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New Toy: Breville/Polyscience Control Freak!


CanadianHomeChef

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On 12/30/2019 at 3:21 PM, Max Q said:

I bought one of these and took delivery last week. It's a UK model, badged "Sage Commercial" and it has an extra power setting, Max, which delivers 2400 watts.

 

Given that you can buy an induction hob on Amazon UK for £45 I would never have spent 20 times as much but it was a present and the giver specifically wanted me to have something extravagant.

 

This device stands or falls on the ability to measure and maintain temperature with great accuracy and to a lesser extent to deliver consistent power without pulsing.

 

While experimenting I found some strange behaviour - in some situations it seemed to get hotter than I would expect - I could see oil shimmering when the temperature was set to 130C for example.

 

So I did an experiment, first with water in a saucepan, when I used Pan Control but also had the probe in. I'd previously checked the probe against a separate thermometer and they were very close. I set a target temperature of 90C. What I expected to see is for both temperatures to rise, with the water temperature lagging behind the pan temperature, and equalising or nearly so at the end.

 

That's what I saw at first but while the pan temperature reached 90C and stayed there, the water temperature continued to rise until it reached 93C.

 

I tried the same thing with a cast iron frying pan and this time the water reached 100C and boiled fiercely so the pan must have been over 100C, yet the display said 90C.

 

Today I repeated the experiment with oil to remove the limiting caused by  the boiling point of water.

 

Here's what I saw:

 

IMG_20191230_122648.thumb.jpg.0ac207f875149023d9236c57d24637d7.jpg

 

This was at the peak of the overshoot. I waited 20 minutes until a steady state was reached and though the pan temperature was 90C the oil temperature was 98C.

 

I tried again on Slow and this time it wasn't so pronounced. This was after waiting 20 minutes for a steady state:

 

IMG_20191230_141509.thumb.jpg.e40fb785759fd8075e34dc2aef4123ba.jpg

 

Unless I've totally misunderstood the laws of physics, something is wrong here. The liquid can't be hotter than the container which is heating it.

 

Since I've checked the probe and I know it's accurate, the only answer that I can come up with is that the pan sensor is significantly under-reading the pan temperature, and by an amount which depends on the pan construction.

 

This is rather alarming. If I was shallow frying, such as making an omelette, there's no way I would be able to check the pan temperature was correct - I don't have an IR thermometer.

 

I'd be interested to know if anyone else has seen this as right now it's hard to see a reason not to return it.

 

 

 

It was collected today, so I await a verdict from SousVideTools.

 

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5 hours ago, bpwhistler said:

I cooked some poached eggs this morning. The consistency was PERFECT. 183 degrees F for 4 1/2 minutes. The only problem was they stuck to the bottom of the pan. Any suggestions?

 

What if you sprayed some Pam or other such spray oil onto the bottom of the pan?  I haven't tried it but it might work.

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1 minute ago, ElsieD said:

 

What if you sprayed some Pam or other such spray oil onto the bottom of the pan?  I haven't tried it but it might work.

Before putting the water in? Off the top of my head I'd think it would come up when the water started heating up...but I'll give it a go! Thanks.

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50 minutes ago, bpwhistler said:

Before putting the water in? Off the top of my head I'd think it would come up when the water started heating up...but I'll give it a go! Thanks.

Um, yes, before you put the water in.

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14 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Um, yes, before you put the water in.

LOL...Obviously before.  I was thinking you might have been talking about frying eggs as the idea of non-stick spray AND water had never REMOTELY crossed my mind.  Didn't mean to come of dense! 

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50 minutes ago, bpwhistler said:

LOL...Obviously before.  I was thinking you might have been talking about frying eggs as the idea of non-stick spray AND water had never REMOTELY crossed my mind.  Didn't mean to come of dense! 

Let me know how/if it works. I have the control freak also so I'm curious.  What were the whites like?

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8 hours ago, bpwhistler said:

I cooked some poached eggs this morning. The consistency was PERFECT. 183 degrees F for 4 1/2 minutes. The only problem was they stuck to the bottom of the pan. Any suggestions?

I am inspired. I had the same problem with the Paragon. So whether you spend $69 or $1800 your poached eggs will still stick to the bottom of the pan. Before this precision cooker I never had any problem with my poached eggs sticking to the bottom of the pan! Such is progress. 

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

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8 minutes ago, Anna N said:

I am inspired. I had the same problem with the Paragon. So whether you spend $69 or $1800 your poached eggs will still stick to the bottom of the pan. Before this precision cooker I never had any problem with my poached eggs sticking to the bottom of the pan! Such is progress. 

Exactly! Poaching on the non-precision cookers of the past...I RARELY had a problem with sticking.  I can't remember the last time it happened. I'm thinking with the temperature of the water at 183F, it's not boiling, allowing the eggs to drop and sit on the bottom of the pan.  The only option would be to increase to a simmer and decrease time.  I'll give that a try in the morning.

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40 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Let me know how/if it works. I have the control freak also so I'm curious.  What were the whites like?

Will do.  I'll give that a try.  I'm also going to try increasing the temperature to a simmer and see if that keeps the egg off the bottom of the pan.  It's too bad it stuck...the whites were perfect.  The egg was probably older as there were lots of 'wispy' parts of the white that came off.  The denser part of the white was cooked completely and still tender.  The yolk was completely runny! Just the way I like it!!

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29 minutes ago, bpwhistler said:

Will do.  I'll give that a try.  I'm also going to try increasing the temperature to a simmer and see if that keeps the egg off the bottom of the pan.  It's too bad it stuck...the whites were perfect.  The egg was probably older as there were lots of 'wispy' parts of the white that came off.  The denser part of the white was cooked completely and still tender.  The yolk was completely runny! Just the way I like it!!

Try cracking the egg into a strainer and those wispy bits will fall through the strainer and then you won't have those bits.

 

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9 hours ago, bpwhistler said:

Excellent idea! Thanks!!

 I always do that. Does not alleviate the sticking problem though. 

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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On 1/22/2020 at 6:22 PM, bpwhistler said:

Exactly! Poaching on the non-precision cookers of the past...I RARELY had a problem with sticking.  I can't remember the last time it happened. I'm thinking with the temperature of the water at 183F, it's not boiling, allowing the eggs to drop and sit on the bottom of the pan.  The only option would be to increase to a simmer and decrease time.  I'll give that a try in the morning.

Are you using a non-stick pan?  I generally do for poaching.  Not that it's necessary.  As for temps you should probably be closer to a very very low simmer with the Breville.  But I'm not an expert though.  I think the other suggestions are good also.  I use some poaching cups that are non-stick for my poached eggs.   

 

The Breville will make for some wonderfully easy eggs benedict :)

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On 1/23/2020 at 9:36 PM, SantiagoDraco said:

Are you using a non-stick pan?  I generally do for poaching.  Not that it's necessary.  As for temps you should probably be closer to a very very low simmer with the Breville.  But I'm not an expert though.  I think the other suggestions are good also.  I use some poaching cups that are non-stick for my poached eggs.   

 

The Breville will make for some wonderfully easy eggs benedict :)

Thank you.  I will try these suggestions too.

 

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I used a cast iron pan on my CF yesterday.  Apparently there is rust on the bottom.  Some of this transferred to my CF cooktop glass.  It didn't come off with simple water and dishtowel.  Any suggestions?  I haven't cleaned it with anything other than water and dishtowel at this point, so am hesitant.  Don't want to damage the top of my expensive unit!! 

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I use these: https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/vileda-glass-ceramic-scrunge-4-pk-0427675p.0427675.html?gclid=CjwKCAiA66_xBRBhEiwAhrMuLU0iocUxAjPyAMsQr_K5Nxc_AKXZ7YxAO8O2xhvhxPcKGikSFRfoaxoC_14QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Some people say that it might be a little harsh on the glass top, but it works on removing everything. After using my pair of control freaks everyday for the last 1.5 years, light scratches have been inevitable. Does not detract from the performance.

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3 hours ago, CanadianHomeChef said:

I use these: https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/vileda-glass-ceramic-scrunge-4-pk-0427675p.0427675.html?gclid=CjwKCAiA66_xBRBhEiwAhrMuLU0iocUxAjPyAMsQr_K5Nxc_AKXZ7YxAO8O2xhvhxPcKGikSFRfoaxoC_14QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Some people say that it might be a little harsh on the glass top, but it works on removing everything. After using my pair of control freaks everyday for the last 1.5 years, light scratches have been inevitable. Does not detract from the performance.

Thank you.

 

Any suggestions about my smaller (8" & 10") non-stick egg pans tipping up due to the temperature sensor with just a few eggs in them? They aren't cheapie pans.  They have some weight to them.

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4 hours ago, bpwhistler said:

Thank you.

 

Any suggestions about my smaller (8" & 10") non-stick egg pans tipping up due to the temperature sensor with just a few eggs in them? They aren't cheapie pans.  They have some weight to them.

To be honest?   You probably need to replace the pans.

 

I use the Anolon Nouvelle Copper Hard Anodized Nonstick skillets.   Super pans for induction (or other).   I also have a pair of All-Clad non stick skillets (8 and 10") and like them both.  The smaller pan is a bit lighter and can tip slightly when empty.


The only real solution to the problem you describe is a different pan.   The Anolon Nouvelle are really great pans for the money.

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