Aki

Yes that's correct, it has the additional "Max" setting.

Yes that's right, I am pretty sure the pan type and size plays a big role in this. I have checked the coil pattern before and I am pretty sure the edge sensor was right on top of the coil. Also, I measured the temperature the moment the Control Freak beeped that it has reached the temperature (I did not wait for it to stabilise on the non-liquid tests).

Sorry for the delay but I finally managed to get around testing the device with a pan with oil, methodology is similar to before: I used my All-Clad 12" D3 pan filled with water up to 75 C and Rice Bran oil for temperatures up to 250 C I attached the Control Freak temperature sensor on the centre of the pan without it touching the bottom and used a Thermapen as well I made sure the Control Freak and especially the pan sensor were clean and dry I set the pan on the stove and the intensity to "Low" (I had to switch this to "Medium" for the oil test on temperatures above 200 C because the hob would not cope) Finally, I cycled through all possible temperatures in 25 C increments letting the pan stabilise for 2 minutes each time (using pan sensor, not probe sensor). The day I did the test was hotter so I started the liquid tests from 30 C. A few things I noticed from this testing: "Low" intensity is not enough for water above 75 C and oil above 200 C 2 minutes waiting after each temperature was reached (on the pan) is not enough for the liquid to reach the same temperature, around 10 minutes would have been better The oil at high temperatures did reach higher temperatures than what was measured previously with a surface sensor. Which means that if the pan has at least some "load" then it will be closer to the shown pan temperature For tests on the higher temperatures there was a few seconds lag between measuring with the Control Freak probe and the Thermapen, that is why there is such a difference at 150 C and 200 C. Overall this was done in a fairly unscientific way which lead to inconsistent results, regardless though it shows to me that the hob is working as expected at least when there is "load" in the pan.

I am using a Brymen BM869s multimeter with two thermocouples attached to it. It should be accurate within 0.3% + 1.5C (thermocouple accuracy not included), so for example at 250C it should be accurate within a range of 247.75C - 252.25C. Unfortunately my thermocouples are not waterproof but I have a ThermoWorks Smoke and a Thermapen that I can use with water and oil. I'll try to get some measurements done by the end of the week and post here.

Hi all, I too was considering the price of the Control Freak too crazy. I was hoping it would come down to price one day and I've seen it swing from £900 all the way to £1500. After reading this thread, I got convinced that it was a good investment to make and I got lucky spotting a £600 deal on Sous Vide Tools for a refurbished unit. I received my refurbished unit and other than a few marks here and there and a slightly melted rubber seal on the edge of the plate it all looks good. I decided to test the unit to make sure it performs to spec and I noticed what I think is an odd behaviour but I am not 100% convinced it's a problem. Basically, I took these steps for my testing: I used my All-Clad 12" D3 pan where I attached one temperature sensor on the centre of the pan, and one on the edge I made sure the Control Freak and especially the pan sensor were clean and dry I set the pan on the stove and the intensity to "Low" Finally, I cycled through all possible temperatures in 25 C increments Here is a picture of the setup where T1 on the multimeter (bottom) is the centre sensor and T2 (top) is the edge sensor: And here are my test results (in Celsius): As you can see, the higher the temperature, the bigger the variation between the pan sensor and the temperature probe on the pan. The worst case was a 25 C degree difference at 250 C. I don't think this affects the performance of the device much, but has anyone else seen these results? Can you consistently get the set temperature regardless of how high it is?