Ok so Thermomix the 'do everything kitchen gadget' is supposed to be the ducks nuts
Here's a link to a Kogan version
http://www.kogan.com/au/buy/thermocook-all-one-food-processo…
Any good do you think?
Does anyone have experience with similar items they could recommend
Cheers
… even $800 for the Thermochef I don't feel I use it enough either.
Or $695 - http://www.yourhomedepot.com.au/products/bundles/new-wave-th… ;-)
Sure you want the new fad that will be relegated to back of the kitchen cupboard? Oh well. Cheaper is better at least.
We know someone with the genuine one. They toss everything in step by step out of its recipe book, like chicken and rice, and turn out… something they think is delicious. (Maybe it is for those who previously ate McDonalds and Dominos most days.) Anyway, a few months on and the fad has worn off.
We already made everything they did - and more - without one, in less time, that tastes better, and is not the consistency of lumpy custard or "sweaty". Then there's the NOISE. Like a garden shredder! When it's running you have to leave the kitchen to converse. And that "plastic plug" dancing around continually banging and ejecting itself out of the machine… Are they joking? A couple of thousand bucks and they couldn't throw in a piece of elastic!?
Tongue firmly in cheek now…
Similar items? They would be:
You could really go extreme and add a dough hook to the mixer for making bread, or a cheap bread machine. (Seen them as low as $49.) Or just use the initial cycle on a broken one that was left out for council pickup because it no longer heats up.
And to get the really smick, ultimate cooking "appliance" that no ThermoSnappyTomTonight could dream of producing the most delicious meals you've ever tasted (including casseroles, roast meat AND baked cheesecake or xmas pudding all from the same appliance - and that isn't a fire danger when you're not home like a slow cooker - plus it cooks in one third of time of a ThermoPalPuppyFood…
A pressure cooker:
http://www.yourhomedepot.com.au/search/?q=Fagor+Duo&x=0&y=0
For a more serious comparison, that same site states a Thermochef can:
The person we know justified the ridiculous price paid, saying "it even makes cakes and pizza dough" - pfft, so what. They already had a bread machine that did that but never thought of using it. They could have done all the same meals in the Thermomix book with appliances they already owned, but didn't. They kept saying, "But I cook so many more things at home now." I believe if they thought about it, they'd realise the real reason was the recipe book. The Thermomix price seems like a lot of money for a motivational book. To me at least.
Be sure to come back and let us know how the cheaper version fares.
Just re-visiting this thread as I bought a Kogan Thermoblend in late October and took delivery of it just before Christmas. I downloaded the user manual from the Kogan site (the machine doesn't come with any other info or recipes), used the machine maybe 10 times and a week later it stopped working. I'm waiting to hear back from Kogan about getting it replaced.
It was great for what I used it for - bread doughs, panna cotta, making cakes and I can't remember what else now. I do agree with everything you wrote, realfamilyman. I don't really need a wizz-bang electrical appliance to be able to cook decent food, but thought a $200 'toy' might be fun. I wouldn't spend 2 grand on what is just a fancier version of the same thing. And I did expect my $200 toy to last longer than a week!
I'll report back when I get my replacement. Or at the very least, I'll be back to have a whinge about Kogan's customer service, if it comes to that.
For anyone who has a (working) machine, there's a Facebook group that shares tips and recipes -
http://www.facebook.com/groups/394593563967108/
Thanks for sharing, any feedback on replacement?
Sorry to return to this thread so late … Kogan sent me a replacement machine in late January and I used it several times a week until a screw fell off the jug handle in early May. It was impossible to re-screw it without breaking the handle, so I just duct-taped it together and kept on using the machine.
I contacted them to ask for a replacement jug, but after several weeks and a couple of emails from me, they told me they were unable to source a replacement jug and asked me to return the whole machine for a refund.
So …. 2 out of 2 machines failed on me and I won't be pushing my luck with a third. Kogan's customer service has been excellent, but they need to improve the machine so that it at least lasts as long as the warranty.
In our house the Thermomix rules. I put it up there with TiVo and Macs as "life-changing" devices (ok, perhaps not life-changing but revolutionary). I can't believe the range of restaurant quality meals my wife produces with one machine and only one other dish (the insulated serving dish). It's used multiple times each day in our house and after having it for nearly three years its still in great shape - top quality German engineering it seems. Would be the best thing for someone single who doesn't really like to cook - easy to make meals that you can freeze a couple of extra meals each time. Highly recommended.
For two grand, most people need to get plenty of use out of it to justify the cost. In order to do that they try to use it for many things for which it is really not ideal.
Anyone with an understanding of cooking techniques would realise that it simply cant replace conventional cooking for many things. For example, it is not going to be able to impart the same flavours that the initial sautéing and caramelisation of aromatics does to many dishes. Unfortunately that is a major part of a lot of dishes from many parts of the world.
But there are many things that do not involve this. Soups sauces rice etc where you can just set and forget are great.
It wont do the sunday roast!
If you can justify the cost for giving you another set of hands, and can control it by limiting it to the things it is ideal for, then yes it can be indeed life changing.
I got a thermomix for $2k and while it is expensive I've considered that if I was to sell it secondhand the resell value is prety decent.
Holy moly, that is cheap. I've just bought a Thermochef ($800) from TVSN. The reviews of the Target bellini ($300) are pretty bad, and people seem to return a few of them before they give up.
But heavens for $200, I would buy it and give it a go.
I couldn't justify the cost of a Thermomix as I knew I wouldn't use it enough, and even $800 for the Thermochef I don't feel I use it enough either.