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New Toy: Breville/Polyscience Control Freak!

CanadianHomeChef

By CanadianHomeChef
in Kitchen Consumer

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yenemy

yenemy

Posted
Posted

FYI, also on sale at Amazon US for the same price ($1199). With the Amazon CC drops the price down to $1139 including 5% cash back.

kelvie

kelvie

Posted
Posted

Is there a crowd-sourced temperature chart or spreadsheet or wiki or something with common temperatures so we can share?

 

For example, I found 200 C (pan temp) works great for a stainless steel whirley pop for making popcorn.

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blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, kelvie said:

Is there a crowd-sourced temperature chart or spreadsheet or wiki or something with common temperatures so we can share?

 

For example, I found 200 C (pan temp) works great for a stainless steel whirley pop for making popcorn.

 

Have you looked at this one that @CanadianHomeChef shared earlier in this topic?

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  • 3 weeks later...
yenemy

yenemy

Posted
Posted

We recently got one of these to try it out, and it has been fantastic. The only thing I would change about it, aside from the price, is that the thermometer probe is too short to reach the liquid/oil in some of our taller or larger pots when we're trying to do a smaller volume.

 

Looking at the probe, it has a regular TRS plug. Has anyone tried to use a non-breville probe with this machine, especially extra long ones (like 12-in long) used for barbecue?

  • 2 months later...
horseflesh

horseflesh

Posted
Posted (edited)

The Control Freak is 20% off at Breville's online shop right now ($1200). 

 

I have a unique coupon that actually stacks and brings it down to $900. I gotta sleep on it, but this may be the year I pull the trigger. I doubt I'll find a better price. 

 

EDIT: I did it. Now, where are cool Control Freak user groups and resources, besides this thread? 

Edited by horseflesh
Wheee (log)
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Laurentius

Laurentius

Posted
Posted
On 9/14/2023 at 9:33 AM, yenemy said:

FYI, also on sale at Amazon US for the same price ($1199). With the Amazon CC drops the price down to $1139 including 5% cash back.

 

Still 'way overpriced.  $700 is more like it.

horseflesh

horseflesh

Posted
Posted (edited)

Got my Control Freak!

 

I have just barely plugged it in but it's obvious it is going to require a very different way of doing things. 

 

What do you set if you want water to boil ASAP? Maximum speed and 212F / 100C? 

What if you want water  just barely simmering? Technically, that water is still at 100C right? 

 

I can imagine the true target temps would depend on your pan too, and how it conducts heat to the central spot. 

 

Edit: I see it prints guides like "simmer" and "high" so for crude tasks like boiling and simmering you can just go my the overall percentage?

 

Edited by horseflesh (log)
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Smithy

Smithy

Posted
Posted
On 12/14/2023 at 2:49 PM, horseflesh said:

Got my Control Freak!

 

I have just barely plugged it in but it's obvious it is going to require a very different way of doing things. 

 

What do you set if you want water to boil ASAP? Maximum speed and 212F / 100C? 

What if you want water  just barely simmering? Technically, that water is still at 100C right? 

 

I can imagine the true target temps would depend on your pan too, and how it conducts heat to the central spot. 

 

Edit: I see it prints guides like "simmer" and "high" so for crude tasks like boiling and simmering you can just go my the overall percentage?

 

 

Congratulations! I don't have a Control Freak, so I can't advise you on settings. I can, however, answer your question about simmer temperature: no, it isn't 100C. I learned, from reading and my own experimentation, that a low simmer is as cool as 85C. It also depends on your altitude, just as boiling point does. You can read the discussion in full, here.

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

Posted
Posted
On 12/14/2023 at 1:49 PM, horseflesh said:

Got my Control Freak!

 

I have just barely plugged it in but it's obvious it is going to require a very different way of doing things. 

 

Congrats on your new gear! 

 

This temp table made by @CanadianHomeChef  doesn't address your specific query about simmering water, but may be helpful for other things. I keep it bookmarked!

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CanadianHomeChef

CanadianHomeChef

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

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.

Sizzle and Sear

Owner/Editor

https://www.sizzleandsear.com/

horseflesh

horseflesh

Posted
Posted (edited)

It's hilarious that my first question when I got the Control Freak was, "how do I just boil water?" 

 

Thank you for the links and advice. And for compiling that list of temps, @CanadianHomeChef

 

In my bookmarks I also found this list of temperatures, which perhaps came from earlier in this thread.

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1azCSYUU4I25VbHfaPnhOvF_fHplbhMvy/edit#gid=1369374172

 

(And that list references this cool Breville infographic and some other sources. Thanks, whoever made this!)

 

I have only used my CF a few times now, for boring things like ramen and making quesadillas, but I can already see how thinking in terms of temperature and not power is going to be so cool. 

 

Now I have to scan the thread for cookware recommendations, as the only induction pans I have are mediocre. 

 

Edit to add: I reformatted the official Breville temperature chart to be easily printable on a portrait page, at maximum size. This did require removing the header and branding (forgive me, Breville). It's attached.

 

Breville Control Freak temperature chart official (resized for printing).pdf

Edited by horseflesh (log)
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afs

afs

Posted
Posted (edited)

@horseflesh

The temperature for simmering and for boiling water will depend on your elevation.

For simmering, 90C (194F) to 95C (203F) is usually the right range, depending on what you're trying to simmer (since simmer is not exactly a precise word).

For boiling at sea level, I'd probably use 105C (221F) if you're looking for a roiling boil, and closer to 100C (212F) if you're just wanting a bit of a boil.

The thing that complicates these things is altitude.  For a lot of people, living at higher urban altitudes, water boils closer to 95C (203F).  So that reduces the delta between what a simmer is and what boiling is.

There should be quite a few sites on the Internet that can tell you what temperature water should boil at for your altitude.  Here's the first Google result I found:
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/boiling-points-water-altitude-d_1344.html

 

As always, for any given temperature setpoint, the Control Freak will basically transition from pushing lots of heat to raise the temperature mode to pushing a little heat to maintain temperature mode.  So if you want to actively boil water, you want the temperature setting to be a little higher than the boiling temperature.  I just wouldn't go too much higher, or you might find yourself dumping a whole lot of extra energy into that water.

Edit: I just saw @Smithy's post, so you're probably already on top of the altitude thing.

Edited by afs (log)
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  • 2 weeks later...
horseflesh

horseflesh

Posted
Posted

After a couple of weeks with the Control Freak, wow, am I happy I got this thing. I am starting to understand why some people on the thread just stopped using their gas cooktop and put Control Freaks up there instead. More than once I found myself saying, "I wish I bought two." Maybe next year if the same deal comes along again! 

 

 

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CanadianHomeChef

CanadianHomeChef

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
20 hours ago, horseflesh said:

After a couple of weeks with the Control Freak, wow, am I happy I got this thing. I am starting to understand why some people on the thread just stopped using their gas cooktop and put Control Freaks up there instead. More than once I found myself saying, "I wish I bought two." Maybe next year if the same deal comes along again! 

 

 

Welcome to the club!

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Sizzle and Sear

Owner/Editor

https://www.sizzleandsear.com/

  • 3 weeks later...
Dex

Dex

Posted
Posted

Just picked up one of these. Has firmware L1C1.0_1.2_A57. Is that the latest? I can't seem to find the updates on the website.

 

Also, how do you guys keep the screen clean? Looks like it's plastic and may scratch easily, I don't want to hit it with a paper towel.

horseflesh

horseflesh

Posted
Posted
45 minutes ago, Dex said:

Just picked up one of these. Has firmware L1C1.0_1.2_A57. Is that the latest? I can't seem to find the updates on the website.

 

Also, how do you guys keep the screen clean? Looks like it's plastic and may scratch easily, I don't want to hit it with a paper towel.

 

That is what mine came with. I contacted support to see if there was an update because I also couldn't find more info on the web site. They assured me it was the latest. (They also said it was the last.)

 

I've been cleaning mine with the same kitchen rag and spray cleaner I use on countertops. The display has been OK so far and I haven't been especially careful about it. But if I wanted to guarantee there were no scratches ever I'd use a microfiber cloth or an old t-shirt. 

 

You will love your Control Freak!

  • 1 month later...
kelvie

kelvie

Posted
Posted

Does anyone own a Moka pot as well as the control freak? I'm wondering if it'll work on it, or if it's too small (the polyscience is really fussy about pot sizes and materials and positioning before deciding there's no pot on the stove).

  • 2 weeks later...
Dex

Dex

Posted
Posted

Looks like there is a newer bigger display. Hopefully it's glass. I put a small piece of automotive PPF on my display so I could wipe the grease off with paper towels without scuffing it up.

 

What does the weight sensor do?

afs

afs

Posted
Posted (edited)
23 hours ago, Robenco15 said:

ChefSteps announced a home version coming out in April. Practically exactly the same. $999 for their studio pass members. 


Very cool.  $200 cheaper (plus an extra $300 off, for a limited quantity, for $69/yr. ChefSteps subscribers).  US-only, 1800W-only, for now.

It looks like it's not a "washdown-style" unit like the regular commercial units, but most homes aren't looking for that high of a level of water resistance.  Breville slimmed down the machine a bit to make it more manageable in homes, without reducing the coil size or residential cooling capacity.  Commercial kitchens and residences in very hot climates may still want the commercial version though, as it's designed for higher ambient temperatures.

The touchscreen interface, the custom program creation, etc. are all nifty.  I see that Breville removed the 6 screen-edge buttons and the time knob.  I'm not sure that the time knob got used much, but I sure hope there's an easy way to use the knob to adjust heat intensity (i.e. not rely on the screen).  That middle-right button is virtually the only button I ever use other than the power button.

Here's the comparison chart:
https://d3awvtnmmsvyot.cloudfront.net/api/file/jFOrapLTBOLzkuxAf65w

I'm really tempted to pick one of these up.  Even with a couple regular Control Freaks and one Control Freak home, it's usually easy to move a pan from one unit to another without losing the pan temperature or the current temperature setting--so it wouldn't be hard to integrate this into a daily cooking workflow at home.
 

Edited by afs
Edit: I am not sure if the USB port is still a feature. There's a port/hole of some sort there. (log)
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Laurentius

Laurentius

Posted
Posted
On 3/19/2024 at 5:53 PM, afs said:

 Even with a couple regular Control Freaks and one Control Freak home...
 

You have quite a collection.  Why don't you also pick up a Panasonic Met-All unit that works with aluminum and copper?

dtremit

dtremit

Posted
Posted
On 3/19/2024 at 8:53 PM, afs said:


Very cool.  $200 cheaper (plus an extra $300 off, for a limited quantity, for $69/yr. ChefSteps subscribers).  US-only, 1800W-only, for now.

It looks like it's not a "washdown-style" unit like the regular commercial units, but most homes aren't looking for that high of a level of water resistance.  Breville slimmed down the machine a bit to make it more manageable in homes, without reducing the coil size or residential cooling capacity.  Commercial kitchens and residences in very hot climates may still want the commercial version though, as it's designed for higher ambient temperatures.
 

 

It seems like they made a pretty good set of compromises compared to the original — the smaller size and weight are definitely a plus for the home, and I can't imagine e.g. the metal vs plastic subframe is something a lot of home cooks would ever notice. Same element, sensor, probe, and max temperature goes a long way.

 

On 3/19/2024 at 8:53 PM, afs said:

The touchscreen interface, the custom program creation, etc. are all nifty.  I see that Breville removed the 6 screen-edge buttons and the time knob.  I'm not sure that the time knob got used much, but I sure hope there's an easy way to use the knob to adjust heat intensity (i.e. not rely on the screen).  That middle-right button is virtually the only button I ever use other than the power button.

 

The Youtube video embedded in the project page shows the knob being used to adjust temperature (link is to the timestamp showing that feature), and they mention being able to use it without the touchscreen.

 

Sort of surprising that there's no mention of compatibility with their app.

 

Glad I picked up a half price Studio Pass after Christmas! 

 

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horseflesh

horseflesh

Posted
Posted

I love the dedicated time knob on the CF. I hope the timer isn't buried on the home version. There might be enough room on the touchscreen for a dedicated timer. 🤞

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