Another player enters the sous vide field: Paragon Induction Cooktop

JoNorvelleWalker · December 25, 2019

4 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Who really knows? I thought I had it working but something kept flashing and eventually I discovered via the manual that one needs to charge the damn thing for four hours to get a full charge. I threw in the towel for a little while. I have onions semi caramelized and two glasses of aquavit scrambling my brain. Later gator.

When the sensor is operating properly the Bluetooth indicator will flash about every five seconds. The sensor does not read BAC.

JoNorvelleWalker · December 25, 2019

@Anna N I forgot to mention, when the battery is not charged the sensor can be used while it is connected to a charger.

Anna N · December 25, 2019

17 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

@Anna N I forgot to mention, when the battery is not charged the sensor can be used while it is connected to a charger.

May never work again. I just decided to try some sous vide and I put the sensor in the water instead of the probe. It is buried very deeply in a bowl of rice — uncooked rice that is. I should probably have left all of this for another day.

Edited December 25, 2019 by Anna N
Typos (log)

Anna N · December 25, 2019

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

@Anna N I forgot to mention, when the battery is not charged the sensor can be used while it is connected to a charger.

Perhaps you should write their next manual because this one is pretty damn poor. I used to write manuals for industrial software so I know something about the challenges. Nowhere in the QuickStart guide can I find any mention of the requirement to charge the sensor before you can do anything. Nor does it tell you that you need an external means of charging it. I spent some time examining the unit to see if there was a USB port there!

i’m going to continue to post here until the mods move it because I don’t think it’s going to make their life any more difficult if there’s a few more posts here.

**Shelby** · December 25, 2019

I wouldn't have the first clue how to use one of those so I think you're brave!

Anna N · December 25, 2019

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

May never work again. I just decided to try some sous vide and I put the sensor in the water instead of the probe. It is buried very deeply in a bowl of rice — uncooked rice that is. I should probably have left all of this for another day.

So it seems to be still working I didn’t leave it in the rice terribly long after doing some research that suggested that putting it in rice in the first place was kind of pointless. So now I am starting a sous vide cook of a pork chop. I have yet to figure out how to make the Paragon speak Celsius. So it is set for 132°F which is approximately 55.5555 whatever degrees Celsius. When the unit beeped to tell me that it had reached set temperature I checked it with my trusty Therma probe.

It seems to be pretty close — 55.3°C but it is varying by 1°F up and down as I watch it. That’s by no means a dealbreaker on a pork chop. Would it be on an egg? I don’t know. I doubt it’s going to push my Joule out of favour.

Reading the manual I see how to change from Fahrenheit to Celsius on the unit.

I also read that the sensor is water resistant but not water tight. Perhaps I have dodged a bullet.

Not very evenly caramelized onions but I blame myself on this one not the unit. I ran out of power before it did!

Sous vide set up. I have set a timer on my phone for two hours. I just need to find out how long the unit will run before it shuts off because I do know it shuts off and somewhere in the manual it tells me.

“After 30 minutes of inactivity in direct mode at power level 10, or 45 minutes of inactivity in precise mode at temperatures above 214°F, your cooktop will begin to flash and beep. Press the start button to continue at the current settings if Start is not pressed after one minute the cooktop shut off.”

this is only sort of informative. It would be nice to know what happens with the 24 to 72 hour sous vide cooking session which of course would be well below 214°F. Would it keep going or would it switch off at some point? Damn they need to do something about this manual.

Anna N · December 25, 2019

2 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I wouldn't have the first clue how to use one of those so I think you're brave!

Not in the least brave! Clueless would be a better description of me today! You know how you have those days when everything you touch turns to you know what? Yep that’s the kind of day I’m having. And it’s Christmas day. What’s with that?

**Shelby** · December 25, 2019

Just now, Anna N said:

Not in the least brave! Clueless would be a better description of me today! You know how you have those days when everything you touch turns to you know what? Yep that’s the kind of day I’m having. And it’s Christmas day. What’s with that?

I don't think those bad juju's care about what day it is. They just drop down and engulf us. Tomorrow WILL be a much better day

JoNorvelleWalker · December 25, 2019

40 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Perhaps you should write their next manual because this one is pretty damn poor. I used to write manuals for industrial software so I know something about the challenges. Nowhere in the QuickStart guide can I find any mention of the requirement to charge the sensor before you can do anything. Nor does it tell you that you need an external means of charging it. I spent some time examining the unit to see if there was a USB port there!

i’m going to continue to post here until the mods move it because I don’t think it’s going to make their life any more difficult if there’s a few more posts here.

I too used to write product manuals at one point in my life. I know it is not as easy as it looks.

It may not be necessary to charge the sensor before first use. But as I said I charged my sensor anyhow. Had you first tried as the quick start guide directed?

JoNorvelleWalker · December 25, 2019

49 minutes ago, Anna N said:

So it seems to be still working I didn’t leave it in the rice terribly long after doing some research that suggested that putting it in rice in the first place was kind of pointless. So now I am starting a sous vide cook of a pork chop. I have yet to figure out how to make the Paragon speak Celsius. So it is set for 132°F which is approximately 55.5555 whatever degrees Celsius. When the unit beeped to tell me that it had reached set temperature I checked it with my trusty Therma probe.

It seems to be pretty close — 55.3°C but it is varying by 1°F up and down as I watch it. That’s by no means a dealbreaker on a pork chop. Would it be on an egg? I don’t know. I doubt it’s going to push my Joule out of favour.

Reading the manual I see how to change from Fahrenheit to Celsius on the unit.

I also read that the sensor is water resistant but not water tight. Perhaps I have dodged a bullet.

Not very evenly caramelized onions but I blame myself on this one not the unit. I ran out of power before it did!

Sous vide set up. I have set a timer on my phone for two hours. I just need to find out how long the unit will run before it shuts off because I do know it shuts off and somewhere in the manual it tells me.

“After 30 minutes of inactivity in direct mode at power level 10, or 45 minutes of inactivity in precise mode at temperatures above 214°F, your cooktop will begin to flash and beep. Press the start button to continue at the current settings if Start is not pressed after one minute the cooktop shut off.”

this is only sort of informative. It would be nice to know what happens with the 24 to 72 hour sous vide cooking session which of course would be well below 214°F. Would it keep going or would it switch off at some point? Damn they need to do something about this manual.

I have not tested but I am pretty sure the unit never shuts off below 214F. If doing a 72 hr cook I'd keep the sensor plugged in so the battery did not run out. However the Paragon would not be my tool of choice for a 72 hr cook. I do know from experience that at 375F the unit will shut off if left unattended long enough.

Press and hold the + and - buttons together for three seconds to toggle the display to Celsius.

Edit: sorry, I misread, I see you already figured this out.

Edited December 25, 2019 by JoNorvelleWalker (log)

Anna N · December 25, 2019

51 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I too used to write product manuals at one point in my life. I know it is not as easy as it looks.

It may not be necessary to charge the sensor before first use. But as I said I charged my sensor anyhow. Had you first tried as the quick start guide directed?

52 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I too used to write product manuals at one point in my life. I know it is not as easy as it looks.

It may not be necessary to charge the sensor before first use. But as I said I charged my sensor anyhow. Had you first tried as the quick start guide directed?

I had tried and it was unresponsive.

Anna N · December 26, 2019

37 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I have not tested but I am pretty sure the unit never shuts off below 214F. If doing a 72 hr cook I'd keep the sensor plugged in so the battery did not run out. However the Paragon would not be my tool of choice for a 72 hr cook. I do know from experience that at 375F the unit will shut off if left unattended long enough.

Press and hold the + and - buttons together for three seconds to toggle the display to Celsius.

Edit: sorry, I misread, I see you already figured this out.

Yeah, I wouldn’t use it for a long sous vide cook unless forced to do so! I have both a Joule and an Anova. Still I don’t think it’s irrational to want to be reassured that it isn’t going to cut out partway through a 72 hour cook. Thanks anyway for the instructions on making it speak Celsius. It is on page 7 of the manual but unless you have the eyes of a healthy child you would miss it completely.

As an aside the safety feature of the cut off is not something I’m just sneezing at. I just need to know what it’s doing and when it’s doing it. My CSO, my BSO and before that my Max Burton and Eurodib induction hobs all cut out after a certain amount of time if not attended to. Sometimes it’s downright annoying but knowing it’s going to happen makes it somewhat less so.

So far all is well. It is maintaining a temperature somewhere between 131 and 133°F. By that I mean it’s bouncing.

blue_dolphin · December 26, 2019

I absolutely had to charge my sensor before I could get it to do anything. And I did try and really thought I'd gotten a dud. Even if they intended to ship them out fully charged, it would have been prudent to provide clearer guidance in the manual, just in case.

kayb · December 26, 2019

I agree the manual sucks. I broke mine out t'other day, planning to use it to melt some chocolate. Found never get it through the first step where it's supposed to "anbi" or some such. And the sensor never so much as flickered. Having no time to fool with it, I put it away.

And now I have the flu, so I've slept much of the day. Oh, well, as long as I'm better by the weekend.

JoNorvelleWalker · December 26, 2019

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

Yeah, I wouldn’t use it for a long sous vide cook unless forced to do so! I have both a Joule and an Anova. Still I don’t think it’s irrational to want to be reassured that it isn’t going to cut out partway through a 72 hour cook. Thanks anyway for the instructions on making it speak Celsius. It is on page 7 of the manual but unless you have the eyes of a healthy child you would miss it completely.

As an aside the safety feature of the cut off is not something I’m just sneezing at. I just need to know what it’s doing and when it’s doing it. My CSO, my BSO and before that my Max Burton and Eurodib induction hobs all cut out after a certain amount of time if not attended to. Sometimes it’s downright annoying but knowing it’s going to happen makes it somewhat less so.

So far all is well. It is maintaining a temperature somewhere between 131 and 133°F. By that I mean it’s bouncing.

I found the hard way that my big GE oven cut out as well. Fortunately there was a firmware setting buried somewhere in the manual.

Anna N · December 26, 2019

10 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I found the hard way that my big GE oven cut out as well. Fortunately there was a firmware setting buried somewhere in the manual.

Wow. Never heard of that before glad but you found the solution.

Anna N · December 26, 2019

So my sensor is fried. Way to go Nielsen. You had the toy for less than 24 hours and you wrecked it. @Kerry Beal’s husband, Gary, took it apart and operated but it is definitely without vital signs.

So champion that she is, Kerry has lent me her sensor (she does have a control freak as backup).

After we had lunch out today she came back to my house and made sure the sensor worked by poaching an egg. 85°C times 5 1/2 minutes produced an almost perfectly poached egg. I might back off to five minutes the next time.

If I could consistently get a poached egg that meets my stringent standards without having to hover over the stove then the Paragon will win a place in my kitchen somewhere — perhaps strung from the ceiling.

Does anyone who owns one of these units know if you can see the % of charge on the battery in the sensor?

JoNorvelleWalker · December 27, 2019

5 hours ago, Anna N said:

Does anyone who owns one of these units know if you can see the % of charge on the battery in the sensor?

Not to my knowledge but I believe you do get a notification below 15 percent charge.

Anna N · December 27, 2019

With considerable trepidation after yesterday’s dunking of the sensor, I returned to continue my shake down of the Paragon. One of the recommendations I ran across in my research for poaching an egg was 183°F for five minutes. Translated into language I understand that is 84°C when rounded off roughly. The feedback loop showed me that the temperature was actually bouncing between 81°C and 85°C. It never did really settle down.

I used the same pan that @Kerry Beal had used yesterday. She had no issue with the temperature bouncing. Not sure what that is all about.

Of course I could not just walk away this time although that is the ultimate goal of this experiment. So with a timer set for five minutes I strained the egg and placed it gently in the water. After four minutes I knew the egg was cooked just the way I like it.

So obviously further experimentation is going to be needed. The parameter I will change next time is to use a heftier pan to see if I can get any stability in the temperature.

I wonder what other experiments I should conduct. I am not much of a fan of hollandaise sauce but I’m sort of open to other suggestions. I’m hedging a bit because it depends on whether I have the ingredients and/or the stamina.

JoNorvelleWalker · December 27, 2019

Rapid mode will result in more bouncing than gentle mode if that helps.

Anna N · December 27, 2019

59 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Rapid mode will result in more bouncing than gentle mode if that helps.

Thanks! I will have to give that a try.

rotuts · December 27, 2019

well

@Anna N

Im following this now w a bit of interest

your CSO shut off ?

😧

mine never has

more particulares

circuit braker ?

how odd

Anna N · December 27, 2019

Perhaps I didn’t make myself very clear in fact I know I didn’t. But the CSO all functions I believe require that you set a time and once that time is up it will shut off. I could be wrong on this but that’s the way I’m pretty sure it works.

rotuts · December 27, 2019

I think it give you two hours

at the most

Id forgotten that

Anna N · January 2, 2020

On 12/27/2019 at 11:42 AM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Rapid mode will result in more bouncing than gentle mode if that helps.

I don’t think I have the patience to deal with the Paragon. I couldn’t even bring myself to post about the last time I used it. I was so frustrated I wanted to throw it across the room. But today I thought I would give it another go and see where it got me. The last time, the one I didn’t post about, I tried to use The gentle mode. All I wanted was water at 84°C. The damn thing stalled at 80° after 40 minutes and I just lost my patience.

This morning I tried again using gentle mode and a different pan. First Of all the sensor had lost all its charge although it hadn’t been used and was one would think fully charged. As a consequence I had to wait until it had a minimum charge before I could sync it again. Really? I’m going to blame this on a premature birth. They should’ve let the engineers have it a bit longer before handing it over to marketing!

Today I tried a different pan. I started out with water at 35°C. Yes, I could certainly have started with warmer water but I’m testing this unit out to see what it’s capable of. Apparently not much. After 56 minutes timed with a stopwatch it finally reached 84°C. I checked it against my thermal probe and it was only slightly higher than that at 84.5°C.Nevertheless, my four minute poached egg was well over cooked. I don’t blame the unit for that but obviously 84°C in four minutes does not work out to a properly poached egg.

Something that takes 54 minutes to reach temperature doesn’t work well for breakfast. It was almost lunchtime before I got my (overcooked) poached egg.

Is it just me or is everyone else having a great time with this unit? Am I too critical? That could be.

Edited January 2, 2020 by Anna N
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