water resistant is the Control Freak Home?

Does the reduced cooling system in the Control Freak Home present any issues when running at high temperature for longer periods of time?\

Will a case be available for the Control Freak Home?

Thanks!

A commercial warranty is a higher level of coverage that covers use in more abusive commercial environments, the home warranty covers ONLY the home use and application.

It really boils down to how you want to use it. The original is just built tougher with a heavy carry case. It was designed for a hotter, wetter, more abusive commercial environment so there are design implications that you may like—or not. The CFH is smaller and quieter because it is designed for the home. The output in performance is identical to CF however, so it really depends on which environment you will be using. Lastly, WHO will be using is another consideration, the NEW CFH has a really intuitive interface that allows quick access to hundreds of ingredient and cooking technique modes that a chef in a commercial environment may not need, but for the home cook can be invaluable.

You will not be able to transfer them automatically, however you can add them in using the touch screen under custom modes so both yout CF and your CFH can leverage the same cooking programs with a start button.

We are not sure. The long probe was never good for much other than very deep liquids and with liquids that are convecting, it's actually not a benefit to have such a ling probe. The probe we have now has two NTC sensors and is long enough to measure any pot of liquid as well as short enough to be useful for internal temperature measures of solids. It is 5.5" / 140cm long.

Well if by Joule = Connected to you, not anytime soon. If by Joule you mean an app companion with custom content and recipes, then it is very possible in the near future in our Breville+ app.

Well, our NEW Control Freak Home (CFH) gives you all the output performance and precise measure that the original Control Freak (CF) has—it is identical, and that is why it is still not $300:)

Where you will see a difference is the size of the CF is much larger AND heavier due to the fact that we had to design it to be tougher to set heavy things on AND move more air through it.

The CFH is smaller, quieter but has a lot more user interface that I think home cooks will honestly find much easier to use.

In the end, it is my personal AND professional opinion that the OCF is way over built for home use, both in size and dollars and the CFH is built to perform at home and not a HOT/ WET commercial environment.

I'f used in a home, I'd buy the Home version, if used in a professional kitchen I'd use the Commercial unit. I have used the CF for many years but never really at home because I found it too large for my counter and space but I do now use the CFH at home and it has been easier to move around and store as well.

Great question. An app costs a different kind of money for the company and we have an excellent app team, but we have them focused on App-i-fying and Joule-i-fying other products right now:)

If you do go the Breville+ route, could you let us register the commercial unit as well? I love mine and I am always looking for new things to do with it.

LOVE THESE Q's!
1) The functional components are IDENTICAL. Same custom coil, same power supply, same probe, same pan sensor with dual NTC. Any task you test will be the same across both units. The only differences are in reaction to WHERE the units will be used.

2) How water resistant is the CFH? Well, it is very resistant but we did not feel we needed to go through the licensing and testing with IPX ratings to obtain a certification. You can certainly spill water or spray cleaner on the CFH and it will be fine.

3) The cooling systems are both very adequate for their respective environments. The CF is taller and larger mostly due to a heavier frame AND one that allows more airflow in/under and out of the unit. The CFH is smaller because we are moving air more efficiently in a cooler environment with less humidity. BOTH units have dedicated fans systems, one for the electrons package and one for the heating coil itself.

4) We are trying to make a case available to purchase:)

I really want a convection solution. But so far all the cook tops and singles are one frequency and won't accommodate copper (Falk). Not giving up my gear to just get to convection just yet. Maybe when the variable frequency convection gear gets to consumer semi pro I'll bite. Not going shopping at this stage for new cookware that I love. Someone hopefully Brevillie will take the Panasonic Met - All tech to the home or semi pro consumer. Breville Met - All please

A "convection" solution? What are you thinking here Raymond?

Love this, I have a Control °Freak but this version makes more sense for a home cook. Suggested temperatures built in is a big plus, it doesn’t get much better.

Myron_A_Pugh_239690

What are the weights of the two versions?

Wow, we've long been hoping, but it seemed like it would never happen!

I want to see the specs side-by-side.

Combi oven next please.

Nick_Sakellariou_31514

Congratulations on the launch! Great news, even for us OG CF owners. However, it's disappointing to see European customers overlooked once more. I remember inquiring about the Joule oven's European availability during a livestream at its launch and was told it would be available "next year," implying 2023, yet that did not materialize. The original Joule has been unavailable in Europe since 2021. While I don't wish to dampen the excitement surrounding your announcement, it increasingly seems like your focus is primarily on the US market these days. I'm grateful for owning the original Joule and Control Freak in 220v versions, both of which are used more or less on a daily basis in our household. However, I've nearly lost hope of hearing positive news regarding the availability of your products in Europe.

You can view in the landing page for the Control Freak Home, but here is a direct link to a deeper PDF.

https://d3awvtnmmsvyot.cloudfront.net/api/file/jFOrapLTBOLzkuxAf65w

Ask and you shall receive! Here's a link for the side-by-side spec sheet that we also link to from the Control Freak Home page.

Kyl_Haselbauer_worked_at_chefsteps_1040170

Hi Myron. The Control Freak is 6902g, The Control Freak Home is 6800g. So 102g lighter.

Will you be able to ship to Canada?

Say I'm pretty comfortable with gas stovetop and already have (and use) an immersion circulator, a Breville Smart Oven, and a Breville Pressure Cooker. I don't really cook sweets. Does the CFH actually offer enough new capabilities that it'd be used for something I'm not doing now with what I have?

Is there any chance it will run off of a floating-ground plug and stay under 1500 watts if I don't push it too hard? Might make a compelling "camp" stove in conjunction with my EV if so.

I had to look this up, but apparently if the frequency of the magnetic field in an induction heater is increased enough, then it will even heat up copper and aluminum. Panasonic does have gear with this feature.

I assume the OP just mistakenly put "convection" when he meant "induction."

Thanks for the reply Grant, greatly appreciated!

Thank you both for the reply!

As a home cook that just loves cooking and sharing good food with friends, if I can only have one, the CFH or the Breville top end convection oven?

I'm super lucky to have been able to fit a Control Freak in to my budget years ago and a little jealous with version two / Home having the key features I use and a smaller foot print on the counter. For me, the Control Freak has really helped me be a better cook at home.

Some wish list items to support the release of this ...

-- I'm looking forward to new content I can access via StudioPass that will open my eyes to things to try and learn, and perhaps a web portal I can access the Breville+ content from as trying to use my phone screen vs. a laptop or better yet a desktop sized monitor is a bummer.

-- Educationally, a big table of temps would help - much like the Sous Vide ones that were published soon after Joule was released for things that suggest good target ranges.

-- A 'three' or 'five' pack of the pot clips for pans/pots would be a wonderful accessory to buy rather than trying to find them in stock to buy one at a time.

-- Personally, I'd value the inclusion of temps and heat/power intensity in Studio Pass content the same way I'd see temp and time for use with a circulator or oven. Really love to see older content updated with some of this info but goodness there are what almost 12 years of content at this point? So I get it isn't likely to go in to the older stuff.

-- Some of the pans and pots I've seen used in videos on the Control Freak would be interesting to know the brand/size/model tucked in to Chef Rec's - example I would love info on the smaller sauce pots I see used since they allow for the probe to sit deeper in whatever is getting cooked.

-- I do understand there are differences between the two Control Freak units, but if there were non-UI updates to the firmware that during the development of the Control Freak Home would be applicable to the older Control Freak it would be nice to have a firmware drop to update the unit (I haven't ever seen an update, nor do I think I've needed one but I'd like to use the USB port at least once

)

-- As an observation, having a Control Freak, a HyrdroPro, and Joule Oven Air Fryer Pro in the same kitchen, all three use the same beep (at least to my hearing) when they reach target temp and it can take a moment of see what just tool made a sound.

Again, I love the Control Freak and it really has made the food I'm making for my family more consistent and given me the confidence to expand my cooking in to new areas, if the Control Freak Home offers others anything close to the same experience than hats off to everyone involved in the development.

Maybe this will help?

Any chance app functionality is added later on?

Not sure if it will help the decision but the Breville Joule Oven Air Fryer Pro all but replaced my conventional oven. The only things I've used it for since getting the joule oven are baking bread, roasting large sheet pans of veggies, big dutch oven dishes, and doing batches of cookies and a turkey. I would say that I've fired up the conventional oven less than a two dozen times in the year or so since I got the Joule oven. The speed at which it heats up is amazing, Air frying is a little annoying to clean but it gets great results.

I would maybe base it on the size / scale of your projects. If you find yourself doing a lot of stuff on the stove and think another burner would be useful go control freak. If you frequently wish you could have multiple things in the over or wish your oven was faster get the oven. The only downside is if you are doing a bunch of veggies you will either need to batch or do multiple smaller sheet pans and rotate.

Not at launch, sorry. The Control Freak Home will only be available for US customers at launch.

This is my only question as well! I'm ready to buy as soon as the Control Freak Home launches. Really hoping this will be available for Canadian customers.

Thanks - Something like that could work, the image is a little to small for me to read, but looks like the sort of idea I was thinking of.

Seems like the preference "Precision" on content (as in Crullers, Onions and Butter to name a few) in the Studio Pass content is going to help me too.

It’s available on the Breville website.

Christina_1439670

I freaking can't wait for this launch! Chef Steps team, nice job with the CFH video.

Very pleased I did not buy a CF on the basis of the new CH home. And also thanks for managing my expectations that I cannot buy this in the UK from you following my feedback on the original Chef Steps offers on CF. I can now buy a CF in the UK - just not from you - and sometime soon I will be able to buy a CF home - Yipee! Looks amazing. And as a big Breville fan I can't wait.

Chuck_Canyon_84696

That’s what I was need…but would prefer to have it programmed in the Commercial version, like in the Home version. That’s a lot of typing if I have to create the recipes manually. Request that these be added temps/recipes be added to the Commercial software please. Thank you.

Agree with Will that it depends on how you cook. I don't own a Control Freak (or Control Freak Home ... yet!), but my experience with the Joule oven tracks with his--it's completely replaced my conventional oven. Even for baking multiple loaves of bread, I prefer to use the countertop oven since it preheats quickly and sheds less heat in my tiny kitchen, and the recovery time between batches is basically negligible. I can bake two loaves of better bread in the Joule in the time it takes to preheat my conventional oven sufficiently and bake a single loaf.

Having used the Control Freak a fair amount in the past, I expect the Control Freak Home will similarly replace my primary stovetop burner (the biggest one) except when using my (warped) flat-bottom wok. Like the oven, it's just better at its primary function than conventional alternatives, while also being capable of doing very cool things (air frying/dehydrating/proofing for the oven; dump and stir hollandaise/precision poaching and searing for the induction cooktop).

Totally worth the wait, I have a CF and have been testing a CFH. Absolutely no difference in the results, and having the suggested cooking temperatures already in the CFH makes it even better for the average cook; it took me hours to manually put them in my CF.

Stephen_Salerno_512185

I just want to verify that this has a 9" magnet. Is that correct? Thank you in advance.

10” copper coil magnet, same coil as the CF.

CORRECT! It is the same custom made 10" coil that we developed for the original Control Freak.

Thank you so much! This is one tool that you might want to tell your non-foodie friends about—its very easy to use and gets you incredibly reliable results.

Hey Grant and team - super excited for this. I'm going to be using this on an island table that doesn't have power. I want to power it via a semiportable power bank. What are the electrical specs that the power bank would need to have to ensure it doesn't encounter any issues? Is 1200W peak / 600 continuous enough?

Check out out this downloadable PDF:

https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/the-control-freak

Scott_McPherson_1261385

I have the CF and find myself constantly looking on the Internet for advice on those temperature guides. Does someone have a list of what’s available on the CF Home that I can enter manually into my CF?

I imagine you've seen this page, but if not I find it helpful. https://www.sizzleandsear.com/precisioncooking/

1800W / 110V which is the same standard from the wall outlet in the USA.

Peter_Birtolo_475324

Got it, Grant. And thanks. I noticed updated info on the website that also helped me. So, when

When I FINALLY get to Seattle, can I just drop in for a visit? :-)

how much smaller is the CFH "actually'? On paper it doesn't look like a hug difference, but maybe in practice it is? Or put another way, does it 'feel' a lot smaller in the kitchen?

It looks to me like they incorporated these into the burner: https://thecontrolfreak.breville.com/welcome

also this is helpful: https://www.sizzleandsear.com/precisioncooking/

+1 to Will and Sho. Since getting the Joule oven, I don't use my full size convection anymore unless the item physically doesn't fit in the Joule oven. It blew me away how dramatically it changed my daily cooking routine. As long as your family is just a couple or up to 4 people, I think the Joule oven is great for most things. If you have 4 kids or something, it might be of more limited utility.

Thanks - what I ended up doing five or so years back when I got the Control Freak was to go look at all the different places I could think of that sold cooking thermometers and take notes on what they all suggested for temps, then build out a data set with all of it to find what I was looking for. What I was wish listing - that does seem to exist now - would have been really helpful then... For sure, not complaining at all, just oversharing info... But, Sizzle And Sear was a site I looked at back then.

The new one has multi level cooking recipes?

It’d need WiFi or Bluetooth capabilities, which probably aren’t built in so maybe the next generation?

Thanks Grant, looking forward to the new products and to getting my grubby hands on the CFH!

Rajarshi_Nigam_207411

I was hoping for a newer CF and glad ChefSteps is helping bring it to the home! I was expecting there would be more wireless connectivity though, with the app like the Joule.

The Control Freak is just about 1078 cubic inches and...
The Control Freak Home is about 845 cubic inches.

That's right. The Panasonic Met-All commercial induction coil runs at 120kHz, therefore can heat copper and aluminum as well. However, increasing the frequency also increases self-heating of the induction copper coil needing finer multi-strand winding and a stronger (read noisier) cooling fan, OK for commercial kitchens.

https://na.panasonic.com/us/food-service-systems/commercial-equipment/induction-cooktops/panasonic-commercial-induction-cooktop

Whereas regular induction coils run at 25kHz to 50kHz (I assume so does the Control Freak/Home) and hence can heat only iron and needs "induction compatible" cookware with an integrated iron base plate.

No?

It comes with many presets that you may select through a new touch screen as well as the manual dial.

Burma_Powell_457370

There are numerous presets for different foods and techniques. You can create and save your own presets as well. I’m actually glad it isn’t so dependent on wireless connectivity, since ours goes out more than it should.

Burma_Powell_457370

You can also create and save your own presets.

Chuck_Canyon_84696

Does anyone have the recipes from CFH to download to a CF Commercial?

Dmminion_110073

Finally I were able to put aside some money to get myself the Joule, but then it was unavailable here in the EU and I’ve kept waiting(bought another brand of sous vide but of course isn’t happy with the performance and will happily buy*), while the Turbo* and now the CF Home has come, but still waiting for the “Sage” versions.

But can you create a multistep recipe?

Yes, you can create a multistep recipe when programming a custom preset!

Andrew_Flicker_290053

Where can I find a clearer image of this

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