We continue to enjoy exploring the Polaris IQ Home line of instruments. This time we have before us one of the samples of new generation kitchen appliances – the PMC 5040 Wi-Fi IQ Home multicooker.
In addition to 24 automatic programs and the My Recipe Plus flexible settings mode, the device can receive commands remotely, both via a smartphone and with the help of Alice and Marusya smart home voice assistants. We will carefully examine the device from all sides, conduct a series of tests and tell you about our impressions of operation.
Characteristics
| Manufacturer | Polaris |
|---|---|
| Model | PMC 0540 Wi-Fi IQ Home |
| Type | multicooker |
| Country of Origin | China |
| Warranty | 3 years |
| Declared power | 860 W |
| Housing material | plastic |
| bowl volume | declared – 5 l, useful – about 3.5 l |
| bowl material | metal |
| Non-stick coating | ceramic, Anato |
| Control | electronic, touch buttons; remote via Wi-Fi, works in smart home systems of Yandex and Mail.ru Group |
| Display | LED |
| Temperature maintenance | Yes, up to 24 hours |
| Delayed start | yes, from 1 to 24 hours, step 1 minute |
| Number of automatic programs | 24 |
| Additional functions | My recipe plus, 2 hour program save in case of power failure |
| Accessories | steam container, plastic spatula, plastic deep spoon, measuring cup, yogurt cups, recipe book |
| The weight | 3 kg |
| Dimensions (W×H×D) | 28×24×38 cm |
| Network cable length | 1.1 m |
| Retail offers |
Equipment
Polaris PMC 5040 Wi-Fi IQ Home is packaged in a large cardboard box with a plastic carrying handle. On the front there is an image of a multicooker paired with a smartphone, indicating the main feature of the IQ Home line of devices – the ability to remotely control the device through a proprietary application. By scanning QR codes for Google Play or the App Store, the user enters the IQ Home application page and, if desired, even before purchasing the device, can familiarize themselves with the multicooker control function in the demo version.
On one of the side faces of the box, you can read about the five main advantages of the device and by scanning another QR code you can get to the official Polaris website. There is a more detailed description of the model, video instructions for it and reviews. All information on the packaging is presented in Russian and English.
Opening the box, inside we found:
- multicooker with a bowl inside
- steam cooking container
- six cups of yogurt
- flat and deep spoon
- beaker
- power cord
- recipe book
- promotional materials
- manual and service book
Inside the box, the device is protected from shock and damage by foam inserts, and each part is additionally placed in a plastic bag.
At first sight
Polaris PMC 5040 Wi-Fi IQ Home is available in two colors: white and black. The case of the multicooker that arrived to us is made of white glossy plastic and complemented by metallized inserts. Thanks to the eye-pleasing color scheme and streamlined shapes, the model looks fresh and very pretty.
The touch control panel and display are in the usual place, on the front of the case. Even if the multicooker is not connected to the mains, in natural or electric light, the designations of automatic programs on the display are clearly visible – the names are written in clear black on a white background.
On the case there is a strong convenient handle for carrying. On the back wall there is a transparent plastic container for collecting condensate. Even lower, on the left, is the connector for the power cord.
At the bottom of the multicooker there are four plastic legs, two rear ones with rubber inserts, next to it there is a ventilation grill, a barcode with a serial number and a sticker with the technical characteristics of the device.
The hinged cover is lifted by pressing the silver latch located in the front of the case, above the control panel. The lid isn’t the sharpest we’ve seen, but it’s still worth holding on to while opening it.
The inner lid is removable. Around the circumference, it is sealed with a silicone ring and secured with two latches in the form of latches. The lid is easy to remove and put back in place.
On the outer side of the lid there is a nest for installing a removable collapsible steam release valve. It is easy to insert and remove from the lid, and just as easy to disassemble – by turning it counterclockwise.
The walls of the working chamber are metal, at the bottom there is a heating element and a temperature sensor.
The bowl of the multicooker with Anato non-stick ceramic coating is equipped with handles made of heat-resistant plastic. On the inner wall – a scale in liters and cups. The total capacity of the bowl, as indicated in the accompanying documentation, is 5 liters, we estimated the working volume at 3.5-4 liters. The bowl is 14 cm high and weighs 650 g.
The Polaris PMC 5040 Wi-Fi IQ Home kit includes a standard set of accessories: a steaming container, two types of spoons (flat and deep), a measuring cup and jars for yogurt. The color is white, the material is plastic. The spoon holder is attached to the side of the multicooker body.
The body, accessories and all parts of the multicooker are made of high quality materials. The assembly looks neat and raises no complaints.
Instruction
The Polaris PMC 5040 Wi-Fi IQ Home User Manual is printed on thick glossy paper in the form of an A5 brochure. The information is clearly structured, presented in simple language, making it easy to read and understand.
The document contains the following sections: the design of the appliance, an explanation of how it works, a detailed description of all cooking programs, tips for use and care, as well as safety measures and recommendations in case of malfunctions. Including there is a step-by-step instruction on how to use the remote control function of the multicooker via Wi-Fi.
A recipe book was a nice addition to the set of documents. The thick glossy pages of the book house 210 recipes, each of which is provided with bright appetizing images of ready-made dishes, a detailed description of the recipe with a list of ingredients and recommendations for choosing a mode. The book is so beautiful and useful in content that you want to keep it in a conspicuous place and constantly flip through it.
Control
A large bright display located on the front side of the multicooker is framed by seven touch buttons: on the left – “Heating / Cancel” and “Temperature / Delayed Start”, on the right – “Start” and “Menu”, on the bottom – “Clock”, “My Recipe Plus” and “Minutes”.
The display itself shows a list of available automatic cooking programs, as well as indicators for delayed start and Wi-Fi.
The automatic program is selected by pressing the “Menu” button; each time you press one of the 24 programs lights up in sequence. Having reached the desired program, we launch it by pressing and holding the “Start” button for a couple of seconds. The device will emit a short beep and start working. The sound in this multicooker model, although it does not turn off, but, which is nice, is not at all loud and not annoying.
Before starting the selected program, you can adjust the time, while the temperature changes only in two modes: “Frying” or “My Recipe Plus”. When choosing programs, setting the time and temperature, there is no reverse step – the values u200bu200bare moved in a circle. In any mode, you cannot change the time and temperature after starting the multicooker.
After switching on, the icon of the selected mode lights up, the time remaining until the end of cooking and the temperature appear – if the “Frying” or “My Recipe Plus” mode is activated.
The most interesting possibilities open up when using the “My Recipe Plus” mode. Here you can adjust the temperature level and time as you wish. When controlling the multicooker manually, it is possible to set the cooking parameters in one, two or three stages, with a total amount of time for each stage up to 9 hours 55 minutes. The maximum duration of all three stages is 16 hours.
Step variable:
- 1 minute in the range of 5 to 45 minutes
- 5 minutes – 45 minutes to 1.5 hours
- 10 minutes – 1.5 to 3 hours
- 20 minutes – from 3 to 12 hours
Temperature adjustment step from 35 to 160 °C – 5 °C, from 110 to 160 °C – 10 °C.
Advanced My Prescription Plus features are available when the appliance is controlled via the IQ Home app. In addition to setting the parameters already for 9 steps, the application allows you to save the recipe and share it if necessary.
The “Temperature / Delayed start” button, in addition to setting the heating temperature and delaying the start of programs, when pressed for a long time, turns on the control panel lock from children; it turns off the same way. We knew about the function, but nowhere in the instructions does it say how to activate it, in the end we found out by accident.
The “Delay start” function with a delay time setting of 1 minute is available for all programs. The minimum time for which you can delay the start of the selected mode is 1 hour, the maximum is 24 hours.
The Keep Warm/Cancel button serves not only to cancel the selected program, but also to turn off the dish warming, which starts automatically in every mode, except for those that are cooked at 75 °C or less.
If during the setup of the device you are distracted and do not press the buttons for a minute, the multicooker will reset the set parameters and go into standby mode.
In the event of a power failure, the multicooker saves the selected program for 2 hours.
For more detailed information about the Polaris PMC 5040 Wi-Fi IQ Home control process, you can refer to the electronic version of the user manual .
Smartphone control
To control the multicooker remotely, you will need the IQ Home Polaris proprietary application. You can download it using the QR code on the device packaging, or you can find it yourself on Google Play or the App store. If voice control is in the plans, you can go the other way and connect the Polaris PMC 5040 Wi-Fi IQ Home to the Smart Home system and download the application there.
We register in the application and, following the prompts, go through the procedure for pairing the multicooker with a Wi-Fi network.
The application has the ability to configure device management settings. The number of users is unlimited, for each you can define your own access level: administrator, control or view.
When launching Polaris IQ Home, a multicooker image appears. We click on it and by default we get into the menu of the “My recipe Plus” mode. There is a button to select one of the automatic modes, recipes, personal modes, start/stop heating and a button to lock the device from children. When the lock is set, if the buttons on the multicooker control panel are pressed, the application sends a signal to the user’s phone in the form of a message – a kind of alarm.
Temperature and program time are adjusted by moving the slider around the circumference. “My Recipe Plus” in the application allows you to record up to 9 cooking steps for one dish, save it to “Personal Modes” with the ability to share the recipe.
The choice of automatic modes and the “Recipes” section are as follows.
The number of prescriptions in Polaris IQ Home exceeds 700, compared to 210 on paper.
The recipes in the application are divided into categories, described in detail and supplemented with colorful illustrations. You can start cooking your favorite dish without going to the main menu and without choosing the desired program – at the end of each recipe there is a “Start” button.
By linking the slow cooker to a Yandex account, we got access to conversations with Alice. The virtual assistant turned on and off the multicooker, the heating function and some of the modes. In the description of the multicooker control in the Yandex account, we found out that at the moment there are only 15 of them. When asked to turn on the device, the My Recipe Plus program automatically starts.
It must be said that Alice did not begin to understand us the first time. We had to study a special section on voice control and learn a clear wording of commands, only then it started to work.
Exploitation
As usual, before the first use, it is recommended to boil 1.5 liters of water in a bowl for 30 minutes in the “Steam” mode. We did just that. There was a slight smell of heated plastic, but quickly disappeared.
During testing, we did not find any problems in the Polaris PMC 5040 Wi-Fi IQ Home. The multicooker in operation proved to be the best. Control of the device, both manual and remote, is simple and clear. The only thing is that when you select automatic programs on the display, there is no reverse step, and if you accidentally skipped the desired name, you have to go through all the modes in a circle. In addition, the location of the programs is, in our opinion, not very convenient. The most popular modes among our testers are in the middle and towards the end of the list.
The touch buttons on the control panel respond well to touch, but are not overly sensitive, and do not work from an accidental light touch.
The ceramic coating of the capacious bowl looks of high quality, the food does not burn during cooking, which makes it easy to wash the container. The handles don’t get hot.
The only point that we consider a minus is the inability to adjust the temperature and time right during the cooking process. In all other respects, the Polaris PMC 5040 Wi-Fi IQ Home is an excellent multicooker and the user should not expect any unpleasant surprises from interacting with it.
Care
As with all other kitchen appliances, the golden rule also applies to the slow cooker – clean the body and its parts immediately after cooking. First of all, we take out and empty the container collecting condensate, then we check if it is necessary to clean the steam valve. Remove the inner cover and wash it in a neutral soapy solution using a sponge. We take out and wash the bowl and / or container for steaming. Both containers can be washed both by hand and in the dishwasher. The use of abrasive substances and brushes with metal wire is not allowed. The housing is wiped with a damp and then dry cloth.
Our measurements
The maximum power consumption recorded during testing was 1036 W, which is slightly higher than the declared power.
In standby mode, the multicooker consumes 0.8 watts.
practice tests
During the testing of the PMC 5040 Wi-Fi IQ Home, we prepared the following dishes:
- homemade ham (My Recipe Plus program)
- pasta with mushrooms and ham in a creamy sauce (programs “Pasta” and “Frying”)
- Jellied pie with fish (Baking program)
- cottage cheese (program “Cottage cheese”)
- minced chicken cutlets (program “Steam cooking”)
homemade ham
1 kg of pork ham, previously aged in saline for 12 hours, tied with twine, packed in a baking sleeve and tied again.
We put the future ham in a bowl, filled it with water and turned on the slow cooker in the “My Recipe Plus” mode. The ham was cooked at 80°C for exactly 4 hours. After the beep, the meat was taken out of the bowl and allowed to cool. Then put it in the refrigerator for 3 hours.
The ham turned out tender and juicy.
Result: excellent.
Pasta with mushrooms and ham in a creamy sauce
In this test, we will check two modes at once: “Pasta” and “Frying”. Pasta was boiled in the automatic “Pasta” mode in 20 minutes. 12 of them boiled water (about 2 liters), another 8 minutes the pasta itself was cooked. For the last 8 minutes, the lid has been left open, and we have stirred the contents of the bowl a couple of times.
After that, the “Frying” program was turned on. First, small pieces of ham were fried. Later mushrooms were added to them.
Stirring, fried until crispy. Used the bare minimum of olive oil. Nothing stuck to the coating of the bowl, frying was even.
In a separate container, 2 eggs, cream and grated parmesan were mixed and lightly beaten with a mixer.
The pasta was returned to the bowl, poured over the sauce, added a little more grated cheese and mixed.
A simple and tasty dish, prepared without much hassle, pleased with both the smell and taste.
Result: excellent.
Jellied pie with fish
Ingredients for the dough: wheat flour – 200 g, kefir (1% fat) – 250 ml, two eggs, soda – 0.5 tsp, salt and sugar – to taste
Ingredients for the filling: two boiled eggs, red fish – 200 g, green onions – 20 g, salt and black pepper – to taste
Half a teaspoon of soda was added to kefir and set aside for 15 minutes. Eggs were broken into a separate container, a little salt and sugar were added to them and mixed with a whisk. The flour was sifted. Kefir was added to the egg mixture. Constantly stirring the resulting mass with a whisk, flour was introduced in a thin stream, focusing on the consistency of the dough. It should not be too liquid – rather, like thick sour cream.
For the filling, chopped boiled eggs, raw red fish and green onions were mixed. Lightly salted and peppered.
The multicooker bowl was lightly greased with sunflower oil. Half of the dough was poured, the filling was laid on top and the second part of the dough was added.
Leveled with a spatula and put the container in a slow cooker.
The cake was baked in the automatic “Baking” mode for 50 minutes. In order for an appetizing crust to form on both sides of the cake, 10 minutes before the end of the program, open the slow cooker and turn the cake over. In the photo, the cake is already upside down.
After 10 minutes, they checked the lower part – the crust seized, but not enough yet. Returned the cake and baked for another 10 minutes. The fragrant cake was taken out of the bowl and allowed to cool slightly.
The inside of the cake was well baked.
Result: excellent.
Cottage cheese
900 ml of kefir was poured into the bowl, the lid was closed and the “Cottage cheese” program was set for 30 minutes. Everything. No further action was required from us at this stage. Kefir for the test took the first one that came across, with a fat content of 3.2%.
After 30 minutes, a beep sounded, and we opened the multicooker.
Now we just had to throw the cottage cheese on a sieve and let the whey drain. An hour later, we already tried the wonderful moderately crumbly, not overdried cottage cheese and marveled at the ease with which 900 ml of kefir turned into 230 g of excellent cottage cheese.
Result: excellent.
Minced chicken cutlets
An egg, some greens, salt and ground black pepper were added to the minced chicken. About 700 ml of water was poured into the bowl, a container was placed on top and cutlets formed from minced meat were placed in it.
Close the lid and set the steam cooking program for 20 minutes.
Fast and delicious!
Result: excellent.
findings
Summing up the results of testing, we summarize: the Polaris PMC 5040 Wi-Fi IQ Home multicooker is an excellent multifunctional device, both convenient to use and predictable in results.
The only thing we missed was the ability to adjust the heating temperature and time directly in the cooking process, at least in the “My Recipe Plus” mode. In everything else – no cons. The device of a convenient design is equipped with a removable internal cover, and a capacious bowl — not heated handles. A slow cooker of optimal size and weighing only 3 kg is also a gift for summer residents, you can easily take it with you. The undeniable advantages include simple operation, 24 preset cooking programs and advanced features when using the My Recipe Plus mode.
The presence of the remote control function is no longer just entertainment, but a new level of comfort in the operation of household appliances. Now you don’t need to constantly be near the multicooker, you can check the status of the device, turn it off or interrupt its work from a distance, in the convenient Polaris IQ home application.
Pros:
- simple control
- removable inner lid
- 24 automatic programs
- handy application
- the ability to create your own recipes in the “My Recipe Plus” mode
Minuses:
- no adjustment of temperature and time parameters during the cooking process
In conclusion, we suggest watching our video review of the Polaris PMC 5040 Wi-Fi IQ Home multicooker:
Our video review of the Polaris PMC 5040 Wi-Fi IQ Home multicooker can also be viewed on iXBT.video
