Thermomix

maxwell smart

Hi There

Mrs Smart has her heart set on a Thermomix. I've looked them up and they seem like they are indeed a very useful tool. Then I saw the price....!

Anyone got one?

Gloomtastic!

‘Only available through our advisors’. Sounds like a pyramid scheme to me......

CJhaughey

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

‘Only available through our advisors’. Sounds like a pyramid scheme to me......

Cooking chef would be a similar price I think but probably more versatile

dudara

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

‘Only available through our advisors’. Sounds like a pyramid scheme to me......

They are pro-kit and not at all cheap. Probably not sold generally as they are not made in huge numbers.

lfc200

Very much geared towards professional chefs or food development businesses.
We have them where I work they certainly are useful and robust, unless you are going to get a lot of use out of it, you'd probably struggle to justify the price of them.

rubadub

lfc200 wrote: »

Very much geared towards professional chefs or food development businesses.
We have them where I work they certainly are useful and robust

are you working in a professional kitchen?

Did you have to get/suffer this salesperson calling out?

I can not imagine many chefs or restaurateurs being too happy about having to fork out what is presumably a large % of the cost of the item on the expense on having some middleman come around for a form of commission.

Or can you bypass this and get it cheaper? If they want a second one do they have to put up with this again? and pay full price?

lfc200

rubadub wrote: »

are you working in a professional kitchen?

Did you have to get/suffer this salesperson calling out?

I can not imagine many chefs or restaurateurs being too happy about having to fork out what is presumably a large % of the cost of the item on the expense on having some middleman come around for a form of commission.

Or can you bypass this and get it cheaper? If they want a second one do they have to put up with this again? and pay full price?

Not in a professional kitchen but a food manufacturing company.
From memory the people who bought it just purchased online, don't remember them ever saying about salesperson calling/phoning....

gar32

My sister in lay has one and unless you are a bad cook maybe not needed. There was a yearly payment for the recipes. I feel way over priced for a mixer streamer food cooker.

wonski

dudara wrote: »

They are pro-kit and not at all cheap. Probably not sold generally as they are not made in huge numbers.

They are not used in professional kitchens etc.

Sold using presentations at private homes. Not suitable for chefs etc at all.

Saying that I know of two people who are happy with those devices, the way it is being sold might put some off.

For me it is just a fancy overpriced kitchen gadget. For some it is a life saver, though.

If your oh is thinking of it, then she probably met someone who owns one

wonski

lfc200 wrote: »

Very much geared towards professional chefs or food development businesses.
We have them where I work they certainly are useful and robust, unless you are going to get a lot of use out of it, you'd probably struggle to justify the price of them.

Very much not.

I fail to see where that would be useful in a food business at all. Especially at that price.

It is aimed specifically at consumers who are willing to have a presentation at home by one of the distributors.

It is working, but imo it is overpriced and the way it is distributed instead of making it elite it just makes it a bit dodgy tbh.

dudara

wonski wrote: »

They are not used in professional kitchens etc.

Sold using presentations at private homes. Not suitable for chefs etc at all.

Saying that I know of two people who are happy with those devices, the way it is being sold might put some off.

For me it is just a fancy overpriced kitchen gadget. For some it is a life saver, though.

If your oh is thinking of it, then she probably met someone who owns one

I know a few chefs who have a Thermomix and I only know one domestic owner (who is heavily connected to the restaurant trade). Are you speaking from professional experience here as it goes against the grain of what I’ve seen?

wonski

dudara wrote: »

I know a few chefs who have a Thermomix and I only know one domestic owner (who is heavily connected to the restaurant trade). Are you speaking from professional experience here as it goes against the grain of what I’ve seen?

Looks like we have two totally different experiences

Like I said I wouldn't use it in professional capacity personally, but stand to be corrected.

Not sure what they are doing with it to be honest, would like to hear.

Interesting tbh.

Muahahaha

dudara wrote: »

I know a few chefs who have a Thermomix and I only know one domestic owner (who is heavily connected to the restaurant trade). Are you speaking from professional experience here as it goes against the grain of what I’ve seen?

what would the pro chefs be using them for? Are they not a bit small for cooking large batches?

Ive only seen one video on them but thought they are moreso a device for people who feel they are not good at cooking, i.e the machine is also a weighing scales and the LCD screen gives you step by step instructions on when to add ingredients and how much by weight, etc, something that people who cook often just have in their heads from experience. Could be wrong but thats what I thought their market is.

wonski

The two owners I know are good at cooking, but use it to save time. Domestic users.

It is working well, but I personally can't see appeal in full time kitchen. Would be interested to see what they use it for, too. Sauces maybe?

The main thing that makes it worthwhile are the recipes imo and that's where I fail to see it in the proper kitchen full of people who know what they are doing and can chop the vegetables themselves etc... Or use less fancy appliances with larger capacity.

Musefan

I wonder would an instant pot be a better alternative?

shortcircuitie

If you want to "dip your toe" in this kind of device, I would really recommend the Lidl version of the Thermomix , with the admittedly awful title of "Monsieur Cuisine". Costs €200 which is a fraction of a Thermomix

I have had an older-model one for the last three years and have found it exceptionally handy. Where it really comes into its own is where you are busy making a nice/complicated meal and have to make a sauce like hollandaise, bearnaise or beurre blanc. Instead of spending precious time adding the butter in bit by bit, making sure the sauce doesn't split, you throw it all in the machine, set the temperature and let it work away. The benefit is that it will make the sauce and keep it warm for as long as you like, while you attend to other jobs.

Also great for soups. Throw in the veg in big chunks. Whizz up so it's finely chopped. Put in the stock. Turn on the heat setting and let it cook as long as it needs. No need to keep an eye on a bubbling pot to make sure it's simmering just right. When ready blend it up, season etc. All in the one jug.

Great for celeriac, carrot or cauliflower puree. Same as above just less stock.

You're making a cake, and you need to make whipped cream or buttercream icing. But your mixer still has the remnants of cake batter all over it. No worries, just whizz it up in the machine. I could go on.

I never bothered using things like the steamer etc. They seemed more trouble than they were worth.

Where my one fell down was that it didn't have the "reverse" function that the Thermomix has. This means that if you want to cook something like bolognaise or risotto, the blades would go in reverse (blunt part touching the food) so it had the motion of stirring as opposed to chopping. So mine would turn risotto or bolognaise to soup.

However this has been fixed in newer models of the device, so now there is very little to separate the two as far as I can see.

Now because of the price, the build quality is never going to be as good as the Thermomix. But as I said, it is a great way to see if this kind of machine would suit you.

maxwell smart

Well we got one yesterday, i will update you on how close we are to opening our own restaurant shortly.
Initial impression, its a well bit piece of equipment, and seems idiot proof. I will see about that. :)

Doge

Anyone using cooking robots like the Thermomix or it's clones in 2024?

There's only 2 threads on boards about them indicating they haven't quite caught on yet, but they look the job for making restaurant quality food at home with very little fuss.

I had no idea they existed upto a few weeks ago when a friend told me about them.

I've been doing a lot of research on them and it has become a bit obsessive! 😂

I have my sight set on the cheapest clone, the Cecotec Mambo Touch which has sold for as low as €200 new on Amazon Spain, and its the most compact I've seen.

https://amzn.eu/d/ejnCblw

Just looking to dip my toes into them and the Mambo Touch seems to hold its own against Lidl's Monsieur Cuisine Smart.

There's a few drawbacks with the mambo.

• The jug doesn't have a proper handle, it's only comes in the newer and more expensive models with the ChefCrown attachment.
• The capacity is lower than the the Monsieur Cuisine Smart but should be good for 3 or 4 servings.
• There's no community recipes on the app / website (although Monsieur Cuisine only have 1 community recipe in the English section and you need to change the language to see the other community recipes with no translate option).
• In a Spanish Facebook group for the Mambo Touch a good few people had scorched the stainless steel jug on the inside and the plastic melted on the outside when following the official recipes which called for the temperature set to max (120°C) and power level set to max (10). So you should always make sure the power level is down to 7 or 8 when the max temperature is dialed in. Users possibly had the top hole sealed with the measuring cup not allowing the heat to escape. Cecotec sent free replacement to people that have had this happen.
• Sometimes the recipes might have one ingredient in Spanish on the Mambo Touch app.
• Also there's no recipe scaling option for changing the portions like Thermomix has.

All that aside the Mambo touch seems unreal value for money.

I currently have a free trial of Thermomix' Cookido app and I'm using a really cool app called Recipe Keeper to automatically scrub and store the title, ingredients, instructions, photo etc. from the recipes webpage, so I can adapt them for use with the Mambo Touch later. You can scale the recipe very easily with it too.

squonk

Those drawbacks from the mambo seem kind of significant. I think you get what you pay for with machines like this.

I like kitchen gadgets and have looked at these. I think the big issue is cost. For the big guns like thermomix or Kenwood cooking chef you’re talking north of €1500 which is a lot. Those prices have risen lately too. Also thermomix won’t just sell you a machine. They do online demos and want you to rope in friends. Then they want you to subscribe to use the app which is the heart of the machine. That’s after a big layout on buying the thing.

I’m nit sure if these will ever really catch on. Not until they’re cheaper and still good quality. Also, on a forum like this I’d say people like a challenge so making sauces etc which these machines do well is kind of a skill to be mastered. I think they benefit a time poor affluent person who doesn’t want to survive on takeaways

Doge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121904476#Comment_121904476

They are significant but Im willing to work around them for a saving of 1.2 grand.

I forgot to mention the mambo touch can weigh down to the gram unlike the Monsieur Cuisine Smart which weighs in 5 gram increments.

There's no reverse gear but it gets around this by including the "spoon" attachment and it just clicks in without needing to remove anything underneath. In a comparison video it did a much better job at kneading and the dough didn't stick to the jug unlike the MC Smart.

In my case it will be handy for creating sauces, soups and deserts from scratch without having to worry about temperature and spending lots of time mixing by hand.

It will take a bigger player like Philips to bring out an affordable one with good support for recipes before they're mass adopted like the Air Fryer.

Markcheese

https://youtu.be/4yr_etbfZtQ?si=r0BvmQB_dg3OKhP2

if you buy a thermomix you'll love it ,and tell everyone you meet that you love it ,because you've just spent thousands on it +and cant get a refund -

And + thermomix - for when you've always wanted to joina cult - but dont have the energy for the group sex...

squonk

It’s exactly like a cult, or Amway. Anyone heard of that scam? Basically a goods flogging Ponzi scheme. I see a lady in Limerick is promoting Thermomix via a website where you purchase through her. I really dislike that way of doing business. If your product is good, and I have no reason to think the thermomix isn’t good, then it should sell itself. In the end though I can’t get over the fact that the Thermo mix is a very fancy blender. The same with the Kenwood Cooking Chef which is a very fancy mixer. I’d sooner go Kenwood myself but I’m still of the opinion that online recipe availability is what makes these things worth the money so I’d say if you can find a cheap alternative with lots of comparable online content, go for it.

Tree

My German colleague and his wife love theirs, I think thermomixes are more common there.

TheKBizzle

I had the lend of one for a month with a spare jug and they are handy but it kind of took away the feeling of making anything myself and getting better and cooking. Like if you want a foolproof hollandaise sauce etc but for €1500 it was a bit too much and a bit too small too for what I’d want. Saying that if I was given a free one I’d totally find use for it

squonk

I think that’s the way to go actually, try before you buy. You get a feel for what you think before committing. I suppose that’s what Thermomix are trying with the guided demos but having a pro on hand insulates you from getting a real feel for the machine IMHO. It’s because of experience that would make me go for the Kenwood Cooking Chef because of familiarity with the brand. Honestly though enjoy cooking for its own sake so might feel like I was cheating having one of those to hand.

I think though back in the day when I was in the office and getting home at 7 or 8 some evenings, a thermomix or equivalent would have been a godsend and meant that I ate better while the machine cooked something good while I was showering and getting sorted after the day.

the beer revolu

On the professional kitchen argument, I know of one fine dining restraunt that uses one. They buy second hand.

phormium

A few for sale on marketplace which tells a lot I think! I bought a bread maker lately on MP, another abeit cheaper thing people buy and don't use, there are tons of them there lol.

talla10

My wife has been looking at a Thermomix for years and always wanted one. I was highly dubious we would reap the benefit. She went ahead and got one last month after saving for a while. After four weeks we (family of 5) are all eating much healthier- We have three kids and had fallen into the trap of busy lifestyle giving kids processed foods too many times a week and not being organised enough.

The Thermomix obviously hasn't solved all our problems but it has made earing healthy a lot easier and provided a greater variety of food. The key is being organised planning meals for the week and ensuring we have all the ingredients for each meal. We have made better batches of soup, brown bread and dinners such as kormas, butter chicken, pasta and salmon dishes.

In the month we have it I've lost 8 lbs and my wife has lost about the same. Now this isn't purely down to the Thermomix we made a conscious decision to snack less eat better all round and exercise more! But it has played a part as we are eating more of our five a day, have made healthy snacks like protein balls, soups, smoothies etc instead of eating crap. There is still a lot more we can get from the machine we haven't made stuff like homemade sauces etc but early days.

So all in all so far so good. I think most people will naturally get more from the machine in the first few months so remains to be seen if we stick with it. At this moment it seems we will its a significant investment, we are enjoying new foods and we are all getting better quality and variety of foods.