New Toy: Breville/Polyscience Control Freak!

[CanadianHomeChef]

4 hours ago, ocd said:

 

The Control Freak temperature chart puts 248-275F for pancakes. Your temperature and timing seem to come from this PolyScience video:

 

 

Yes. I remember reading it off the video now. I’ve been happy with the temp. 

[JeremyShel]

After reading this thread, I had to order one. My unit is arriving tomorrow. Has anyone found a location to share preset files? If there isn't one, I might setup a website for that purpose.

[ElsieD]

7 minutes ago, JeremyShel said:

After reading this thread, I had to order one. My unit is arriving tomorrow. Has anyone found a location to share preset files? If there isn't one, I might setup a website for that purpose.

 

That's a great idea.  

[Kerry Beal]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Went to show an EZtemper to a chocolatier inToronto this am - she is working out of a rather interesting commercial kitchen.  She is using her Control Freak to melt cocoa butter and to heat chocolate to temper. 

 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2019 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Foodie from Boston]

23 hours ago, CanadianHomeChef said:

If you PM me your email, I can send you the PDFs

 

Done - thanks so much!

[CanadianHomeChef]

I’m wondering how many units have been sold as a result of this thread? If only I made a commission 😂😂

[CanadianHomeChef]

36 minutes ago, Foodie from Boston said:

 

Done - thanks so much!

Will forward the PDFs when I get home. 

[CanadianHomeChef]

3 hours ago, JeremyShel said:

After reading this thread, I had to order one. My unit is arriving tomorrow. Has anyone found a location to share preset files? If there isn't one, I might setup a website for that purpose.

Love the idea. I was thinking of starting a facebook group, but wasn’t sure if there’d be enough interest. 

[Smithy]

4 hours ago, JeremyShel said:

After reading this thread, I had to order one. My unit is arriving tomorrow. Has anyone found a location to share preset files? If there isn't one, I might setup a website for that purpose.

 

Is there a reason it can't be done here, on eGullet? If not, one of you could start a topic titled "Preset files for Control Freak", or else simply include them in this topic.

[CanadianHomeChef]

2 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

Is there a reason it can't be done here, on eGullet? If not, one of you could start a topic titled "Preset files for Control Freak", or else simply include them in this topic.

 

What kind of attachments are allowed? Perhaps we could zip them up? I forget what the file extension is, but I can check. 

 

 

[Smithy]

10 minutes ago, CanadianHomeChef said:

 

What kind of attachments are allowed? Perhaps we could zip them up? I forget what the file extension is, but I can check. 

 

 

 

The list of allowable attachments is below, under the "Click to choose files" link. 

[kayb]

You people, stop this! I'm going to wind up buying one of these damn things, and I DO NOT NEED IT. Or at least, I don't THINK I need it.

 

Well, maybe I need it.

 

Y'all bunch of enablers.

 

[CanadianHomeChef]

I actually have a website of my own that we can use to host a database with downloadable FA1 files. Could even host pictures and videos that are linked to the temps/times if contributors were inclined to do so. The website was a food blog that I started last summer, after I was inspired with the Control Freak. I haven't had much time to update it since the school year started, so it's not really a public site yet. But may as well use the excellent hosting I got?

 

Here's a sample that I just put together: http://sizzleandsear.com/precisioncooking/

Here's a recipe I posted that I cooked on the Control Freak with video: http://sizzleandsear.com/recipes/how-to-make-butterscotch-pudding-from-scratch/

[AlainV]

After weeks of hesitation, I finally bought a CF unit from Amazon.uk three weeks ago.

 

I must be the only one who knows/use this induction burner in Belgium.  In fact It is not available in this country.

 

My unit (£ 1299 - ouch) is labelled Sage Commercial/Polyscience and develops 2400 W.  I am very happy so far but to boil 2-3 liters of water I prefer to use my 3500 W "ordinary" units.

 

The only problem is that the guarantee  is no longer valid (Breville do not guaranty a unit exported outside UK).  So fingers crossed for the future.

 

PS : excuse my english - I am french-speaking

[Snowpup]

I've been using 205°C (about 400°F) for crepes today.  Takes about 90 seconds a side.

 

They are coming out beautifully, if I do say so myself.

 

 

[ocd]

18 hours ago, kayb said:

You people, stop this! I'm going to wind up buying one of these damn things, and I DO NOT NEED IT. Or at least, I don't THINK I need it.

 

Well, maybe I need it.

 

Y'all bunch of enablers.

 

 

Ugh. I highly second this sentiment. I also own a Cuisinart CSO steam oven because of this forum.

[flippant]

I spent a couple of hours reverse engineering the recipe storage format a couple of months ago, but haven't had time to write anything up. My notes are a bit inscrutable to me, but I'll post them here in case it helps anyone develop some way to  share recipes. It's very minimal, with each recipe taking only 36 bytes. The recipes are written in a continuous span in the file and overwritten without nulling out the underlying bytes first.

 

Here is my understanding of the recipe structure, italicised text representing uncertainties.

• Bytes 1-20 are reserved for the name, each byte corresponding to the ASCII value of the letter or character, with the hex sequence `00 30 31` denoting early return.
• Bytes 21-30 are empty.
• Byte 31 corresponds to the temperature in Fahrenheit. If the temperature is above the max decimal value expressible by a byte (255), the high bit on the next byte, 32, is high (e.g has a value of `1` rather than `0`), indicating that `255` is to be added to the integer value represented by byte.
• Byte 32's 4 minor bits represents some sort of bitmask corresponding to the power level, I believe. 0000 = 1, 0010 = 2, 1000 = 3, 1100 = 4
• Byte 33 corresponds to the hour timer value.
• Byte 34 corresponds to the minute timer value.
• Byte 35 corresponds to the second timer value.
• Byte 36 possibly corresponds to the action(s) to take after the timer ends and/or when to start the timer? Possibly a split byte like 32.

Provided the uncertainties are done a way with, it should be a trivial matter to write a small piece of software (a web service, perhaps?) to generate these files from shared recipes.

Edited March 5, 2019 by flippant
Clarification (log)

[CanadianHomeChef]

45 minutes ago, flippant said:

I spent a couple of hours reverse engineering the recipe storage format a couple of months ago, but haven't had time to write anything up. My notes are a bit inscrutable to me, but I'll post them here in case it helps anyone develop some way to  share recipes. It's very minimal, with each recipe taking only 36 bytes. The recipes are written in a continuous span in the file and overwritten without nulling out the underlying bytes first.

 

Here is my understanding of the recipe structure, italicised text representing uncertainties.

• Bytes 1-20 are reserved for the name, each byte corresponding to the ASCII value of the letter or character, with the hex sequence `00 30 31` denoting early return.
• Bytes 21-30 are empty.
• Byte 31 corresponds to the temperature in Fahrenheit. If the temperature is above the max decimal value expressible by a byte (255), the high bit on the next byte, 32, is high (e.g has a value of `1` rather than `0`), indicating that `255` is to be added to the integer value represented by byte.
• Byte 32's 4 minor bits represents some sort of bitmask corresponding to the power level, I believe. 0000 = 1, 0010 = 2, 1000 = 3, 1100 = 4
• Byte 33 corresponds to the hour timer value.
• Byte 34 corresponds to the minute timer value.
• Byte 35 corresponds to the second timer value.
• Byte 36 possibly corresponds to the action(s) to take after the timer ends and/or when to start the timer? Possibly a split byte like 32.

Provided the uncertainties are done a way with, it should be a trivial matter to write a small piece of software (a web service, perhaps?) to generate these files from shared recipes.

 

Any chance it could be hacked so that after 10 minutes at one temperature it switches to another? You can currently set it to “keep warm” (forget the exact temp 140f?) after a set amount of time, but it would be nice to be able to have more control. 

[flippant]

1 minute ago, CanadianHomeChef said:

Any chance it could be hacked so that after 10 minutes at one temperature it switches to another? You can currently set it to “keep warm” (forget the exact temp 140f?) after a set amount of time, but it would be nice to be able to have more control. 

 

Given how bare-bones the recipe structure is, I don't think there's room for much of anything you can't already get interacting directly with the CF.

 

There are 10 empty bytes there though – they might yet add some functionality to make use of that space, but that would require a firmware upgrade first.

[CanadianHomeChef]

I’ll start filling out that table on the website tonight with my various temps. Let me know if anyone else has some temps that could be added. 

 

I think adding pics will be helpful as I’m sure that there isn’t consensus on the perfect temp for a pancake. A visual for 3 different temps could be helpful. 

 

Let me know if anything else would be useful. I could also link to pages with full recipes. 

[JeanneCake]

21 hours ago, kayb said:

You people, stop this! I'm going to wind up buying one of these damn things, and I DO NOT NEED IT. Or at least, I don't THINK I need it.

 

Well, maybe I need it.

 

Y'all bunch of enablers.

 

Come to the dark side kayb

I also own several things I would not have normally bought had it not been for you all singing various praises of such things...an Instant Pot, a Breville Smart Oven Air .... an EZtemper ❤️

 

Truthfully though, it was the first post that taught me this device existed.... and I talked myself out of it.  Twice.   Then it was Rose Levy Beranbaum's IG post about brown butter that made me realize this was a useful thing to have and then WmSonoma put it on sale.... and the rest is history.  Mine isn't getting delivered until May though, it's backordered so I'm living vicariously through all of you til mine arrives.....

 

Thank you

[JeremyShel]

Got mine today. Wow, is it a game changer. I made tapioca pudding and the texture came together so effortlessly that it's going to force me to reexamine my own experiences about what constitutes a simmer or a boil. It makes me feel inadequate, and I love that.

[CanadianHomeChef]

Added smoke points to the website for easy reference. Sortable by temperature. Will slowly plug away at other temps. 

[ElsieD]

I just had a look at the web site and think it will be very useful.  I will try and add to it in the coming days.  One thing I could not figure out was how to access the cooking chart.  I saw it and then I moved around the site and couldb't get back to it.

[CanadianHomeChef]

You mean: http://www.sizzleandsear.com/precisioncooking ? 

 

I don't have a navigation link to it from the rest of the site. The rest of the site is really a work in progress, and more of a personal project. But I could add a link.