Gadgetory

the creators of the cinder precision grill make a lofty claim that this 500 dollar countertop grill can cook food with the same accuracy as sous-vide cooking a method in which you cook your food in a water bath thus endeth ditches the pot of water for two removable plates that you can heat to the exact temperature that you want for your food whether it's a medium-rare steak or a juicy chicken breast here's how it works you use the app or the knob on the sender to set the temperature at what you want to cook you put your food on the grill and close the lid the sender measures the thickness of your food to figure out how long it will take to cook it if you use the app to set the temperature you'll receive a notification on your phone when the food's right then you can turn up the temperature to sear your food for the most part the center did a good job at bringing foods to the temperature I wanted it to during cook tests but there were too many little problems for a machine that costs five hundred dollars first the bottom tray isn't tilted enough for grease to spill into the built-in drip tray and since the sender calibrates the time to cook based on the thickness of your food you only get an estimate of when your food will be ready which makes it hard to plan for your meal and while you can make a mean panini in the center the lids just too heavy for a humble grilled cheese sandwich now the center grill is supposed to replace sous vide cooking but at $500 it's an expensive replacement especially when you consider the other systems that are out there that do the same for a lot cheaper like this Paragon induction cooktop from first build or an immersion circulator like this one from Innova again you can end it all in a casserole even though the sender can cook great food it's not worth a $500 investment stick with sous-vide devices that have similar results for a much friendlier price