dmg

Based on this thread discussion, I bought a mini griddle. My observations supports Santiago's comment: the cast iron griddle seems to have much more temperature variability than the mini griddle and it was clearly above the target temperature in some areas several times. I am so happy with the griddle that I gave away my round cast iron griddle. There are two issues to consider using the mini griddle: weight, and the time it gets to temperature (and it takes to cool).

yes, with the adapter. I did an experiment today. I boiled around 3 L of water in a small pot. I used a kill-a-watt to monitor the power consumption. From 20 to 75, the maximum draw was 14.7 A (steady), but at it reached 80, it went up as high as 15.7A (steady). It did not tripped my breaker (I think it is 15 A) but the Kill-a-watt started beeping above 15A. So this is reassuring. I will keep using medium, though. I don't need the speed of fast

I used the probe.

This weekend I cooked okonomiyaki in a cast iron circular griddle. I was a bit surprised by the variability of temperature in the surface (and some areas overheating while reaching temperature), even if I let it warm for 30 min or so. And frequently it would go over the desired temperature. I suspect any steel-only griddle would have similar problems (great heat capacity but not as good head conductivity). But it all makes sense. I guess the aluminium sheet in the stainless steel pans helps dissipate the heat (difference between heat capacity and heat transfer). Are there any clad griddles in the market? The mini griddle is available in Amazon.ca as of today, but the full cost makes it exorbitant (shipping ~40). By the way, the price from the US, including shipping (~US$50) is cheaper than the Amazon CAD price.

The one I bought, via amazon, came from them. Yes, it is new. It looks like they are trickling the CFs in amazon. They only offer one at a time. I bought it via amazon because 1) I did not have to pay PST, and 2) no shipping.

I made creme brule. it was extremely easy. I used chefstep's recipe. You heat the cream to 70 degrees, mix with the egg yolks/sugar mixture, fill mason jars and cook at 80 degrees. I did all with the Control Freak (small pot for the cream, large pot for the jar cooking) and it was, well, almost trivial. The results were delicious. The recipe asks for a circulator for the jar cooking, but I the CF worked great.

thank you for the info. I have not used Max/Fast because I fear tripping a breaker. but.. it annoys me that it is the default. does anybody know if there is a way to change the default to medium or slow?

Thank you all for the welcome. I am in Victoria, BC. I did the eggs because it looked like the simplest recipe I could try. I tried doing a pancake too (as in the Breville youtube video). The bottom side looked perfect, but I did it without oil (as in the video , I guess it was a demo, not a recipe) and the pancake got 1/2 stuck to the bottom of my stainless steel pan I guess I needed to add butter. Oh, my nonstick are aluminium and are not detected, so I ordered 2 days ago the Anolon Copper (the ones you use). I'll do more experiments over the weekend. Happy Canada day,

Heston Blumenthal uses a plate. He fills the pot and puts a plate upside down. You can search youtube for a video where he does it. it works. (typos fixed

I joined the club! I got mine from Testek in canada for 1.5k+gst (CAD) via amazon. I have only used it 3 times. It feels like magic. I just clarified butter (116C for 25min) without any worry and it came out perfect. I also did Heston style poached eggs (80C for 4 and 5 min) and in both cases they came delicious. I am looking forward to sharing experiences.

I simply cut a piece of aluminium foil to use as a container where I pour whatever solid I am measuring. Granted, it would not work for liquids. --dmg

Thanks Fauxpas, It is good to know. As I said above, I'll probably leave it as-is in this case. -dmg

That is correct. There was no duty on the circulator. I only paid Fedex handling fee + regular taxes. Potential duties was something that concerned me (hence my rational for posting) since duties are the hidden shark under the surface waiting to bite you at the least expected moment Regarding bringing goods over the border, it also means you have to buy it first which is usually the main problem. I know shops some would ship to hotels, but I find it inconvenient and risky. -dmg

keep in mind, fedex charged me the proper tax according to the declaration form, so it wasn't their mistake. The mistake was the amount filled in the form. So to contest this means several steps, I suspect: 1. anova submits some sort of erratum to the form; 2. fedex receives it and credits me for the extra tax I paid. As I said above, because I suspect it was an honest mistake, I am ok with it. If it was 10 times more, I'll be thinking about it --dmg

I suspect it was an honest mistake from Anova's part. I know Anova has a good reputation, and I already got a good deal from them. I emailed them let them know that they should pay more attention to this issue. If they reply to me saying "sorry, we messed up, we'll be more careful in the future" that will be enough for me. -dmg