It seems that soon kitchen appliances will be able to rule the state: more and more “smart” appliances are becoming, and their skills are developing every year. Today, just such an intelligent, but at the same time budget multicooker Polaris PMC 5020 Wi-Fi IQ Home with remote control through the IQ Home application will work in our laboratory. Let’s see what she can do.
Characteristics
| Manufacturer | Polaris |
|---|---|
| Model | PMC 5020 Wi-Fi IQ Home |
| Type | multicooker |
| Country of Origin | China |
| Warranty | 2 years |
| Service life * | 3 years |
| bowl guarantee | 6 months |
| Power | 750 W |
| bowl volume | 5 l (volume to the upper mark – 3.5 l) |
| bowl cover | non-stick, Daikin |
| Number of programs | 45 (14) |
| Functions | My Recipe Plus, keep warm 24 hours, save program during power failure (2 hours) |
| Delay timer | up to 24 hours |
| Accessories | spoon, scoop, measuring cup, steam container |
| Display backlight | LED |
| Additionally | Wi-Fi control |
| The weight | 2.6 kg |
| Dimensions (W×H×D) | 290×290×280 mm |
| Network cable length | 1m |
| Retail offers |
* Contrary to common misconception, this is not the period after which the device will definitely break. However, after this period, the manufacturer ceases to bear any responsibility for its performance and has the right to refuse to repair it, even for a fee.
Equipment
Polaris PMC 5020 Wi-Fi IQ Home arrived in a beautiful white box made of matte cardboard – this is already a classic packaging design for devices from the “smart” series. Most of the box area is devoted to remote control of the device using the IQ Home app, including QR codes that can be used to download it immediately. But still, one side face was taken under the listing of the technical data of the multicooker.
Opening the box, inside we found:
- multicooker with bowl installed
- steam cooking container
- flat spoon, scoop spoon, measuring cup
- power cord
- recipe book
- manual, service book, advertising booklet
At first sight
The design of the Polaris PMC 5020 Wi-Fi IQ Home has been familiar to us for a long time, for example, from the PMC 0521 IQ Home . The Polaris designer is true to himself: we again have a cylindrical pot with a side-opening lid and a protruding control panel with a display. The inner cover is metal and, unfortunately, is not removable. You will have to carefully remove dirt from it with a damp cloth. There is no closer, so it is better to close the lid by holding the handle so that it does not fall and does not rumble.
The handle is intended only for closing and opening (using the button on the slope of the handle), you cannot carry the multicooker by it. The steam release valve is collapsible, it is easy to thoroughly rinse it.
A removable plastic container for collecting condensate is fixed on the opposite side of the control panel. At the bottom is a connector for connecting an electrical cord.
There is a multicooker on four plastic legs. There are also ventilation holes on the bottom of the device.
Let’s look inside. The picture is familiar: a heating element rises above the bottom of the working chamber.
A five-liter bowl without handles is installed on it. True, the useful volume is 3.5 liters, or 10 cups, as we are told by the risks on the wall. The bowl weighs 500 grams and does not seem flimsy, the non-stick coating is smooth.
As usual, a multicooker comes with a steaming container, a ladle, a spatula and a measuring cup.
Polaris PMC 5020 Wi-Fi IQ Home looks like a good budget multicooker, which it is. The design flaws are compensated by the remote control.
Instruction
The operation manual is presented in three languages: Russian, Ukrainian and Kazakh. Immediately after the general information about the multicooker, there is a section on controlling the appliance through the IQ Home application – so that you definitely do not forget that the appliance is “smart”. This is followed by a description of the classical control, detailed information about the modes and other standard instructions. Everything is written simply and clearly, nothing superfluous, but everything you need is in place. Only the layout is a little “guyaly”, but this does not interfere with the perception of the text.
According to the recipe book attached to the instructions, you can cook 150 dishes: from soups and appetizers to desserts. The emphasis is on national cuisines: there are caponata, and kuchmachi, and Vietnamese soup with rice noodles. Each recipe is accompanied by a beautiful color photograph.
Control
While the appliance is offline, only 8 control buttons are visible: hours, minutes, temperature, menu, delayed start, start, keep warm/cancel, My Recipe Plus. When you turn on the multicooker, the display lights up and a list of 14 automatic programs appears below it. To launch one of them, you need to successively press the “Menu” button until the name of the desired program starts flashing.
In all programs, except Kholodets”, you can change the cooking time, but all programs have a different range and change step. The temperature can only be changed in the “Frying” mode (100-160 °C).
In any case, you can always use the “My Recipe Plus” mode: it can program 9 cooking stages. To create your own program with a unique time and temperature, you need to press the program button and use the “t”, “H” and “min” keys to set the desired time and temperature. When installing, you need to take into account that there is no reverse step, the temperature and time are set only upwards. If you missed the desired value, you have to click in a circle. The maximum duration of one stage is 9 hours 55 minutes, three stages – 16 hours. The temperature can be set in the range of 35-160°C, step change from 35 to 110°C – 5°C, from 110 to 160°C – 10°C.
Smartphone control
The process of pairing Polaris PMC 5020 Wi-Fi IQ Home with IQ Home is elementary. It is described in detail in the instructions, but the application itself gives comprehensive tips.
If desired, you can change the name of the device and record in which room and in which room it is installed.
The default setting is the first step in My Prescription Plus mode. As usual in IQ Home, in the center is a circle with settings, below are all kinds of parameters, even lower are control buttons and favorite recipes (modes). By swiping on the top of the screen, you can go to set the temperature or set the time for a delayed start.
If you decide not to use automatic modes, but to set your own cooking parameters, it is very easy to program each step in the application.
And you can not hesitate at all and use the recipe book. Unlike the printed version, there are as many as 700 of them in the application. By pressing the “Start” button on the recipe page, you will start the multicooker in the desired mode.
Voice control
For sociable people, multicooker control through Alice is provided. It is enough to log into your Yandex account, find Polaris in the “Add devices” tab, and then artificial intelligence will do everything by itself, you just have to choose the room in which the device will work.
If you are not in the mood to chat with Alice, you can use the remote on the device page. Here you can turn on the multicooker in one of the automatic modes or simply set the temperature, and the device will start for 20 minutes.
And with voice commands, you are the real master of the Polaris PMC 5020 Wi-Fi IQ Home.
Exploitation
Before cooking in the Polaris PMC 5020 Wi-Fi IQ Home, we poured water into the bowl and boiled for half an hour in the “Steam Cooking” mode. There were no smells from the device and water, so we immediately started testing.
Controlling the multicooker is very easy, and even more so with the IQ Home app. Control from a smartphone seemed to us even more convenient than push-button control. Instead of going through the modes with the “Menu” button, etc., you can just tap a couple of times on the screen.
The appliance is great for preparing a wide variety of dishes. Of course, you can’t fry a steak in it: there is not enough power. But it will be enough for sauteing dressing for borscht or pancakes. Pies, cereals, stews, soups – all this is perfectly prepared in the Polaris PMC 5020 Wi-Fi IQ Home and does not burn thanks to the good coating of the bowl. The set of automatic programs is universal, but we lacked the Express mode, in which cooking continues until the water has completely boiled away – it is very good for cooking cereals.
Also on the list of inconveniences, we added a non-removable lid without a closer, a narrow container for condensate (both the lid and the container are problematic to clean) and the inability to adjust the settings during cooking.
Care
At the end of cooking, always wash the bowl, empty the condensate container and rinse the steam trap valve. The steam bowl and container can be washed in the dishwasher or by hand, but be aware that the bowl may be damaged (scratched or deformed) in the dishwasher.
The body and the inside of the cover can be wiped with a damp cloth.
Our measurements
In idle, the multicooker consumes 0.8-1 watts. We recorded the maximum power in the “Baking” mode – 834 watts. Polaris PMC 5020 Wi-Fi IQ Home heats up in cycles, alternating between a maximum consumption of around 800 watts and a complete shutdown. For 15 minutes in the “Steam cooking” mode, the energy consumption was 0.17 kWh.
practice tests
Rice
A measuring cup of basmati rice was thoroughly washed and filled with water in a ratio of 1:2. Added salt and some ghee. Turned on the “Group” mode for 25 minutes.
The water boiled away completely, the rice did not stick to the walls and did not stick together in a lump.
Rice to rice is perfect.
Result: excellent.
Pea soup
Folk legends say that the slow cooker reduces the amount of work in the kitchen to almost zero. Allegedly put everything in a bowl – and walk. Usually, for pea soup, we first boil the broth on smoked ribs, then lay the peas, and when it is boiled, we add potatoes, frying and meat from the smoked ribs extracted from the broth. But since we have such a miracle device in our hands, we decided to simplify the process.
Still, it is pointless to put raw root vegetables in the soup: all the flavor will disappear. So I had to spend time on sautéing onions and carrots in the “Frying” mode.
Then they put the ribs chopped into small pieces into the bowl. A little later, potatoes and peas were added, poured with water and turned on the “Extinguishing” mode for two hours. So long, because the peas stood in warm water just a little bit. “Stew” was chosen because in the “Soup” mode, the contents of the bowl tend to boil, and in the case of peas, we do not need this at all.
Shortly before the end of the program, crushed garlic and a pinch of dried thyme were added. Two hours later, a fragrant rich soup was waiting for us, ideal for a winter family dinner. The peas are completely boiled in mashed potatoes, and the potato pieces and carrot shavings have not lost their shape.
Result: excellent.
Dim Sum for a couple
While these Chinese dumplings with pork were being molded, a little water was poured into the multicooker bowl and the “Steam cooking” mode was turned on. When the first portion of dim sum was ready, the water just boiled. The container was lined with Savoy cabbage leaves, the dumplings were placed and sent to the slow cooker for 15 minutes.
During this time, dim sum began to look completely ready.
And indeed: a juicy pork and cabbage filling is wrapped around a perfectly cooked dough (although we rolled it too thickly).
Result: excellent.
Charlotte
Let’s see how the Polaris PMC 5020 Wi-Fi IQ Home handles a delicate and whimsical biscuit. Apples were laid out at the bottom of the bowl, sprinkling the layers with a small amount of cinnamon.
Next came the dough. We turned on the multicooker for 40 minutes in the “Baking” mode.
After the specified time, the dough was checked with a toothpick. Despite the low temperature (in the “Baking” mode it is 130 ° C), the biscuit was perfectly baked, did not settle and did not lose airiness.
Congenial, Ostap Bender would say.
Result: excellent.
Bouzhenina
We found this recipe in the IQ Home app. A piece of pork ham was smeared with a mixture of olive oil, salt, paprika, dried garlic and thyme.
The meat was wrapped in parchment, covered with slices of garlic and bay leaves. The envelope with the future boiled pork was put into the bowl and the multicooker was turned on directly from the recipe tab. The first stage of cooking was supposed to last 2 hours, but we had a piece 2 times smaller than indicated in the recipe, so we periodically glanced at the timer to move on to the next step after an hour.
When the hour passed, we unfolded the parchment, and after another 15 minutes we launched the third stage – on it the pork comes in a still working multicooker, but with the lid open.
It turned out excellent, juicy, but at the same time dense boiled pork. We strongly advise you not to pour out the fragrant juice remaining in the parchment, but pour it over the meat before cooling – it is very tasty.
Result: excellent.
findings
Multicooker Polaris PMC 5020 IQ Home belongs to the category of budget. This in no way concerns the quality of its work: the device copes with all its tasks perfectly. Cheapness is ensured by the simplicity of design: the inner cover is not removed, there is no closer, the most simple plastic is used for finishing. We have no complaints about the electronic filling: a set of 14 automatic programs is universal, in the My Recipe Plus program you can program as many as 9 steps, setting your own parameters for each, and in the event of a network failure, the multicooker “remembers” the settings for another two hours .
Of course, the main feature of this model is remote control through the IQ Home application or using Alice. Users often sneer at such gadgets, they say, until the multicooker learns to put products into itself, all these bells and whistles are completely useless. By no means! we will answer. Firstly, it turned out to be much more convenient to control the Polaris PMC 5020 IQ Home through the application than with buttons. Secondly, the application is not only a valuable fur, but also more than 700 recipes, from the pages of which you can simply turn on the slow cooker and wait for dinner – all settings have already been made for you.
Pros :
- remote control without binding to Bluetooth
- “My Recipe” mode with the ability to program 9 cooking stages
- high quality non-stick coating
Cons :
- non-removable inner cover
