Was inspired by this old linux.conf.au talk (that I attended in person) about a microwave with a thermal camera in the top. I would love the same above my kitchen stove: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3DADx5z-XY

I'm a die-hard iPhone user so sadly a built-in won't work for me. I currently have a first generation Lightning FLIR One.

It's pretty limited, only a single temperature measurement, no min/max scale you can see (it just auto calibrates), has a terrible rechargable battery and doesn't work with an iPhone case.. but I got it for the bargain basement price of $100 AUD ($67 USD) on Marketplace.

My interest is more related to home effeciency (looking at gaps in insulation etc) but has been fun in the kitchen too.

I'd love one of the newer ones but haven't wanted to justify the cost and happy with my bargain aquisiton :)

I can't wait for these to become more mainstream so recipes start listing "Set stove to 150c" rather than "to medium" which is widely different depending on what stove you use. An amusing story one youtuber shared was the followed some advice that said to set your stove to high and leave it for 10 mins first, advice meant for a gas stove. When they tried it on an electric stove, the oil ignited on contact with the pan.

Can't imagine it would be any different result. 10 minutes preheat on any range is a lot. My cast iron pan started turning silvery blue well before the 10 minute mark with my gas range on high.

All the induction cooktops I've used (both builtin and plug-in) have been REALLY useless at temperature control. Even the heat settings leave a lot to be desired, they are very coarse.

The control freak is orders of magnitude better at temperature control. I suspect it is not only the design and quality of the sensors, but the algorithms used to maintain the temperature (probably good PID).

There are two sensors:

a small glass covered sensor built into the center of the heating element that is spring-loaded and gets the heat off the bottom of the pan.

a second plug-in sensor with a cable, that can be attached to the side of a pot using an insulator gadget and suspended in the middle of whatever you're cooking.

Another pretty critical part is the "programs" you can write.

For example, you could make a "hamburger" program to bring the pan up to temperature, then beep to add the burger, then flip it later, then remove it and do another.

I would assume those would be mostly useful for frying/searing meat, vegetables, and eggs with little oil. As soon as you have more liquid in the pot you won't be able to control the temperature by measuring the temp at the bottom.

Do they work well with different pans?

That sounds like an interesting engineering challenge! Assuming we have a stove with a fast-acting heat source (e.g. induction) and high-frequency thermometer (> 1 Hz), what can we learn about the contents of the pot/pan?

I'm thinking: dump a set amount of energy into the pan (say, 0.5 seconds at "power boost" level), then watch the thermometer. Do it several times, with varying pulse lengths (say, 0.1 to 1 second - you don't want to burn anything on the pan, nor wait too long for it to cool down). This should give you a good idea of the pan's step and impulse response, and - I think - you could guesstimate what its contents are - particularly, if there are any liquids in it, and what they are. Then, continue with normal cooking, but keep a continuous record of power output vs. temperature measurement, and possibly occasionally pause and do a round of such pulse tests again.

I see no obvious reason this wouldn't give a stove quite good control authority even in the presence of liquids, including those that are added or naturally seep out during cooking. I also don't expect any of the appliance companies to ever include this level of sophistication in their products.

I find it very convenient. It's not perfect, because of course a sensor looking at the bottom of a pan can't be, but in practice we've found it very handy for the boil function (bring water to a boil @ 100 deg, drop back to 95 and hold there; making candy/fudge that requires holding around 80 degrees, making proper custard for things like creme caramel. The higher temperatures are good for things like dealing with meats, since I can dial in a temp and not fuss over what's going on.

The thing that has surprised me is how relaxing it is to use - as I say, I feel as though I'm fussing over what I'm cooking less.

That said, they're accurate to only 5 degree increments at best, and I wouldn't try using them for something like a sous-vide replacement.

I often jest that cooking is just process chemistry, but done without proper tools and without caring about quality of the outcome.

My phone's battery is degraded now and I'm dreading a switch to something else. I've eyed the S62 but don't think it's an upgrade.

that said, I've abused the phone enough that maybe I should find a replacement for the rubber too.

I lucked out and grabbed a Galaxy Xcover pro when they first came out. It's not really advertised for the consumer market, but it was also way cheaper than things I liked less that had been out for a year longer. I'm not sure if they'll come out with a new model anytime soon. I will say this thing has a removable battery, solid construction, and is plenty fast for me (though I'm not picky on speed). I'm still on the original battery and it will play music for 10 hours through my Bluetooth headphones and still have 30% battery by the time I get home. I really have no complaints.

EDIT: the Xcover does not have an IR camera. I got off on a tangent because I keep getting disappointed every time I look into Cat phones.

For tea I pretty much found the right amount of cooling time once and now I just repeat it. I boil water, steep for 5 minutes (with a timer), then when that 5 minutes is up I remove the bag and start an 18 minute timer. It's still pretty hot but slowly drinkable then, and within a couple minutes can be comfortably consumed quickly as well. I don't even try to drink before my timers are done anymore as I don't want to scald myself.

I think I also did some experimentation with a laser thermometer, but I don't recall what numbers I landed at, and this way I don't need to wonder how long it will take either. The time also lines up pretty well with eating breakfast if done all together.

My wife has the same issue with hot coffee which drives me a little nuts. She uses a normal mug most of the time. Because she isn't certified in coffee temp detection like I am; she waits and waits, gets distracted, and eventually it becomes too cold. So she reheats it in the microwave, usually to the point where it's too hot, and that cycle continues after it gets too cold again. She's probably reheated coffee in the microwave up to 4-5 times a day at times. It's hilarious and ridiculous. As an engineer, admittedly, I enjoy the hilarity so much I'm not sure if I care about it being resolved!

The issue is two-fold:

1) She lets the coffee hit the outermost parts of her lips and subjects herself to getting destroyed by the high temp lol. I don't understand why this is so difficult for people. Your outermost lips are more sensitive. Don't do that. You don't attack hot coffee like it's a fine bourbon. Also you can feel the temp and steam to know not to even attempt based on your preference and tolerance.

2) She isn't sitting at a desk consistently like most of us. She's everywhere in the house and then leaves, and her coffee intake isn't a priority like many of us.

If I put her coffee in a stainless steel mug with a lid, then it takes too long to cool to her temp. She leaves the lid off to cool and then forgets about returning to it in time. And she doesn't end up drinking the coffee because it becomes too cool. So now she would have to transfer to a microwaveable mug to reheat and start that cycle so she doesn't even bother. If I'm prepping her a roadie coffee, I must pour it, leave the lid off for a period of time and then place it back on so she will attempt drinking it in time in the car to commit to it. If it's too hot, she will more than likely just abandon it and not check back in before we reach our destination.

I got her an Ember mug so she can read the actual temp and control it. But it's not dishwasher safe of course. So she doesn't tend to use it. And from the fresh brewed carafe to the Ember still is too hot, unless the lid is off for some time like the stainless steel mug, lol.

The ideal mug for her would thus be an Ember mug that is dishwasher safe and thus have some sort of twist mechanism to disconnect the battery and status/controls portion from the core mug function. And probably have a vent mechanism on the lid (maybe a double pop on the Ember lid to vent more?) to more quickly get the temp down from initial temp, as the heated mug portion can ensure the set temp is hit anyway.

Someone please build that and save me! Or don't, and I'll enjoy the entertainment derived from the struggle. :)

Before making coffee I put a cup into the fridge so the coffee will cool faster, I have not issues with cold coffee, I just don't want to wait that long.

I also used to add ice to coffee, but that was diluting it.

1. Buying a temperature-adjustable kettle and making coffee at 185° or so instead of boiling. Bonus: I think the coffee tastes better anyway. I recently moved and couldn't take my fancy kettle with me, so now I pour cold water into the boiling kettle until I guesstimate I'm at 185. I guess this tip doesn't work if you're using a Mr. Coffee machine or whatever.

2. Giving the mug a really good blow as soon as the coffee is poured.

3. My wife bought me a few mugs that are much wider at the top than the bottom, meaning there's more exposed surface area and the coffee cools off quicker.

4. Adding an ice cube.

Helps to have containers that have an edge that is easy to pour from. Less spilling.

You put them in a cup and it

1. Quickly cools coffee to that temperature (by increasing temperature and melting). 2. Keeps coffee at that temperature for some point (doesn't go lower until liquid inside is back solid).

I've gave it a cursory google and can't find a name.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_mug

could be made with ink/paint changes that show (very approximately) the temperature (I think the ones around have only on/off states).