
Testing the June Intelligent Oven - mace
https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articles/1247-testing-the-june-intelligent-oven
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imglorp
Can we talk about commodity kitchen hardware?

A brand new microwave seems to have the same halfassed, user hostile firmware
they shipped around 1999, oriented around a fixed segment display. I would
like to see some simple additions that would make a world of difference.

* Add some IR temp sensors, for what $5 in parts, that can heat to an approximate inside temp.

* Update the firmware, for example, to stop beeping when you hit Stop. The commands could actually be far simpler than currently: you really just need "boil", "warm", "defrost" and "reheat" commands - let it figure out the energy needed.

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theclaw
My cheap unbranded microwave has a dial to set the power (which is always on
max) and a clockwork dial to set the time, which also starts the oven when
turned.

This is the best UX of any microwave I’ve ever had - I can start it with the
correct time in a single action just by feel - I don’t even have to look at
it.

I very much doubt it has any firmware to speak of, or what feature such
firmware could possibly offer that would improve my experience.

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userbinator
I agree completely. Knobs are very intuitive and self-indicating. The very
first microwaves used that UI:

[https://www.radarange.com/](https://www.radarange.com/)

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losvedir
Wow, what good timing. My wife and I don't cook a whole lot so we don't want a
full size oven, but were thinking about getting one of these smaller toaster-
oven footprint appliances. We were looking at the June oven and, e.g., the
crazy Brava Light oven (which seems cool, but I can't get over the woo-woo
marketing materials).

Cook's Illustrated is a really respectable magazine, so this recommendation
carries some substantial weight for me.

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adt2bt
I got one of the 2nd version June's as soon as they came out and I cannot
recommend it enough. It makes so many things an absolute breeze.

Salmon is surprisingly good, though the June does not get the skin crispy - if
you like crispy salmon skin on your salmon fillets you'll still need to do it
on the stove.

I also really love how good it is with frozen pizzas. If I want a light
dinner, I'll toss a frozen pizza in there and 20 minutes later it's perfectly
done and anywhere from 600-900 calories per pie.

I literally have not turned on my real oven since I got it and likely won't
until Thanksgiving. I doubt a big turkey will fit in the June.

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losvedir
Neat, thanks for the hands-on report! Have you had any maintenance issues with
it? My only hangup at this point, I think, with a fancy "smart" oven is that
there are more things that can break or be buggy. And how is it to clean?

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adt2bt
So far, no issues. I’ve seen a few scattered reports of problems in the owners
facebook group but it’s impossible to tell from that overall reliability. I
can say their support has appeared to be top notch.

The pan is insanely easy to clean. It’s the best non stick pan I’ve ever
owned. Inside the oven can be tougher. My fiancée likes to make cheese on
toast and often it drips to the drip pan and crusts up, but if you keep on top
of it it’s not too bad.

Feel free to ask any more questions you might have about it.

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losvedir
Awesome, thanks for the info! I'm pretty sold on it, but when I went to their
site to order it looks like there aren't any available for another month or
two. In that time, I think the Brava infrared oven should come out, so I'll
probably see the reviews on that thing and then get one or the other.

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glup
I think I would pay $100 for a toaster oven with a decent PID controller,
controls that made sense (what does "200F" on dial 1 and "Toast" on dial 2
even mean?), and had a decent chance of working in 20 years. I've already got
a pretty decent set of sensors + heavy duty, self-updating neural network
between my shoulders, thanks.

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tzs
If you would be OK with a little DIY work, Google for things like "reflow
soldering with toaster oven". There have been many conversion projects to
adapt cheap toaster ovens for hobbyist reflow soldering.

This involves putting in some good temperature sensors, and bypassing the
built-in controls to put the heating elements under the control of an Arduino
or similar controller.

Some even add a cheap graphical LCD that can show a graph of temperature over
time, and a simple interface to let you enter temperature profiles to follow.

~~~
extrapickles
I’ve built one of those. They also need a bunch of insulation, heat spreading
plates and another heating element to get reasonably even heating.

You can drop the insulation for food use, but thats one of the cheaper parts
of a build.

Since temperature is important for reflow (melt the solder without melting
your leds and connectors) they have good ways to calibrate them.

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jedanbik
I really like that this oven has a camera, as well as temperature probes, and
that it’s all integrated into the oven’s experience through a app on the
phone. Do they have any competitors doing this stuff, or are they alone in
doing this right now? I am impressed - they’ve decomposed the idea of what an
oven experience usually is (stationary waiting and checking) and shifted it to
what it could be (check on it from a distance, data driven shutoff from
measurements). Very compelling use of simple features. That’s exciting design!

This enables “Put a turkey in the oven, and run to the store and pick up the
frozen green beans you forgot to buy - you always know how the turkey is
doing.”

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kureikain
There are www.brava.com as well.

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tokyodude
I don't know how they compare to the June but there are many models of
convection ovens in Japan that claim to figure out what you put in them. Many
of them will optionally add steam and nearly all of them will also do
microwaving as well.

Here's a few from Panasonic

[https://panasonic.jp/range/](https://panasonic.jp/range/)

and Sharp

[http://healsio.jp/](http://healsio.jp/)

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Finch2192
Are they only available in Japan?

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tokyodude
I don't know. I'd assume they are only sold in countries where it's not common
to have an oven. In the USA I've never seen a house or apartment that didn't
have an oven included so if my experience matches reality than at least in the
USA it doesn't seem like there would be any market.

What other countries is it not common to have an oven?

One top of that there is the issue that if it's not common to have an oven
then it's also not common to cook things that would require an oven. So, I
have no idea how common these ovens are in Japan in general. Given so many
models by so many companies and given they can also be used as a microwave I'd
kind of assume they are gaining in popularity. Foods that require an oven are
also slowly getting more popular over time but I suspect it's still not
common.

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kposehn
I’ve had a Breville countertop convection oven for 9 years and it has been
used daily multiple times since I got it. When I saw the June oven I was
skeptical, but cooks illustrated giving it a positive review is actually quite
an achievement. I may decide to get one now as my Breville is finally starting
to give up.

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zackkatz
Likewise. The brain got fried and my convection button now toggles Celsius on
and off.

This looks like the spiritual successor to the Breville.

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kposehn
You too?!

My start button turns convection off and on 50% of the time. Annoying, but I
just hit it again.

