21 minutes ago, TheAvidHomeChef said:Has anyone here used or bought Vollrath MPI4-1800S 4-Series Induction Range 120v ? It seems like a slightly cheaper alternative to Breville Control Freak. I have had One top by Cuisinart and Hestan Cue. The experience was not great. And wanted to try some of the higher end ones.
I have a Hestan Cue, a One Top, a Vollrath HPI4-3800 and a couple Control Freaks here. I'll share my experience. Your results may vary.
The Control Freak is a different class of device than the others. It has really tight temperature control and it measures the temperature of the pan with a contact sensor. It works really well for precision cooking, using small and medium-sized pans. Compared to anything else in the 1800W class, I haven't found anything else which compares. Breville got a patent on their design a decade or so ago, and I suspect it will be a while before we see anything which competes well against it. I just wish they'd make a high-wattage version with a large coil.
The Vollrath is a nice induction unit but, unlike the Control Freak, it does not have a pan-contact temperature sensor. If you ramp up the power ("temperature") slowly and you have quite a bit of thermal load in the pan, the under-glass temperature sensor might work for your application. And if you're cooking something with a temperature probe sticking into the pot, the Vollrath might also work for you.
Just be aware that the Vollrath units' temperature accuracy/precision claims are almost surely related to the temperature probe, not to the pan temperature control. The first time I tested my HPI-3800, I put an induction-compatible copper pan on it and set it to a medium temperature and it quickly shot up to temperatures that threatened to warp the pan (500F+, 260C+) but didn't realize the pan was above the set temperature. I think the product is designed for and marketed towards commercial kitchens, rather than precision-cooking chefs.
