The Breville Control Freak Home is a smaller, less expensive version of the original with the same power and precision. Though the price is still prohibitive at about $1300, we heard good things about it so we decided to give it a test run.
Find out all about this super precise induction cooker that's unique in its features and abilities, plus how it compares to the original and to other portable induction cookers. Is it worth the hefty price tag? Only you can decide.
The Breville Control Freak Home Features
The original Breville PolyScience Control Freak was introduced to the commercial market in 2016. The Control Freak Home came out earlier this year (2024), and is a smaller, lighter, slightly less expensive version of the commercial model. The build quality isn't as robust--we get into detail about that below--but other than that, the home version can do everything the commercial version does.
Control Freak features.
Control Freak temperature probe.
The Control Freak Home is designed for precision cooking. In fact, it's so precise, you can use it for sous vide cooking without a sous vide circulator. The exposed temperature sensor and temperature probe are what make it so precise. It also has 1-degree settings from 77-482F. It can control a temperature with an accuracy of +/-1.8F degrees, which means you never have to worry about overcooking or even overheating your food.
You can also set the heat intensity level (low-medium-high), which controls how fast the cooktop heats. This is a great feature because you can set it to heat quickly for simple tasks like boiling water or heating oil to the desired frying temperature, and you can set it to low or medium for more heat sensitive tasks like cooking eggs and melting chocolate.
The temperature probe provides an additional feedback loop that ensures your food stays at exactly the correct temperature.
This is the highest degree of accuracy available in the induction market today. This accuracy doesn't come cheaply (precision control is the key difference between a cheap induction cooker and an expensive one).
Being able to cook this precisely is a huge game changer. It eliminates the guesswork of low/medium/high, giving you a level of control we haven't seen before outside of sous vide. The Breville Control Freak and Control Freak Home bring the accuracy of sous vide cooking to the cooktop. It's a completely new way to look at cooking, and it will change how you look at cooking forever.
A Brief History of Breville
Breville is a kitchen product company founded in Australia in 1932. They're probably best known for their smart ovens, but make many different kitchen