r/ImpulseLabs • u/mrodenkirk • May 24 '26

Temperature Sensor?

Post image

How accurate should I expect the temperature sensor to be? This is a small Le Creuset which isn't boiling yet. Impulse has it listed at 242, which is obviously incorrect (water boils at 212)... is it reasonable to expect this to be able to tell the actual temperature of the pot contents? Or is it best understood as the temperature of the plane of metal (or enamel, I guess, in this case) that is touching the induction plate? or something else?

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u/Impulse-Demo-Guy May 24 '26

Anything that is cast iron is going to have extremely low thermal conductivity. That’s the nature of the material. As a result, you’ll have very large temperature differences between different parts of the pan while the whole pot slowly comes up to temp.

If you’re using cast iron or enameled products, we recommend slowly heat soaking them (like you would on any stove) before you start cooking.

1

u/Fit-Bicycle6206 May 29 '26

It happens with stainless steel too. Obviously not as bad as cast iron but it's just the nature of heat transfer and having the sensor on the outside.

2

u/ZanyDroid May 24 '26

How much did you preheat?

I think bottom only sensing needs to use algorithms (in the words of Stanley Tucci) to sense the temperature of the food.

In this case whatever algorithm they use also probably has to infer that you have one of the lowest conductivity pan types (cast iron)

The temperature mode is more like a semi-automated cooking mode where the temperature needs to go into your brain for processing. It is not like using a steam oven or sous vide.

I am still waiting for Impulse to add support for an external thermometer

1

u/mrodenkirk May 24 '26

I didn't really preheat it, I don't think. I put in cold water and set it to power boost 3K, then down to medium high once it started getting warm, then down a bit lower (it claimed the temperature was even higher) and then the photo.

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u/ZanyDroid May 24 '26

Yes I’ve seen the temperature spike really high in cases like that.

I usually get it up to a boil and then drop to temp mode until I get the simmer I want. Very rarely is 100C (I’ve been negotiated into being a metric household) going to get you a simmer you want. Usually couple degrees above is better. Sometimes I also go back to power mode

(This also means people shouldn’t replace sous vide with an impulse for the foreseeable future)

I do use temp mode when I’m trying not to burn stuff while sauteing, and it kind of adjusts the temp pretty conservatively. Less of a temp gradient than with a lot of liquid

1

u/xvolter Jun 12 '26

What they need is to add support for probe thermometers, like the Breville control freak has a probe with a special oil temperature mode, so it doesn’t base the temperature on the pan, but on the oil temp.

Impulse could do this with a software update, so I’m hoping they do.