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Comment by JonLim | Hacker News Reader

I'm constantly cooking, and temperature is a constant worry. However, "affordable" may be a bit misleading, if $169 is the discounted version, I assume this will be under $200 at retail.

I can pick up a durable frying pan for $15 at most, and it does the job with my skill level.

What would the real draw for me be? Exact temperature readings are great, and interactive recipes are cool, but I'm not sure it's worth 10x more than I can get a regular frying pan. (Hope I didn't come off as snarky, I'm genuinely curious.)

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I can pick up a durable frying pan for $15 at most, and it does the job with my skill level.

Just in passing, if you cook a lot, you should spend more than that on a frying pan, like $50. A heavy pan distributes heat more evenly and an anodized or ceramic finish is an awful lot less work to clean (which will easily pay off the cost of the pan in terms of time and meals saved).

Oh, I agree, I just mean the previous pans I've used. My daily pan that I share with my roommate was $15 and is already warping and starting to become more difficult to clean.

My next pan will be in the $40-50 range (started scoping them out) but that's still 4-5x less than a Pantelligent pan.

I got a gift of some Wearever ceramic pans a while back and I've fallen in love with them, despite having a complete set of All-clad cookware on hand. They're excellent value and have nice ergonomics as well.

Just get a cast iron skillet. Cheap, extremely durable, and lasts a life time. No having to deal with non-stick coating issues as well.

It depends on what you're optimizing for.

When I was in college, I'd boil some water, make some pasta, and sear some chicken for every meal. Estimated pan cost: $10 (maybe free, actually, as I got it from a departing senior).

Nowadays, I like to eat out a lot, with food costs at least $25/meal (SF Bay is ridiculous). I get healthier meals if I cook at home but I also want my food to be delicious. Approximating subjectively: I think I get 90-200% of restaurant deliciousness depending on recipe and restaurant, 25-50% of restaurant sodium intake, and 50% cost with this device, which is a fixed cost. Given this, it'll pay for itself in less than two weeks.

I guess the difference is that I enjoy eating out, but I much prefer cooking at home. Even with my $10 frying pan, I can cook some delicious things, but I assume the target market is for people who haven't been cooking as much as I do.

From the viewpoint that this pan makes cooking a little more accessible to new cooks, I think it's fantastic. I was just trying to find value for someone like myself, who might be a little more experienced and have a few dishes, we can make without recipes, under our belts. :)

I use a cast iron skillet + handheld IR thermometer for surface temp. Very cheap solution.

I just bought one of these so I can cook more often with extra virgin olive oil without approaching the smoke point. At $19 for an IR thermometer, they should probably be in every kitchen next to the probe thermometer.

Get in the habit of looking at the oil in the pan. As it approaches the smoke point, its refractive index will change and its viscosity will decrease, giving a dimpled appearance. This is due to convection cells from the heating; it's easier to see in olive oil because it's relatively thick and dark compared to other liquids or light oils. In a round, level pan, you'll get a pleasing hexagonal pattern. Once you have nice stable convection cells you're ready to cook.

After a while you'll get used to your individual pans and how they transfer heat, to the point that you don't need to think about how to adjust the heat any more. Likewise watching the food itself will eventually tell you most of what you need to know about when it's done.

Note that this is a lot easier with Gas than with Electric due to the heat retention of the rings, at least I found. You can kill the heat really quickly with Gas (which is why no commercial kitchen uses electric).

This is a great point. Pantelligent works great on electric stoves (resistive coils or radiative glass flat-top), even though they retain a lot of heat. It doesn't magically fix your stove and make it as responsive as a gas stove, but it does give you the information you need to dial in on the right temperature.

You're measuring the surface temp of the skillet right? (Just clarifying.)

yup

Cool, I should pick up one of those. Been doing it by feel for the most part.

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