Joule Oven Air Fryer Pro

[Dave the Cook]

3 minutes ago, Greg Jones said:

You don’t think that there are already people today buying the wireless MEATER probe for use in a PID controlled pellet grill that comes standard with wired temp probes? And I assure you there are people in this thread who have, or will be, buying the Joule oven and Combustion probe. Just because you are not their market doesn’t mean there is no market for this technology. 

 

I was about to point out that there are lots of Big Green Egg owners, not to mention peeps who have invested in Thermoworks' Smoke apparatus who, are very interested in "monitor(ing) ambient temperature in tightly regulated thermostatically regulated environments . . ." Where I part ways with @Greg Jones is in thinking that there are many people who will buy the Joule oven and Combustion probe(for which we have a topic here) as a solution.

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, Greg Jones said:

And I assure you there are people in this thread who have, or will be, buying the Joule oven and Combustion probe. Just because you are not their market doesn’t mean there is no market for this technology. 

Okay, so you and who else?

[Greg Jones]

14 hours ago, weinoo said:

Okay, so you and who else?

I don’t recall where I said that I had, or would be, buying both the Joule oven and the Combustion thermometer. I have the oven, but the Combustion thermometer won’t ship for another 2+ months at best so I don’t expect a lot of folks to have purchased both today. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Chris Young perhaps has both today. I’m just saying that I believe there is a market for using a wireless probe in a PID controlled oven. Why else would Traeger, arguably if not factually, the largest seller of PID controlled ovens in the world  buy the MEATER company when they already ship their grills with wired temp probes? 

[btbyrd]

If Traeger ovens were all one cubic foot, well-insulated boxes containing a high speed convection fan, I don't think there'd be much of a market for using a wireless probe to measure the ambient temperature inside them. But the ones they actually sell are comparably drafty large cylinders that don't heat nearly as evenly as a something like the BSO or APO, so having multiple probes measuring ambient temperature at different points inside the oven is not the worst idea. I think the main thing though is that people hate wires in this day and age. If you can pop multiple probes in multiple pork butts and monitor them on your phone inside the house, that's a much nicer situation than having to go check on your wired probe every 30 minutes or whatever.

Anyway, I see the appeal of using a wireless probe in the Joule Oven, but again am not super sold on how beneficial having a probe that measures the ambient temperature would be (assuming that the oven is as accurate as it seems to be). The Combustion unit's multiple sensors and predictive timing is a different story altogether. It'd be cool if they could integrate that with the Joule Oven software, but I'd never buy anything on the basis of unannounced features based on the promise of updatable firmware.

I will follow the development of the oven and app with much interest, but I just pulled the trigger on the non-Joule version which I'd been planning on buying anyway. With the sale price, I couldn't see paying the 43% premium right now. Maybe in a year or two I'll upgrade. 

Edited March 30, 2022 by btbyrd (log)

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, Greg Jones said:

. Why else would Traeger, arguably if not factually, the largest seller of PID controlled ovens in the world  buy the MEATER company when they already ship their grills with wired temp probes? 

 

Gets rid of the competition, doesn't it?

[Greg Jones]

42 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

Gets rid of the competition, doesn't it?

 

42 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

Gets rid of the competition, doesn't it?

Please, explain to us how the manufacturer of a wireless temperature probe is in direct competition with… the manufacturer of a pellet grill.  

[Greg Jones]

48 minutes ago, btbyrd said:

Anyway, I see the appeal of using a wireless probe in the Joule Oven, but again am not super sold on how beneficial having a probe that measures the ambient temperature would be…

I agree completely. I don’t see the draw of the Joule oven/Combustion thermometer to be what it can do now, but the possibilities that might be in the future. There are some really creative and brilliant people behind the Joule and Combustion. 

Edited March 30, 2022 by Greg Jones (log)

[Greg Jones]

1 hour ago, btbyrd said:

I will follow the development of the oven and app with much interest, but I just pulled the trigger on the non-Joule version which I'd been planning on buying anyway. With the sale price, I couldn't see paying the 43% premium right now. Maybe in a year or two I'll upgrade. 

I forgot to mention-congrats on your purchase! I’ve only used mine thus far in manual (non Joule) mode, and I’m convinced it is a stellar countertop oven. So much nicer that the Cuisinart that it replaced.. 

[palo]

If you were to edit your first post rather than re-posting it would be easier to follow your argument 

 

That said I reiterate btbyrd's comment - what can you do now vs what you might be able to d in the future.

 

p

[gfweb]

45 minutes ago, Greg Jones said:

 

Please, explain to us ...

 

Us?

Who do you represent? All of us?

[weinoo]

2 hours ago, btbyrd said:

I just pulled the trigger on the non-Joule version which I'd been planning on buying anyway. With the sale price, I couldn't see paying the 43% premium right now. Maybe in a year or two I'll upgrade. 

 

Please keep us updated on how this works for you - toast included!

[btbyrd]

59 minutes ago, Greg Jones said:

I forgot to mention-congrats on your purchase! I’ve only used mine thus far in manual (non Joule) mode, and I’m convinced it is a stellar countertop oven. So much nicer that the Cuisinart that it replaced.. 

 

Thanks! And congrats on your purchase as well! I'm a bit jealous of the Joule functionality and am excited to see where it goes from here. Please keep us posted! My new Breville is also replacing a Cuisinart -- a lower end model we got 13 years ago when we got married. That was in a world before "smart ovens," and while this one does a halfway decent job of warming up Bagel Bites, it's definitely more toaster than oven (and it's a kind of lousy toaster at that). So happy to have something that's bigger, has convection, and has good temperature control. The high speed "air fry" modes are also welcome, even if I hate the phrase "air fry." 

 

4 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

Please keep us updated on how this works for you - toast included!

 

Will do! I'll even buy a bag of Wonderbread for the team to make that toast demo happen. I think from what I've seen, the toasting function is a bit darker in the middle of the oven and cooler near the edges... but I'll be sure to report back with some sample photos.

[Greg Jones]

1 hour ago, palo said:

That said I reiterate btbyrd's comment - what can you do now vs what you might be able to d in the future.

OK, I’ll play what might be possible even though I’m not the creative working with these companies. Let’s say I have a frozen sirloin and I’m wanting a reverse sear steak tonight. My options are to a) go to a steak house or b) wing it with what I have at home. Going with the plan b option, I put the frozen steak in a Joule sous vide bath and the  Combustion thermometer tells me when I have reached my target, pre-sear temp. Meanwhile, the technology has started my Breville Joule oven to the desired temp to sear the steak.
 

Later, I get a notification that the steak is done in the sous vide, transfer to the Joule oven where I later receive a notice to flip the steak. Then, when the steak has reached the desired pre-rest temp as determine by they Combustion probe, I get a notification to pull the steak and let it rest. All of this may sound like unnecessary BS for those who like to manually steer every function of cooking a meal, but for the folks that at best are ordering meals delivered by grubhub, this could change everything. 

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, btbyrd said:

Will do! I'll even buy a bag of Wonderbread for the team to make that toast demo happen. I think from what I've seen, the toasting function is a bit darker in the middle of the oven and cooler near the edges... but I'll be sure to report back with some sample photos.

 

Yeah, like almost all ovens, I'm sure it has it's "spots."  13 years out of a Cuisinart ain't bad.

 

Which Model Breville did you get - the 860 or 900? I'm looking and the larger of each of the oven categories is just a little too big for me.  It's weird, cause the 845 can currently be had for $230, which is way less than some of the others.

[btbyrd]

I went all in on the 900, but I can understand needing something smaller in NYC. But I think that toastwise, smaller is likely better (more even and closer to the elements). Really, it's hard to beat a dedicated toaster. But since I wanted something more akin to a secondary (or primary) oven, I went big.

[weinoo]

12 hours ago, btbyrd said:

I went all in on the 900, but I can understand needing something smaller in NYC. But I think that toastwise, smaller is likely better (more even and closer to the elements). Really, it's hard to beat a dedicated toaster. But since I wanted something more akin to a secondary (or primary) oven, I went big.

 

Yes, that's pretty much the issue here. Not only is it (the 900) bigger in length and depth, it's seems to be a bunch taller as well. And if smaller makes better toast, that's just a plus. I think the one we had in DC was the compact, and it toasted just fine.  As long as I can fit a whole chicken into it, I'll be good (and the last bird I bought weighed a whopping 2.5 lbs., so that shouldn't be a problem)!

[btbyrd]

Wonder Bread Toast Trials. Pretty much accords with what I'd seen elsewhere online. I toasted 9 slices on setting "5" out of 7. There was quite a lot of steam generated inside the oven during toasting.

 

 

 

 

 

Before toasting.

 

 

After toasting.

 

 

Not terrible, not the best. About what I expected. I think that six slices placed in the middle 2/3rds of the oven would be the best bet for toasting a lot at once. Some people reported needing to flip their toast halfway through, which I guess I can understand. It's was less toasted on the bottom relative to the top. The oven rack is pretty sturdy, so you get some intense reverse grill marks. But it eats just fine.

 

[gfweb]

8 minutes ago, btbyrd said:

Wonder Bread Toast Trials. Pretty much accords with what I'd seen elsewhere online. I toasted 9 slices on setting "5" out of 7. There was quite a lot of steam generated inside the oven during toasting.

 

 

 

 

 

Before toasting.

 

 

After toasting.

 

 

Not terrible, not the best. About what I expected. I think that six slices placed in the middle 2/3rds of the oven would be the best bet for toasting a lot at once. Some people reported needing to flip their toast halfway through, which I guess I can understand. It's was less toasted on the bottom relative to the top. The oven rack is pretty sturdy, so you get some intense reverse grill marks. But it eats just fine.

 

 

I wonder if using another setting than "toast" and adding convection would improve things.

 

eg bake at 400 + fan

[weinoo]

That's a lot of steam just from the moisture inside the bread.

 

Also, my guess is most of us don't use Wonder Bread all that often.  The baking on convection might work really well on a dense whole grain type of bread.