JBa

Hi UK1
Care to explain what a Thermomix can do next to blending. From reading on the "unreliable interweb" I see that there are units with different options and prices? Do you agree?

uk1

As you know I'm a well equipped sort of bloke .... and I have looked into this a fair bit ... because I really "wanted" one but in the end concluded it was a waste of time and substantial cash for me. The price of several pizza ovens. It is a multifunction blender, mixer and hot pot type of thing. It will make you a soup for example from scratch. To me it seems to have two markets.

The first are professional kitchens who can use this as an extra pair of hands when they are busy. For example you can have it make your hollandaise sauce and leave it to it. In a kitchen under stress in service hours I suspect this machine pays for itself.

I predict my comments about the other markets will elicit a response ....

I think the other market is largely but not entirely made up of people who already have all the equipment in their kitchens to achieve what this will do - and have the time - some however might not have the skill - and some with a surplus of cash - just "want it". In my view very few home kitchens need it. For many of the people I know who have them, they almost make it a bit of a status symbol.

It isn't an essential item in a competent amateur cooks kitchen. I haven't found an excuse yet to buy one.

indianwells

I'd love one but from a "want" rather than a "need" perspective. I can do everything a Thermomix can do, albeit with a little more washing up. 5 minutes more washing up or £900 poorer? I've already given away an Actifry and a Heston Blumenthal juicer so I'm not going down that road again!

uk1

I have a garage of "needed" things ....

I went through a stage of wanting to perfect fish batter and wanted fish and chips. This involved a catering double fryer. Took up too much room. In the garage. That of course replaced earlier fryers. All in the garage.

I wanted to make really good panini's . Of course I had to have a heavy cast iron catering one. Lost interest. Juicer. Lost interest.

At one stage we had three large Gaggia machines, then discovered that Nespresso was as good at espresso - we only drink these - thankfully daughter took them from our garage ....

You described how we feel about the Thermomix. I love new toys but this one is just too much cash and not needed enough. And I enjoy the control of all the stages. That to me is what cooking is all about.

Am I still the only one that finds it impossible to accept that over 11% of all Spanish households own one? I don't think so.

LapLap

El Pais reports it as a fact
http://economia.elpais.com/economia/...29_397112.html

As does La Vanguardia
http://www.lavanguardia.com/economia...la-crisis.html

El Mundo
http://www.elmundo.es/blogs/elmundo/...la-cocina.html

La Razon
http://www.larazon.es/detalle_normal...l-ya-se-cocina

But, oh dear, it's all in Spanish, that means that none of this counts for toffee against a emotional rational & logical assumption.

Cloudship

It's popular in Italy too, correct? It's because I imagine that it makes making risotto and Paella easier. The right machine for the job.

The only thing I see myself making regularly that would use a Thermomix is Choux Paste. Does that really make that process easier (up to forming - obviously it wont help there.)?

uk1

To be honest .... I think the whole thing about risotto is the stirring of it by hand and adding the liquid - just the right amount - just at the right moment - as you go along, and stopping at the right moment. Each time you make it, it is different conditions so requires different judgements. I think using a machine would lose the joy and cannot replace the eye and brain - but I can see it being used for people who are clueless about making risotto and don't have yours and my standards! ! And to be honest I don't think real Italians would buy a machine for that and neither would the Spanish for paella. I don't think it would like the mussel shells!

When you said "choux paste" my eyes lit up .... but then I don't make that anyway.

Anyway we have another angry post again, and we've been around this one before and had exactly the same emotive outburst but evidently we aren't aloud to express dissent. ..... so I guess we mustn't discuss this anymore ........

LapLap

I understand that Thermomix is popular in Italy (It's one of the main 5 markets) but can't comment on what it's used there for. Turns out that 1 out of every 5 Thermomixs sold are sold in Spain.

Stirring a paella is a complete no no (most are made with chicken and/or rabbit but the defining quality of a paella is that it is made in a very thin layer and never touched so that the rice's starch is not released). However, there are a huge range of other Spanish dishes using rice that the Thermomix is supposed to do well, these are called "caldoso" or "meloso" (soupy or silken) rice dishes and, unlike the Italian risottos, no stirring (or very little) is required once the rice is added to the stock.
Stews with lentils are hugely popular in Spain, as is salmorejo (a thick tomato gazpacho) and garlic and almond soup, all kinds of soup are often eaten as a first course. Lots of bechamel is used in Spanish cooking (particularly croquettes), for some reason white sauces seem to intimidate a lot of novice cooks.
Goodness knows how many baby meals of puréed vegetables are made on a daily basis, I've visited families where the kids' home cooked meals seem to consist exclusively of purée, right up until they are 4 years old. The idea that you can load in ingredients, give the kids a bath and then feed them with something the Thermomix did for you in the meantime is an appealing one to many.
Italian meringue is the preferred kind in Spain (I hate the stuff, too sickly!) and the Thermomix is apparently ideal for this.
Sorbets made by adding pre-frozen fruit have now become a popular dessert option in people's homes.

One of the innovations of the new version of the machine (TM5) is the touch screen display on the front. It means that specially formatted e-recipes can be uploaded directly onto the Thermomix which makes following a recipe near foolproof, sort of like using an iPod recipe app that is linked into the machine. (EDIT - Oops! Not quite. See next posts #24 & #27)

It is also very popular with those with food allergies as non gluten flours and "milks" can be easily prepared in the machine. This makes ingredients such as soy milk, almond milk, horchata (a milk made with tiger nuts) very accessible - and much nicer than the commercial kinds sold in tetra brick packaging.

---
I've also been tempted by the idea of easy choux pastry, learning how easy it is to make soy milk and therefore yuba and tofu (and ricotta style soft cheese where I can stay in control of the salt content, ideal when combining with other salty ingredients for a child's pâté) is also making me soften a little to the idea of eventually getting one... maybe...

gilbertaue

Friend of ours in Paris is one of the Demo ladies for Thermomix. We often stay with them when in France and my wife uses it together with our Friend.
Its quite a versatile machine.

The recipes are actually a chip. And you need to purchase that chip. Attached to the side of the machine.

What makes it interesting for us is that the chips are very focussed European-cuisine. So my wife, being Asian, does not have a huge repertoire of western cooking and quite likes the machine. (She is however excellent in making Macarons - go figure).
We have been eyeing the machine for awhile now and have a way to take it out of Europe with VAT refund - so that brings down the cost. But with our source in France, the machine is French-speaking. You can change the menu functions to multiple languages, but the recipe chip that comes with the machine is, umm, in French (No problems for me, but I dont want to be standing in the kitchen translating!)

The reason why it hasnt caught on much in SE Asia is that we feel it isnt too good for Asian cooking and b) Many households that can afford the machine have a maid at home (who often does the cooking).

LapLap

Nope, I'm not angry.

LapLap

Thanks for clarifying, I'd read that the new version comes with a book of recipes (197 in the Spanish version) either in electronic or traditional format and made the near baseless assumption that this is what was loaded into the machine.

Your comment about maids got me wondering if this has contributed to the success of the machine in Spain. Lots of households have two breadwinners who have to work stupidly long hours to keep their jobs (stiff competition) and pay the mortgage, this makes a childminder in the house a necessity and not everyone has the kids' grandparents living nearby. A Thermomix with clear instructions means that the parents won't have to worry about whether the childminder (or aged parent minder) can actually cook.

gilbertaue

The chip comes with a book. They complement each other as the book offers variations to the recipe in the chip. So when you follow the variations you may end up having to follow different measurements etc.

LapLap

Thanks again, very interesting.

bensyd

You've been given multiple sources confirming that 10% of households in Spain have one. It's very strange that you continue to claim it's not true based on nothing more than "I don't believe it". 16 million households in Spain and 1.6m units. What part do you disagree with?

uk1

Oh ... I promise you needn't concern yourself over which bit of that I didn't believe ... irrespective of multiple sources. In fact there is only one source for all these so called multiple sources ... that is Thermomix. No one else actually can completely accurately and honestly corroborate what they sell where .... except market research .... not ..... And Thermomix I suggest would like people that don't own a Thermomix to believe that they aren't a part of the right group wouldn't they. And if you think about what they are selling and at what price, they would have to be pretty decent at marketing wouldn't they? I mean BS aside is this unit actually worth the price to more than 11% of Spanish families. You think so. I doubt it. And I owned a market research company so I am entitled to be sceptical. Basically, In summary the idea of 11% of the Spanish population seems right to you, so you believe the evidence and seem indignant and think me stupid that I don't. It seems wrong to me so I disbelieve it. C'est la vie.

To support your low opinion of my opinion, the vast majority in the world believe in a variety of Gods and I don't and there is a lot of sources to support he exists. And they are well established sources over not just decades but millennia corroborated by many. That means I suspect from your point of view that I must be an idiot for not believing with all that corroborating evidence of so many sources over so long a period by so many millions of people.

Don't believe all that you read however often it is repeated. If you believe it fair enough.

The point is that people that believe in God believe the sources., Those that don't - do not. It probably goes to show that I am consistently wrong doesn't it.