Tovala Smart Oven

[Kerry Beal]

Might be good as cheap advertising.

 

 

[rotuts]

they have a new tier   which is a bit odd :

 

199 + shipping but you get it in March '17

 

you can trade down if you pledge more

[rotuts]

I just got the email from the Tovala Team :

 

 

I personality don't care for this sort of solicitation at all.  chummy or not.

 

Id just like the over to be of good quality etc.

 

BTW   no response to my two e0mails re warranty and manual control buttons.

 

still   fingers and toes crossed.  sort of.

[Deryn]

Ugh, rotuts. I do hope that was not the only response you receive - but only an auto-generated response to your purchase, one that all 'backers' receive - and the more personal, answers to your questions one is also 'in the mail' and will arrive soon.

[rotuts]

still .....   it the oven that interested me.

 

 

.....

[rotuts]

better and better :

 

 

 

30 day  warrantee not so good.

 

so its a bit of a gamble id say

Edited March 17, 2016 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

I asked them why the warranty is so short.

[gfweb]

They lose points for spelling

 

[rotuts]

has any one else here on eG pledged for this oven ?

 

Im curious as to what you think the 30 day warranty implies 

 

 

[blue_dolphin]

I have not supported the Tovala Kickstarter campaign.  If I didn't already have the Cuisi steam oven, I think I'd take a chance.  The slightly larger capacity, if it can really accommodate a 1/4 sheet pan would be great, thought that's probably more for the convenience of using existing cookware than actually cooking more food.  And it does look nice and sleek.   A 30 day warranty would certainly give me pause. 

 

On one hand, I much prefer the tactic of using a mobile device app to control an appliance over building a complex user interface into the appliance itself.  On the other hand, I'm not sure that this particular appliance is one that benefits from that sort of remote access.  I'm concerned that the limited manual buttons will require excessive use of the remote user interface.  If I check and decide that something needs 5 more minutes on convection or broil after the steam-bake time that I've entered, do I really need to get the phone and use my greasy, cooking fingers to add that setting to the little oven that's sitting right in front of me?  

 

My first thought was that it would be nice to program in cook cycle that would steam-bake for x minutes and then switch to broil for y minutes but the reality is that I'd prefer to check the food after the first phase and decide what additional cooking was most appropriate.

 

I thought it was interesting that several photos and videos on the Tovala Kickstarter page show the Cuisi steam oven being used in their "test kitchen" and apparently in their prototype development.  

 

I'm really curious to see what they do with this.  If you want to start your own, @rotuts-kickstarter  to fund your continued participation in the Tavola scheme, I would contribute, knowing that you have a solid record in testing and reporting your carefully documented (lab notebook) results!  

Edited March 17, 2016 by blue_dolphin (log)

[fledflew]

Regarding the warranty, I specifically recalled reading about a 1 year warranty.  I checked the FAQ's and the 30 day period is a "return it if you don't like it" period.  Seeing the Tovala's response to rotus, I had to search again and found the mention in the comments section. 

 

[rotuts]

Ill stick with it if its 1-year.

 

Ill let eG know what they say.

 

 " we have a heater on the bottom of the machine that will make sure that no water accumulates in the bottom of the machine '

 

interesting.  implies there is no 'drip pan ' under the over, a la CSB

 

in the CSB  there is condensation on the sides during cooking.  the water has to go somewhere.

Edited March 17, 2016 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

somebody at Tavola needs to talk to somebody else at Tavola :

 

 

at least there is a drip pan

[Deryn]

Warranty - Guarantee. Sigh. 'Continued strong usage'? And they are only concerned with the 'hardware'? Their major 'innovation' really seems to be the 'software' ... no? Are you contacting a 'call center' in India or the Philippines perhaps? Hate to sound skeptical - I really want this to work out well for you, rotuts - but this doesn't look good to me.

Edited March 17, 2016 by Deryn (log)

[Barrytm]

I looked at the kickstarter page briefly, and maybe I misread it,  but it does not appear to be a true combi.  I read it to say that it switches from different modes such as steam to bake very quickly,  that would suggest it does not have  a steam bake mode , but again I may be mistaken.

[rotuts]

Ill ask

 

here is the reply :

 

 

I tried to get them interested in eG' and this thread

 

to answer directly.

[rotuts]

they posted on KS a video of the guts of a development machine for backers only

 

here is the best shot i could get of the controls on the top :

 

[rotuts]

that 1/4 sheet pan ?

 

 

Im guessing its not going to fit so easily

 

rats.

[blue_dolphin]

55 minutes ago, rotuts said:

rats.

Indeed!

[rotuts]

an email mentioned they were on the Today show :

 

 

 

Im wondering if Cuisinart has seen this and how much does Cuisinart expect to sue them for ?

[Deryn]

If you blinked you missed it. The sales pitch was mostly about the app and the pre-made dinners as far as I can tell.

[blue_dolphin]

From this article on WIRED:

The app is essential for manually entering temperature controls for your own freestyle meals, as there’s no temperature dial on the oven itself. (emphasis mine)

 

If that's true, it would be deal breaker for me.  I don't want to be accessing a remote phone app every time I need to change the temp.

[rotuts]

I emailed them again.  I urged a membership on eGullet and asked specifically how

 

I could  1 ) set  Steam-bake  @ 350   for  30 min.

 

without and app or wifi

[rotuts]

here is my answer from Tovala :

 

 

hopefully they will clarify if and when bluetooth via not just a phone, but a Pad and a iTouch before the april cut off date.

 

Im hopeful this will work out.

[fledflew]

As an early backer, I received an email invitation to an SF Launch Party for the Tovala that takes place tomorrow (3/30/2016).  I RSVP'd and will try and make it up there (as long as I don't get caught up at work).  The invitation mentioned made from scratch foods that will be prepared in the Tovala oven so we can watch it in action accompanied by frosty beverages.  It doesn't mention any actual hands-on time though.  I hope to get a good close look at it then, be able to see what sort of features can be manually controlled (and how intuitive they are), and speak with the people bringing it to market.  I'll try and take plenty of pictures of the device and get them uploaded here.  Also, if anybody has questions that you'd like me to pose to staff there, please let me know.  I'll try to remember to check this thread again before heading up there tomorrow afternoon.  They also mentioned that they plan on having launch parties in other cities as well.