Thermomix

[RichTea432]

I’m looking into a TM6 - I like the idea of being able to make more complicated dishes, having less washing up and general time saving feeding a family. I also like the fact it does so much. I need a stand mixer, food processor and slow cooker, so have decided I can justify the spend IF it is as amazing as it sounds. So please nothing cost related. Just honest reviews from experience :).

Questions for anyone who has one: is it worth it? I’m a bit concerned you can only use it if following a Cookidoo recipe... is this true or can you still do your own thing? Can you fry adequately in it? Finally, does it SHRED the meat? The online demo I had, the meat at the end looked a little shredded for my taste, I prefer chunks.

A lot of the general reviews I can see are directed at the older ones and worried the tm6 isn’t as good due to the restrictions of Cookidoo.

Thanks in advance.

In my experience, "jack of all trades" appliances really are "master of none".
But I'm a gadget nerd, & I looked into this a while ago.

It doesn't function as a pressure cooker or slow cooker; also you can't caramelise.

Try googling TM6, & there's a section down the page called
"People also ask" which might be helpful.

Thanks. This was my worry, that it does so much but possibly not that well... was hoping for people who have it to say it is wonderful

Never had one but I know people who have. It's not a gadget if you actually enjoy cooking.

Friends of mine have one and lent it to me for a few months. I didn't use it once, I like to feel my cooking.

I can cook but I’m certainly not an excellent one

My DM has one and uses it all the time she says it's right up her alley.
Soups, smoothies, basic stuff like goulash etc she says once you know the basics of how to use all the functions you can easily enough make up your own recipes.
She also has a steaming attachment which she regularly uses (I'm assuming that's standard?)

She also uses it for baking cakes and even more for bread and buns and also pizza dough as it has the mixer thing.

I have a TM5 and absolutely love it. I think you can slow cook, sousvide and do other things in the TM6 which the TM5 can’t do. It doesn’t shred meat, you just cut slightly larger chunks of meat and use the reverse blade. You don’t have to use the Cookidoo if you don’t want to, but there are so many recipes for it and it makes cooking so easy I love using it. But I also use other recipes from Skinnymixers and recipecommunity, or you can adapt your own recipes once you get the hang of it. Its one one of the best things I’ve ever bought. I was decent cook before, but I’m much more adventurous now. And my teenage son loves it, he makes all sorts of stuff in it, he says when he leaves home he is taking it with him ( over my dead body!)

I basically follow recipes but don’t often create my own things.

Oooo, fantastic. This is really good to hear! Pizza dough, homemade breads would definitely be on my make list.

So with the reverse blade, it doesn’t cut it just stirs for you basically? I read online that the TM6 was a bit restrictive as you can’t fry unless following Cookidoo, I’m not sure if it’s only for frying though.

Can I ask @alwayscrashinginthesamecar1 - if you’re making a lamb tagine, for example, as you can’t fry in your tm5, do you brown the onions or meat beforehand on the hob or you don’t need to? (Sorry if this is really obvious, just one of the aspects I’m unsure about!)

Yes I have to do it in the pan as the TM5 doesn’t have the high heat function that the TM6 has. You should have a look on the Cookidoo website, I think you get 30 days free. You should take of your countries filter so you can see all the recipes, and if you use Chrome as a browser it will translate most of the foreign language recipes for you.

The reverse blade stirs with the blunt side of the blade so doesn’t shred the meat. You might be right that you can’t fry unless flowing a recipe, but I think you can workaround that if you want to by selecting a recipe that does. I don’t have a 6 though so just do it in the pan if I need. Honestly, there are over 50,000 recipes on Cookidoo, it’s not really an issue.

I’m not a seller, or affiliate in any way, I just love mine, before I get accused of being an MLM shill.

Haha! Thank you, that is really helpful! Really difficult to get a proper feel for the Thermomix without being able to have a personal demo at the moment, FaceTime one isn’t quite the same! Is it pretty easy to figure out how to use fully is something I was wondering, like I won’t need a face to face demo to show me all the functions will I? In your opinion

Do you mix cakes in yours? Is it basically all of your kitchen tools in one bar a slow cooker/pressure cooker? I promise I have no more questions

@alwayscrashinginthesamecar1

No you won't need a demo, just try a few easy things first, make the veggie stock, and my demo was a creamy salami fettucine recipe. It does take a little bit of getting used to, but really you can't go wring with the guided cooking, its pretty idiot proof. I make all sorts in mine, bread, jam, cakes, anything you can think of really. Although my son has taken over a lot of the cake making, he makes a bloody amazing black forest gateau, and he does pizza duty once a week too for dinner (without complaint! ). We also make yoghurt in it once a week, which saves a fortune as we eats heaps of the stuff. We also use it a lot for cocktails in summer, especially frozen margaritas. Ask away if there is anything else you need to know. My only advice if you get one is to make yourself use it so you get the hang of it quickly, some people don't bother and then blame the machine when it becomes a dust gathering ornament!

I’ve had my TM5 for about 4 years now, I use it every single day, sometimes up to 4-5 time’s. We’re on holiday at the moment and I brought it with me.
The TM6 with its higher temps would be good, that is the only thing I don’t love is the inability to properly fry things off.
The jury’s out for me with cookidoo. I got a 6 month trial which I didn’t follow up, but I just reactivated it in an attempt to get my kids cooking more (one of the big bonuses) and trying to meal plan more. Still not sure. I generally look up recipes online.
I was gifted mine so i didn’t actually pay $2000 for it, but in hindsight I think I would.

Ive got the TM6 - you can caramelise onions. Ive also owned the TM5 and TM31 so TM has been a part of my cooking life for nearly 15 years. I love how you can just type an ingredient you have in the fridge onto the TM6 screen and it brings up all the recipe options I’d normally never think of. There are some things I still like cooking manually but I’ve saved myself sooo many hours in the kitchen with the TM and we normally cook from scratch. Like a pp said - I also don’t sell them !

The only other gadget i have at home is a slow cooker (as i use the tm for different things during the day, i like to do anything that will take hours and hours seperately)

Thank you ladies, that is really helpful. Definitely confirmed the general reviews I’ve found of the TM being fantastic. I’ve actually yet to read anything negative from an owner. To be fair, the prospect of my kids cooking me cakes and dinner alone should be enough to make me purchase!

RichTea, I do know people who would say negative things about a Thermomix, and you might perhaps want to search on this site, just to get a wider view of them, before you buy. (If you already have of course, that's great.)

I've never owned one, but I have a natural concern for anyone spending a lot of money that they have enough information before they do! Because of the selling model, a lot of people tend to get Thermomix info from someone who has a financial interest in your decision - not that this is the case on this thread.

I have a TM31 and have had it for about 20 years. Haven’t upgraded it yet but I’m thinking of doing. Can’t help about the TM6 but my older one is still going strong with no issues.

@Extracurricularfatigue yes it is a lot of money and due to selling method totally difficult to find lots of impartial reviews - thank goodness for mumsnet! I’m interested to hear any viewpoint.

@Murinae 20 years is pretty fantastic

I sold my TM21 to a friend and that’s still going strong too. Just looked got my TM 31 in 2004 so not quite 20 years yet.

I have a TM31 and a TM5 and absolutely love them. I cook all of the time in them and will definitely be getting a TM6. I also have Cookidoo, which I use when I'm menu planning. It's very inexpensive and pays for itself if you are cooking from scratch.

Things I regularly make in the TM are:

Bread
Curry with steamed rice
Lentil Spag Bol
Fruity Dream (non-dairy soft serve ice cream that's made from frozen fruit - kids love this)
The trusty Thermomix risotto
Nacho toppings
Butter chicken (sometimes I roast my own spices in it too)
Pizza dough
Soup - chicken and sweetcorn is a favourite
Stock
Coleslaw and chopped salads
San Choy Bau and Steamed pork buns
Butter & buttermilk - I use the buttermilk in sweet rolls for DD to have with soup. I love having homemade butter (it also freezes well).
Mashed potatoes
Rice pudding
Dips (including the legendary artichoke dip that won me an award at the Girl Guide cooking contest, don't mention the fat content).
Lemonade
Home made baked beans
Hoisin pork with rice
Mushroom stroganoff
Custard

There's more but you get my drift. I find it's opened up my repertoire and I cook from scratch because it makes it easy. I never use jarred pasta sauce or curry sauce for example (and they are expensive) - I just let the Thermomix do it, and I control the salt and have no additives, so save time and money and prepare something healthy. It's a complete win for me.

I have the TM5, but have read a few things about the TM6 - I believe that there are certain functions that can only be used during guided cooking on Cookidoo such as caramelisation, searing and browning (due to the high temp mode). Check out Sophia's Kitchen TM6 in-depth review on youtube for more info:

All the other functions can be used manually however. In fact, I actually don't have a Cookidoo subscription anymore, as I never used it! I cook mostly Skinnymixers' meals now, and find that they always turn out better than the Cookidoo equivalent and are better tested IMHO. However, without a Cookidoo subscription you won't be able to use the new TM6 high temp functions, which is annoying! You can find Skinnymixers on Facebook.
Does it shred the meat? That depends on the type of meat used, which way the blade is going and what speed. I cook chicken breast ALL THE TIME as I don't like thigh, but just put the butterfly whisk in, reverse blade, and slow speed. No more shredding!

@Darcy2 this is exactly what I was worried about. That the tm6 specifically may be very restrictive as from sophias kitchen review, it sounds like you’re locked in to Cookidoo. While I expect I’ll find loads to make from there, I do also have a bank of curries etc I may myself already that I’ll want to keep making but in the thermomix. I guess it sounds like there are ways around it, like using a Cookidoo one and adding my own stuff, but that’s a tad annoying isn’t it! Though fundamentally, everyone with a previous model TM can’t do the higher temp stuff anyway, and you all seem to still love it!

@pinotgrigio that all sounds awesome. I’m hoping it will make from scratch cooking easier. Most evenings I make two dinners for us and the kids. The amount of washing up seriously drives me insane that doing something such as making my own curry paste is just too much 🤯

I should really press preview before I post, I keep forgetting you can’t edit