Another player enters the sous vide field: Paragon Induction Cooktop

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

That was my first thought, too, but the user reviews suggested otherwise so I scrolled down and found this on the second page of the Q&As.  Bolding is mine:

 

 

I suspect the customer service person had never seen a probe, let alone used one for cooking.  However after reading the customer reviews I think you may be right.  When used with the Paragon the probe covers the range 80F to 375F, as does the mat.

 

GE probably aren't making the probes anymore anyway.

 

I, for one, still love my Paragon(s)!

 

[dtremit]

On 5/28/2021 at 5:36 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

GE probably aren't making the probes anymore anyway.

 

They're still for sale — for $175 (!!)

[blue_dolphin]

41 minutes ago, dtremit said:

 

They're still for sale — for $175 (!!)

I was amazed at that price - lots more than I paid for the Paragon!

[TheAvidHomeChef]

Any news on the latest cooktop that's capable of doing sousvide? I'm hunting for a new portable cooktop/ burner.

[gfweb]

10 minutes ago, TheAvidHomeChef said:

Any news on the latest cooktop that's capable of doing sousvide? I'm hunting for a new portable cooktop/ burner.

 

Its a real challenge maintaining exact temp with heating from below and no circulator.

 

Cooktops aren't well-suited to SV as far as I can see.

 

And an immersion circulator well-suited to the job can be had for <$200

[TheAvidHomeChef]

6 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 

Its a real challenge maintaining exact temp with heating from below and no circulator.

 

Cooktops aren't well-suited to SV as far as I can see.

 

And an immersion circulator well-suited to the job can be had for <$200

Many of the sousvide sticks are under $200. But it would be an overkill to have two heating sources.

 

Maybe future portable cooktops should include a temperature probe that's has a small propellor in it. 

[fledflew]

12 hours ago, TheAvidHomeChef said:

Many of the sousvide sticks are under $200. But it would be an overkill to have two heating sources.

 

Maybe future portable cooktops should include a temperature probe that's has a small propellor in it. 

In the scientific lab tools world (where immersion circulators originated from), they have hot plates that also stir - which is essentially a portable sous vide setup.  You put a little rod into the bottom of the beaker and it spins around magnetically.  These are used with glass vessels though and if the principle were applied to cooking, you'd have to use an aluminum or some other non-ferrous alloy (titanium?) so that the rod would still spin.  

[JoNorvelleWalker]

23 hours ago, gfweb said:

 

Its a real challenge maintaining exact temp with heating from below and no circulator.

 

Cooktops aren't well-suited to SV as far as I can see.

 

And an immersion circulator well-suited to the job can be had for <$200

 

My Paragon* was about $69, and I use it daily.  As much as I love my anova circulator I use it perhaps once a month, in a good month.

 

*in the living room I confess I have two spares.

 

[gfweb]

20 hours ago, fledflew said:

In the scientific lab tools world (where immersion circulators originated from), they have hot plates that also stir - which is essentially a portable sous vide setup.  You put a little rod into the bottom of the beaker and it spins around magnetically.  These are used with glass vessels though and if the principle were applied to cooking, you'd have to use an aluminum or some other non-ferrous alloy (titanium?) so that the rod would still spin.  

 

Mag stirrers lack the temp control of a SV. You could wire in a PID controller like some of us did in the early days of sous vide.

 

But why not just get a immersion circulator?

[KennethT]

3 hours ago, gfweb said:

 

Mag stirrers lack the temp control of a SV. You could wire in a PID controller like some of us did in the early days of sous vide.

 

But why not just get a immersion circulator?

Many years ago (while most of us were getting our circulators as used Polyscience on Ebay) I made a circulator like this - magnetic stirrer with a heating element controlled by a PID controller and a type T silicone encapsulated thermocouple.  You need a rack that sits above the stirrer bar to make sure there's no interference.

 

As @gfweb says, nowadays, there's no reason to go to such lengths with decent quality inexpensive circulators available.

Edited April 30, 2023 by KennethT (log)

[sverreef]

On 4/29/2023 at 5:13 AM, gfweb said:

 

Its a real challenge maintaining exact temp with heating from below and no circulator.

 

Cooktops aren't well-suited to SV as far as I can see.

 

And an immersion circulator well-suited to the job can be had for <$200

 

The scale and reduction by weight feature is the main reason my interest was peaked when I stumbled across the Njori Tempo recently, but the sous vide circulator attachment might be interesting for people who doesn't want/need a dedicated immersion circulator:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/njori-tempo-a-smart-cooker-for-adventurous-chefs#/