Breville PolySci Control Freak

I recently came across photos of this precision cooktop on a couple blogs of Kenji and Ideas In Food. It looked cool... until I saw the price. It's almost $2000!!!

Has anyone used it? Thoughts?

I already have a range, pressure cooker, (soon a) Joule. The technology is nifty and I hope it will be incorporated into all cooktops at some point but right now, especially for the price, I can't see it gaining traction in my kitchen. Perhaps it has much more value for a professional than a home cook.

There was a CS forum post about 10 months back. At that point I don't think it was released.

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JasonWirth_68226

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-01/breville-control-freak-review-induction-cooktop

Forgot to post a review.

tshewman

Melissa has it but for some reason I am unable to read her posts on it.

Brandon_Byrd_40557

It is extremely expensive for a 1800 watt unit. The temperature control is nice, but I can't think of any applications that make it worth the asking price unless, maybe, you do a lot of sugar or chocolate work. Though I haven't used one, I'm pretty sure that I'd rather have 2 Vollrath Mirage Pros, 2 Joules, and $400.

JasonWirth_68226

I agree. Reviews say things like, "It will make a you a better cook!" They are right, it will make you a better cook, but only at 2 or 3 things.

I checked out that Mirage Pro. It's pretty awesome. I have a 1800W Max Burton induction cooktop but there's only about 15 or so temp settings. For most cooking it wouldn't bother me, but I use a pressure cooker a lot, normally I fiddle with the stove trying to get the pressure just right. It's annoying AF. I hoped that with the induction levels I could "Set it and forget it" but It's not the case. (Yeah, electric PCs are that way, but I like the traditional ones.)

BTW, you didn't say what you'd do with that $400. It'll burn a hole in your pocket somehow.

fisher23

A few of the people here have a Paragon, I wonder how it compares? @HammeredChef_DEFINITELY_does_NOT_work_at_22134 has one.

Brandon_Byrd_40557

The Mirage Pro is great... the temp control is good enough that you can do super-slow cooked scrambled eggs without using a bain marie or constantly babysitting the pan. If I use carbon steel and set the pan for 65C, they'll just barely cook and I can come by and stir them pretty much whenever. If I need to step away, I bump the temp down to 55 or 60, and they'll hold hot. If I need to quickly finish, I just kick the temp up to 70 and they finish off relatively quickly without overcooking.

Anyway, I got mine after I accidentally set my Max Burton on fire (don't ask). I got the Max Burton primarily to use with my pressure cooker, but the limited power settings were terrible for this purpose. The Mirage is much, much better... and it's much better in all respects than every other portable units that cost less than $1000. I know ChefSteps uses it, and that Doug Baldwin uses it for SV searing, and that there are a lot of happy, higher-end home users like myself that use it.

The only downside, apart from the price, is that Vollrath doesn't offer a warranty for consumer use (only commercial use). One or two people on Amazon left unhappy reviews after their unit failed within the warranty period but that Vollrath wouldn't fix it. That wasn't really an issue for me... I got mine in relatively good condition on eBay for a stupid price ($125) and I've been happy ever since. I managed to snag it by setting an eBay watch/alert and waiting patiently for months. Well worth it.

JasonWirth_68226

That looks interesting. The price is much more reasonable, but unfortunately the temperature controls only have 10 levels, that don't seem fine enough for manual cooking. I'm not sure how it would handle setting the temperature at just the right level to maintain a pressure cooker.

HammeredChef_DEFINITELY_does_NOT_work_at_22134

The pressure cooker could be a problem, I don't know what temp is needed for that (if you can find out let me know and I will test for you) however using the probe will hold the temp within 1 degree...I love it for small SV items like 2 eggs or a small amount of veggies. It is awesome for a long simmer or reduction just set at 210f and leave it be.

Melissa_36808

Ugh I just posted a really long thing about using it and now it's not showing up.

Melissa_36808

These forums hate me - Long story short as I lost my super long posting about it.

I love it for precise cooking (frying, simmering, etc) on induction. The timer's ability to hold temp, kill temp, or bring to warm is great. I've put a bunch of mileage on it this last week and it's wonderful for it's precision temps in addition to being able to get feedback data about your current pot temp or the current temp of the contents of the pot. -

tshewman

Thanks! Any thing to compare it too? E.G. The mirage pro or Cooktek? Add a Qtherm and almost there? Just trying to see if it's worth that extra $1200-$1400

Melissa_36808

Well I've had portable induction burners for years and use KitchenAid induction cooktops at work so I'm familiar with induction but not those specific models. I think the primary differentiation for me is the temp feedback data I'm getting from the Control Freak. (and the timers that I just love but are mainly a ux upgrade)

For example, when I made chicken biryani this weekend and gradually lowered the temp from medium to low halfway through, I was able to see the temp of the pot as opposed to the temp I had set it to and how long it took the pot to get closer to the "low" temperature. Having the probe data feedback and the cooktop sensor data feedback is really interesting for calibration.

I'm pretty excited to try doing a butter poached wagyu steak in it this week with the probe. I'll also be applying the probe when I make some whiskey gums and holding a bath at temp for some frozen reverse spherification this weekend (however I am aware I could hold a bath at temp with my sous vide equipment and I will be doing so for the two second rinse baths).

szeder_185682

Unfortunately, you are not the first one to experience that, and most probably this was not the last time. Regrettably, that's a common occurrence on these forums.

My advice: always copy your post before submitting, refresh the page, and if your post is not there, then retry an hour or day later (in my experience retrying immediately or within minutes never succeeds). If it still doesn't work, then try to use the "Join the conversation" input box right below the opening post.

Melissa_36808

Sadly having had some prior replies get black holed I did use the Join the conversation box! That said I will make good use of this advice to cut and paste.

Poor Jason lost a reply this afternoon I think too.

monaghan.joseph

Brandon!!! You saved me! I had no idea the vollrath existed. Perfect. Which model number? AMZ has 3-4 different models...

Brandon_Byrd_40557

It's the 59500P. Here's a link to an in-depth review. I love mine. Keep in mind that Vollrath won't honor the warranty for consumer use. If you're cool with that, and can afford the ticket price, then get one. They're the bizness.

JasonWirth_68226

Any idea why they wouldn't honor the warranty for home use? Seeing as how commercial use is much more demanding it doesn't make sense. I could see not honoring a home product in a commercial setting but not the other way around.

Eric_Norman_436968

As others have mentioned, the Control Freak is really geared towards restaurant use (NSF and UL Commercial certifications). I expect the biggest advantage is minimal overshoot since the temperature sensor contacts the bottom of the pan. I have a Max Burton induction, and the temperature swings over 100° which can smoke your oil or burn your food. Once you get it near temp, it's great and you can get onions caramelizing unattended. The problem is that temperature sensor is under the plastic top which causes a lengthy delay and therefore allows very large temperature swings. I expect you could simply set the Control Freak and walk away - which has great value to the professional who can multitask and maybe get away with less people: "[it] allows [the owner of a doughnut shop] to make dough while the caramel is cooking, without having to constantly watch the pot."

There is a high-temperature precision cooking product made for the home market. Cinder is a precision grill that lets you pick any temperature from 81° - 450° and hold it steady while cooking. Because the temperature sensor is integrated into the cooking plate, there's almost no overshoot. So you can do the same caramel trick as the Control Freak for $299, or brown zucchini while you do something else. What do you think of this one? (note that I created this product)

monaghan.joseph

Eric. It's preorder. It's NOT a real appliance. NO ONE HAS USED IT. Come on! Until this is real and it's on Amazon (which means they're shipping product ) it's a red herring. Nice self-promotion but personally, after many failed and years late kickstarters coming to market, you're wasting time by even mentioning a price and a product. But On the Other Hand if you want to exchange your product for MY round trip orbits of Jupiter I will take ten.

brian_martin2001

Actually, it is a real product, and folks have used it. Have you looked at the website that was in his post? If you do go there, you can see Kenji-Lope Alt's, Wired's, Gizmodo's, etc comments on the unit. You can also go to their respective websites to see their in-depth look at the unit, yes, I checked before making this post. There are also (although relatively poorly done) videos of it. Granted, it is in pre-order, but about 10 months ago, so was Joule. Just because it's not yet available for sale, doesn't make it any less of a real, or useful product. Sure, a bit of shameless self promotion (especially because this individual's account was created on the same day of his posting), but what creator of a new product doesn't do that?

Just because it's not yet available, doesn't make it any less real, or viable an option. Also, lets not forget, there is a big difference between crowd funding: such as kickstarter, and pre-orders such as Joule, and now this cinder. Now, I see this as being about as useful to anyone here on this website, as a George Foreman grill, however, I'm sure there are plenty of folks out there who would find this a useful tool, and come December, or longer depending on whether Palate Home Inc. experiences similar difficulties to what ChefSteps experienced, I'm sure there are plenty of folks who will.

hairyotter_273859

I want one!

Williams-Sonoma has been selling this thing for a while. Great multitasker. Saw one in a WS store... it was huge.

monaghan.joseph

I just got one today! Thanks so much for the tip on this !

Nathaniel_Lin_1458840

is the control freak easy to use?