Magnetic Stirrer Hot Plate Mixer and Lab Hot Plate,100-1600RPM,Max 380°C,Dual Control,for Lab Liquid Mixing Heating SH-2

I'm a lab scientist and I've used these things for years. I'm also a cook, and there've been times when I've wished that I had one at home. This little guy fits the bill. It has a small footprint, easy controls, and even a stand. Imagine keeping a gravy warm or keeping butter or chocolate melted. The stirrer can make iced tea in minutes! It can boil water, although radiant heat becomes an issue, so clear away plastics and paper. I'm sure that it will do fine in the lab or classroom, too, if you need something this small.

This product performed as expected. Temperature was a little difficult to adjust but after some trial and error I made a mark for the setting I required. Reduced tincture evaporation time after filtering from about one week to two days to obtain the target concentration but not as useful for extraction as it is not adequate for slurries/viscose mixtures. Use a standard beaker or other flat-bottomed vessel as a domed bottom makes stir bar placement challenging. Hopefully this unit will prove to have a reasonable life span for the price.

A temperature scale would be nice as it can take quite some time to dial in a precise temp. Otherwise, the stirring function works fine. I did order a variety of stirring bars for more flexibility.

I was pleasantly surprised by the construction quality of this machine. It feels really solid and well built. I haven't used this machine for too long nor I have a lab or other heavy use for it, but it feels and looks like it will provide many years of reliable service.

,but for the price, it works if you don't expect more than it is. You cannot distill multi-liter flasks, and the temp control knob is rubbish, but the digital one is much more expensive. You get what you pay for, and in my mind, I'd do it again.

It works well as a stirrer. There is NO way to gently add heat. It goes from nothing to boiling hot. I wish they got rid of the heater and included some more/different size spinner magnets.

As others have noted, this thing has lousy-to-nonexistent temperature control. I mostly needed a stirrer but since this wasn't much more, I took a chance that the heater would be useful. I put a flask of 66-degree water on the heater and turned it on. Nothing. I turned it a little more. Nothing. At one point I turned the knob 1 mm and the temperature shot up to 184 degrees. I'm an electrical engineer and I have no idea how I'd design something that bad in the unlikely event someone wanted an "all or nothing" temp controller. Definitely don't walk away from this thing while the heater is on.The stirring part works fine and is quieter than I expected with a piece of Chinese junk.

Works great in spite of a lot of the reviews. I used a laser thermometer and the unit works great with very flexible temp control.