CanadianHomeChef

The technology already exists with EVs. Regardless, as we add more renewable sources of energy to the grid, we will need to establish a network of storage, decentralized or centralized. Renewables have fluctuations in production in addition to consumption. There’s times in the day when lots can be produced but little is consumed, and vice versa. Storage will be key to replacing the non-renewables.

Heard about this last month and I'm intrigued. Unfortunately not available in Canada. Seems like they have a long term vision of being a distributor of decentralized stored energy that gets deployed back into the grid at peak hours if the homeowner isn't using it. Seems like an interesting concept if it takes off.

Welcome to the club!

For boiling water, turn it up past 235. That's the hottest I've even seen it with a pot of water. Got to remember that the temperature is taken from the bottom of the pan so it can get hotter than 212. For simmering, I'll hover around 212, but turn it down to medium or low power depending on how gentle or rough of a simmer I want.

I bought one earlier this summer. It's pretty good for a small meal. I like it as an outdoor oven so it doesn't heat up the house. I keep it stored outside, even in the rain (covered), and no problem.

Ditto here. Both of mine work as if they are new and get daily use.

Yes, each. Now that being said, I'd pay full price in a heart beat to replace them if anything were to ever happen to them. It's my most use piece of equipment in the kitchen other than the pots and pans that I use with it.

I got lucky and got both of mine for $800 off eBay. They were listed as "demo" units but came in the box with all the packaging perfectly intact. I was able to get both of them by placing a "offer" that was lower than the asking price... I haven't seen anything close to that price since.

Got my pair of thermometers. Just haven't had time to do much with them yet.

I ordered on day one and haven't gotten any notification of shipping yet.... did you get notification when it went out or was it just a nice surprise?

Just a heads up, Breville is offering 20% off the Control Freak until October 17th; the 20% off seems to include Amazon as well. Good deal for those waiting to pull the trigger.

I have a firmware update that was given to me back in 2018. Since then, they've stopped providing updates. I would say use at your own risk though because there are several models of the Control Freak (mainly based on country of origin I think) and I'm not sure if the update is universal.

Manual says it will flash if there is a failed software update.... I'm assuming you weren't updating the software at the time? Have you tried doing a long press of the power button?

Got it for free with Airmiles It makes a good piece of toast. My big complaint though is the orientation of the buttons. It takes up a lot of counterspace when you have to have it oriented that way. If you could align the long part of the toast with the counter, it would take up much less space. I actually didn't really have a spot for it because of this until I rearranged the kitchen with more wire shelving.

All setup. Aesthetically not the best, but functionally it's a big improvement. Should tide me over until I purchase a new place with a bigger kitchen in hopefully 2 years.

Table arrived. There is definitely something on it giving it a glossy sheen... looks like it may be Polyurtherane. Company is looking into what kind of finish it is for me. Feeling a bit more comfortable prepping on it.

I've chatted live a few times. It's a real person. But yes, with a lot of places it's just a robot. Live chat is closed though so I left a message.

Not working directly with a wood worker; something off the shelf but solid wood nonetheless. @pastrygirlmakes a good point about it being unlikely to be unfinished since it's a dining table. I've ordered it online though and can't assess the finish; the website also doesn't list anything. I just realized though that they have a live chat, so I 'll see if they can tell me anything.

Thanks, I'm pretty good at keeping hot things off counters with trivets and wire racks, so not too concerned about heat. It's mostly moisture. I'll assess the finishing of the table when it arrives and see if I think it'll need some Polyurethane. Don't really want to put a table cloth on it. I'm not a fan of them; covers up the beauty of the wood. I'm seeing they have some clear ones but they seem to bunch up no matter how much you try.

So I purchased a counter height table to replace my current dining room table. The table matches the depth of my island perfectly, and the plan is to butt the table up against my island to extend prep space when cooking and convert to dining space once all the prep is done. I've already done this with my current table and it functions great; just the current table is too deep and makes for a tight squeeze to pass by on one of the corners. The table is a bit pricey, but I splurged on it as it's a perfect fit for the space. It's solid wood. If I know anything about my experience with cutting boards, wood and moisture don't react well to each other without treatment. Just wondering what the best way to treat a walnut table would be? Don't mind having to repeat the treatment like I do with oiling up my cutting board. I know as much as I try not to, I will likely leave messes on the table overnight. Hopefully clean up anything containing moisture ASAP though.

@ChefChrisYoung can you give us an update on shipping? Specifically, do you still expect that the first orders are to be shipped next month? I notice on the website it now says shipping in September, but I'm thinking that's just for later orders? Thanks

Regardless of what plate you use, you'll lose the preciseness and accuracy of the Control Freak... it'll never go above the set temperature but there will be loss of heat from the plate to the cooking vessel. There will never be 100% contact between the two. Now, how much? Depends on the plate and the cooking vessel. It may be pretty minimal. Good thing about the Control Freak though is you can learn what works best with your plate and cooking vessel and then program in the temperature. Or just remember the temperature required like I do these days.

This arrived today... Had some issues upon arrival but was able to get it up and going with some excellent customer service from the Canadian distributor (TesTek)... look forward to experimenting with all the infusion cycles Ignore all the finger prints... that's from all the troubleshooting haha

So I was able to sell my VP215 for a good price thanks to inflation and I just put in an order for a demo unit of the Minipack MX2 for just a small upgrade premium (okay, maybe a $1000 isn't a small price). I know I'm getting a smaller chamber. My supplier says it'll fit a 10x12 bag which should suffice though (I have a bunch of 10x15 bags I'l need to cut down in size). I'm a bit sceptical about the 10x12 size but my brain isn't very good at envisioning geometry. Overall, I'll like the smaller foot print and the aesthetics for the kitchen; there's some additional functionality with humidity sensors that run program that pull and release vacuums in succession to create infusions or to marinate food; that should be fun to play with. Curious if anyone else owns the MX2? I hope I didn't make a mistake as I loved my VP215.

Was able to get the air intake grid cleaned. The filter itself I was able to get mostly clean; needed to use tweezers to pull out some dust lumps though. It’s currently drying.