We are building an open source precision cooktop and want to know what you think

[Vapre]

28 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 

What am I thinking of? There was some crazy-priced induction thing that several bought for less off ebay.

Maybe the Breville Control Freak, it goes for 1.5K

[trfl]

20 hours ago, chromedome said:

I remember you! Glad to hear that the LoafNest was a success, however modest (I gave you a quote for the campaign). 

 

I am on record here on the site (probably more than once) as saying that induction would be perfect for seniors (for safety/convenience reasons), if only someone would build an affordable induction hob with a simple dial rather than [expletive] touchpads. I'm not nearly as exacting in my use of induction as some of the others here on the site, largely because I have no meaningful use-case for sous vide, but a unit with better control than the two I currently use (both of them increment the power in 10 steps, so I'm often choosing between "a bit too fast" and "a bit too slow."

 

At this point app-controlled/IoT devices are a hard no for me, and I'm an open-source guy by inclination (Ubuntu Linux is my OS of choice since 2007), so you check the right boxes for me on that front, as well.

Several people here on the site bought an induction hob called Paragon, which also aimed for precision at a low price (perhaps some owners could weigh in on similarities and differences?) but sadly didn't make it commercially. Hopefully you fare better with this device.

 

I remember you too! You quote is permanently enshrined on the Kickstarter, thank you once again!

Also, thanks for all the positive words about our next project.

 

I think it is worthwhile for me to clarify here that this product is not an Induction based one. It is based on resistive heating (similar to old electric stoves, but a lot more responsive).

 

This was one of the hardest decisions (so far!) for us to take on this product. Induction has its advantages. It is responsive, it is efficient, the cooktop remains cool and easier to clean.

 

But, our decision to go with non-induction based technology was because:

• Induction is notorious for being not-uniform in heating. The best multi-layer pans still have a 10-50 F variation [Source. In this case, using a Control Freak, arguably a high performance induction cooktop in every aspect]. Something like cast iron can have 80 F non-uniformity. In our view, for a precision cooker, all the accuracy of 1 F is kind of pointless if the uniformity is 10 to 50 times worse. The figurative lipstick on the pig. So we took an approach more favoring the uniformity.
• Induction restricts your pan choices. While for most purposes this is not a big issues, we think for precision cooking the compatibility with better spreading materials like copper of aluminum pans is of added value. Apart from material, induction also does not work for very small pans because the detectors do not detect it.
• Induction is noisy. The coils through which the induction currents run, need to be actively cooled. This often mandates a fan of reasonable size. Not much of an issue during regular cooking, but if you want to use your precision cooking for a 72 hour fermentation cycle or for a fondue on the dining table, this gets very annoying.
• Induction makes the electronic design a lot more complex. The power electronics get more complex which increases the cost of the whole thing. We do not think it would be feasible to do justice at this price point for an electronic design that would be sufficiently robust, reliable and durable.

Paragon, Hestan Cue, Tasty one top, Oliso are all the products that tried to make precision cooking induction around this price point but failed to sustain it commercially. Of course, I do not know the reason, but I can hypothesize that the market size is too low to give economies of scale for such devices at this price point. The available ones with similar function like Contro Freak, Ztove or Impulse cooktop all retail for 1500-6000 $.

 

We believe that staying away from Induction will give this product its best chance of materializing and staying commercially sustainably.

 

Oh, there is one more non-technical reason we are not doing Induction. The patent landscape here is really a landmine and as a tiny two-person company, we do not want to rub the big guys wrong way. We are probably a rounding error for a large company, but we will never know.

 

In the future, may be as you say, we will just create a simple induction cooktop with mechanical controls because how much we hate touch controls.

[gfweb]

Given that the public  is still pretty clueless  re induction, perhaps a more focused market...eg safe deep frying, would be an angle for you.

 

I like the "safe for elderly" spin somebody suggested upthread as well

[JoNorvelleWalker]

19 hours ago, gfweb said:

Wasn't paragon about $2000?

 

 

 

I have three.  I paid $69.  I use them daily.  I have not turned on my stove so far this year.  At the moment breakfast is pancakes.  The Paragon holds the griddle at 375F so I don't have to think about it.  Yes, I know it's Fahrenheit but no device is perfect.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

If the device were not induction I would not be interested.

 

[TdeV]

I am interested though. 😀

[md8232]

Good luck with this.  Any idea when this might become available?

[paulraphael]

For me, the big advantage of using resistive heat instead of induction is it open the possibility of a magnetic stirrer.

 

I use my lab hot plate with my stainless-lined copper pans. They'd also work with pyrex or anything else that's non-magnetic (I realize this greatly limits cookware choices, especially these days). 

[AlaMoi]

. . . .aaahh . . ooops . . . . 

"what" precisely is the "thing" that "open source" enables?

 

for a induction source - one can control on-off, temperature ramp/up down rate, prolly a few more parameters.

 

for the proposed hot-coil design, there is absolutely nothing but "on" or "off" - unless the device has 'heat level control via binary on/off -  or at max control . . . voltage applied at the 'on-off' cycle.

 

which, btw, is the same technology/approach used in induction "control" - seconds on, seconds off.

uhmmm, sorta' 

many induction plates incorporate 'wattage' control,,,  so . . ' low' is a  less 'aggressive' setting . . . .

 

given that 'none of the above' is governed by any standard , , , it is strictly a "in my experience" issue.

[trfl]

On 1/27/2026 at 3:37 AM, md8232 said:

Good luck with this.  Any idea when this might become available?

To be honest, there is no definite timeline. We are a small company and we do realize this will be a significant financial endeavor for us. It would take around 100k for the tooling and first batch production, which is a large sum at our scale. The uncertainties around international trade are not helping either. Currently, we are working on building interest while we are busy using our prototype at home. Do sign up for our mailing list if you haven't already. That is one place where we will share progress as/when it happens.

[trfl]

16 hours ago, paulraphael said:

For me, the big advantage of using resistive heat instead of induction is it open the possibility of a magnetic stirrer.

 

I use my lab hot plate with my stainless-lined copper pans. They'd also work with pyrex or anything else that's non-magnetic (I realize this greatly limits cookware choices, especially these days). 

Yes, magnetic stirrer would be possible in theory, but I would think it would be of limited use to stir thick sauces or stews. As an alternative, we are providing an 'auxilliary' onboard DC power jack that can be used to attach a sour-vide style water circulator for thin liquids or a 'StirMate' kind of stirrer for thick sauces or other solids.

[trfl]

10 hours ago, AlaMoi said:

. . . .aaahh . . ooops . . . . 

"what" precisely is the "thing" that "open source" enables?

 

for a induction source - one can control on-off, temperature ramp/up down rate, prolly a few more parameters.

 

for the proposed hot-coil design, there is absolutely nothing but "on" or "off" - unless the device has 'heat level control via binary on/off -  or at max control . . . voltage applied at the 'on-off' cycle.

 

which, btw, is the same technology/approach used in induction "control" - seconds on, seconds off.

uhmmm, sorta' 

many induction plates incorporate 'wattage' control,,,  so . . ' low' is a  less 'aggressive' setting . . . .

 

given that 'none of the above' is governed by any standard , , , it is strictly a "in my experience" issue.

Well, what does opensource bring? I think there are many levels in which this question can be answered. I will try a few:

For the functionality : Open source will allow additional functionality that is either not economical or easy for the manufacturer to do. For example, custom programs for recipes (brewing, fermentation), support for custom accessories (heaters, stirrers, mixers), integration with other hardware or software (e.g. home automation, third party thermometers like Combustion inc). To do this in a closed source environment would require tremendous investment and a large sales volume to justify that investment. We do not foresee such large volumes for a niche device like this.

 

For long term user value : This allows for repairs and spare parts. More importantly, it helps user retain the control on the product they purchased. While these are not the first considerations for a normal consumer during purchase decision, they come back and bite later when the money is already gone (just a couple of examples, one, two). Personally, I consider this extremely unethical, being a consumer myself. Even with all good intentions, there is always a possibility that the businesses die. What happens to the products you purchased if you can not get spare parts or troubleshoot? We want the user to have that freedom independent of commercial success of our company.

 

Philosophical: Finally, we do not think everything should be around maximizing profit. There is a place in a society for that, but also space for something that is given to humanity as a collective gift to enrich the knowledge and life of other people and future generations. This is the philosophy of most open source projects like Linux. You can always agree or disagree with this philosophy, but in this case, we have chosen that path.

 

Hope I have summarized at least the high level drivers towards open source.

 

P.S.: About on-off control; while that is sufficient to achieve a crude control (simmer, mid, high etc.) it is pretty ineffective to control the temperature within a degree. While the control itself is on-off, we use advanced control algorithms like PID control which allow for very precise control. While we do use on-off, in reality, we can control that to the millisecond, giving us about 5000 power levels theoretically compared to 10 or so in a typical induction