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Polyscience control freak

tshewman

Appears they are passing on the home cook market. :-0

http://polyscienceculinary.com/products/the-control-freak

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Brandon_Byrd_40557

Wired has a review, which was apparently written by a former ChefStepper.

I can't imagine paying that kind of money for a 1800W induction burner, even if it can maintain constant temperatures. Especially for a commercial unit. I also can't think of any especially great applications for this device that couldn't be done with something like the SousVide Supreme.

Does anyone remember the Kickstarter for Meld? It was a motorized knob for your stove that hooked up to a temperature probe wirelessly. They canceled their Kickstarter when they "joined forces" with a big company, possibly Breville. Either way, this sort of technology will be coming to home markets soon, and at a much better price.

That price is insane.

tshewman

Yes, read the review and agree, it's a bit......expensive.

HammeredChef_DEFINITELY_does_NOT_work_at_22134

Shit! thats crazy....im looking for one in the 250-350 range and thought I Might have a slight reality issue ....i could never justify spending that much no matter how much wine I had consumed... and that IS saying a lot

tshewman

Cooktek on ebay or Vollrath both have some nice units with comparable control

fisher23

Ouch, there was another kick starter that is/was doing the same with a Bluetooth probe thermometer. Can't remember the name but they were working with GE. It was a lot less costly.

fisher23

Here it is Paragon

pepealberola

Yes. I have one, and really like it. Besides sous vide, it works great for deep frying. Keeps the oil temp constant, recovers fast. Takes a lot of stress out of the frying...

tshewman

I looked at it a while ago, but the incremental adjustments were too large for the price (for me). I have a maxtor that does well, except for that same problem.

david.davenport

It’s hard to compare this to other Commercial Cookers like Volrath and Cooktek as they take the temp reading from underside of the glass which makes reading slow and inaccurate. The Control Freak is different and uses a second sensor that touches the pot directly for accurate pan temperatures in real time... Where the Cooktek has around 100 'Temperature' Settings and the Volrath 30, the Control Freak has 397. Hope that helps.

david.davenport

I think the differences between the control freak and other burners have not been explained or demonstrated quite yet hence some confusion: One difference is other burners like the Paragon, only allow ‘precise’ control when you use the probe to control liquid: As soon as the probe is removed they become like all other burners that have no ‘control’ over the pan temperature.... The Control Freak can (also) control the pan temperature without the need for a probe, by a sensor that touches the pot directly... In this mode you still have 397 pan temperature settings rather than a limited number of power steps…

david.davenport

Brandon, FYI Meld is no part of Breville... Going someway to explain what you can do on this that you can't on the SousVide Supreme, Caramel would be a good example. The Control Freak can do Caramel with precision as the second sensor touches the pan directly for precise temperature holding. You can set the pan temp to 170°F and walk away. No need for the probe.

tshewman

It does help, thanks. Though both Vollrath and Cooktek offer 100 settings (if I recall 5F deg increments) which for he home cook is reasonable. Unless cooking has changed. I understand the control for the professional, but even then that control (for things like SV) is at the expense of not using the induction burner for more traditional reductions, searing etc while the longer cooks are taking place. From a non-professional cook (albeit obsessive :-)..) looking at it from the outside, I'm having a rough time wrapping my head around the price justifying the features. If I have a circulator (in my case I have 2, one PS which is my wh) and an induction (albeit inexpensive, it works well for the more basic searing, reduction, stocks, caramels etc), I'm having a rough time wrapping my head around that leap in price relative to function........especially from a home cook's perspective (as mentioned originally).

ren_74229

Hello David,

The documentation seems pretty light on the unit...which is probably smart considering the target audience. However, I have one main question. How do you implement multi-step cooking programs without creating new programs for each step? Also, is there a way to easily edit the .fa1 file(s) without having to set programs via the CF interface? Thank you!

PS Anything fun I can do with the USB other than update firmware and save/copy programs?

david.davenport

Ren. You're right about the documentation...!...About Multi-Step: We have not implemented this yet to keep things simple and to also learn from users like yourselves so we can optimize it for introduction - which makes me ask can we contact you about your experience with the Control Freak, assuming you own one? - Thanks. (You're other questions: {Only editing on the Cooker is possible for your saved programs, again keeping things simple}{For the USB I think you have covered the expected uses but I'd love to hear what fun things you might expect from a USB!?) Cheers, David.

Melissa_36808

Ok apparently me trying to reply anywhere down there just disappears - I'll keep you apprised as I test it out this weekend and so far we love it!

brian_martin2001

for 1800 USD I would hope so!