See what MNers think of Kenwood’s new kCook and be in with a chance to win your own! NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

This is the feedback thread for the 20 Mumsnetters who tried the Kenwood kCook.

Here’s what the people at Kenwood say, “Whipping up a one-pot wonder for your family has never been easier thanks to the new kCook cooking food processor from Kenwood which not only chops and stirs, but also cooks delicious dishes at the touch of a few buttons. All this, plus a fantastic specially-developed recipe app to provide a little inspiration at every meal time, makes the kCook the new must-have kitchen essential.

The three bowl tools coupled with the app make the laborious tasks of thinking up a meal, preparing ingredients and endlessly stirring over a hot stove a thing of the past. Simply follow one of over 200 recipes available on the app, or adapt them to your taste using the kCook’s manual modes which allow the speeds and temperatures to be changed.”

Testers, we’d like you to answer the below questions:

Q1. How would you describe the kCook to friends or family who had never heard of it before? What was your overall impression of it?

Q2. How easy, or not, did you find to use the kCook? What time saving tips did you find when using the kCook?

Q3. What family meals did you create with the kCook? Did they go down well with your family? We’d love it if you could post some pictures of your dishes on this thread.

Q4. Did you use the Kenwood recipe app? If so, what did you think of it? Did you discover new recipes you hadn’t tried before?

Q5. If it came up in conversation, do you think you’d recommend the kCook to friends and family? If so, why? If not, why not?

Non-testers, what’s your favourite dish to make in a food processor? Everyone who adds their thoughts to this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win their own kCook.

Thanks
MNHQ

Tester here.

Q1. How would you describe the kCook to friends or family who had never heard of it before? What was your overall impression of it?

It's the lovechild of a big metal saucepan and food processor - it chops, stirs and cooks.

Q2. How easy, or not, did you find to use the kCook? What time saving tips did you find when using the kCook?

The instructions were fairly simple - however skipping between programmes or getting from keep warm back to cooking meant turning it off and on again.

It was simple enough to operate - pop the bowl on the base, add the ingredients, press chop, then set your timer for the allotted time stated in the book.

However, most of the ingredients need chopping before you put them in the bowl anyway, so you've already got your knife and chopping board out and dirty! The keep warm alarm is really, really annoying and the food was more tepid than pleasantly warm.

I didn't find that it saved me any time at all - in fact, it took longer to cook meals! I would have liked to have been able to throw my ingredients in and then set the timer and the kCook then chop and start cooking/stirring automatically. Having to stand over it and then set each function individually seems counter-productive.

The kCook bowl is allegedly dishwasher safe on the top rack but with the grey rubbery base still on it was FAR too big to go in my dishwasher, and the manual didn't give any indication that the grey base should somehow come away from the metal bowl.

It was also strange having to remove the seal from the lid manually (with a spoon!) every time you wanted to wash it, and then having to clip it back in.

Q3. What family meals did you create with the kCook? Did they go down well with your family? We’d love it if you could post some pictures of your dishes on this thread.

We made chilli (using the bolognese settings)- which came out really, really watery. Looking at other reviews here, that seems to be a real issue. I had to strain off liquid before it was edible, and then all the spices and flavour went down the plughole with the watery sauce!

We made the pea and parma ham risotto - this came out like overcooked porridgy stodge. It was pleasantly flavoured (after we added extra salt and garlic) but a really odd texture.

Q4. Did you use the Kenwood recipe app? If so, what did you think of it? Did you discover new recipes you hadn’t tried before?

I did use the app to have a look around - at first both me and DH (neither of us technophobes in any way, and both quite IT savvy) didn't realise that there was a scroll down menu to choose the language for our model of kCook. A kind MNer pointed this out to me. The app was fine, lots of recipes but we didn't try any of those, and stuck with those in the book.

Q5. If it came up in conversation, do you think you’d recommend the kCook to friends and family? If so, why? If not, why not?

I really don't think I would. I was sadly disappointed by it - particularly for the RRP, it's a lot of money for something that doesn't do as good a job as you could do with a pan, knife (which you need anyway for the kCook) and a spoon! I had high hopes for it - I hope that when my damson tree is ready to harvest I will be pleasantly surprised by the jam making capabilities and will post again then (and if we do have any positive updates in the future too!)

Non tester. I really only use my food processor to make chocolate truffles these days. Delias recipe. So easy!!

(I Have an inherited Kenwood chef with loads of attachments which do things much better than my processor)

Well the veggie mince & onion pasties went down well

Didn't get a chance to get a pic, turned around and they had disappeared!

TESTER

Tonight we had Seafood and Chorizo paella from the app. It was v v tasty and went down well with everyone, although the portions were a bit on the small side for 4 adults.
Methods said cook for 10 mins once you've added the chorizo but it has burning and sticking in less than 3 mins so i added a small amount of boiling water and it was fine.

I would certainly make this again.

Sorry ---- Method not Methods
was not HAS

Non-tester
I use my food processor mostly for baking but love it the most for home made coleslaw because it is much better than me at shredding cabbage!

Tester here. I have only used it a few times, mainly because it's just been too hot to cook these last few days! However, this is my initial impression:

1. How would you describe the kcook? What was your overall impression.

It's basically a cross between a food processor and a slow cooker I think. It chops, blends, stirs and cooks.

My overall impression was good, easy to set up and use. Not too big so pretty easy to find space for it in the kitchen. The buttons are simple and not too complicated.

1. How easy or not did you find the kook?

It's pretty easy to use, the buttons are all self explanatory and you can do most things you need to do by touching one button.

1. What meals did you make? Did they go down well?

I made macaroni cheese, pea and ham risotto, hummus and have also used it to chop and steam vegetables. They all went down well, although I found the the macaroni cheese and the risotto both came out a bit more watery than I would like.

It is really good for chopping vegetables, saved me a lot of preparation time, and the hummus was dead easy.

1. Did you use the app?

Yes, the macaroni cheese and risotto were both from the app. I found it a bit tiresome scrolling through all the recipes, I think the app could be a bit more user friendly to be honest.

1. Would you recommend?

In all honesty, I don't think I would, mainly because of the price. It is so expensive and although it does save some time and effort in the kitchen, it probably isn't enough to justify that price tag for most people I know.

I cooked the artichoke warm dip tonight. It worked really well with some crackers.
I'll continue to use the Kcook, but would ask that the app is improved ASAP. It's a PITA to use!

Q1. How would you describe the kCook to friends or family who had never heard of it before? What was your overall impression of it?

It's like having your own chef, you decide what you want to make but this puts in all of the effort and you still get all of the praise!

Q2. How easy, or not, did you find to use the kCook? What time saving tips did you find when using the kCook?

I found it quite easy to use and the buttons etc just kind of make sense, so if you looked at this without a manual I think it would take you no time at all to work out what to do

I struggled with the lid, I understand it needs to be a tight fit but this meant that I had to keep asking for help, and one of the big selling points for me was that it could give me back my independence in the kitchen. I would also like to cook without the lid to thicken sauces etc but this is not possible

Time saving - one pan means less dishes, you can put the ingredients in and then leave it instead if being stuck to the hob stirring things, can all go in to the dishwasher

Q3. What family meals did you create with the kCook? Did they go down well with your family? We’d love it if you could post some pictures of your dishes on this thread.

Pasta sauce, lentil and veggie bacon soup - both photographed and shown earlier on in thread
Lentil and veg soup, mince and onion pasties - didn't manage to get pics of these

Pasta sauce was mixed reception as it was a LOT chunkier than normal and I couldn't get it any smoother in the kcook, the adults liked it but the kids didn't, also !want it wasn't as good for hiding veg!

Other meals all went well, I didn't have problems with liquid as the only ones using liquid also contained lentils which soak it all up

Q4. Did you use the Kenwood recipe app? If so, what did you think of it? Did you discover new recipes you hadn’t tried before?

I used the app but have not made anything from it yet as I found some of the recipes a little confusing as ingredients were mentioned but then not used etc. I like that there are plenty of vegetarian recipes and these are separated. I think the public should be able to add recipes and comment on existing recipes (I would use less of the water next time etc)

Q5. If it came up in conversation, do you think you’d recommend the kCook to friends and family? If so, why? If not, why not?

The price is a big issue, as everything it does is possible with a pan and a knife I can't see people paying out that much money, I think they would expect it to do something that their basic equipment can't.

General feedback
My disability -
Very helpful as I can't stand for long and this watches it and stirs it for me
I struggle with chopping and this will chop things more finely but you do still have to cut them down a bit first
I had to get help putting the lid on and taking it off, which needs doing often with some recipes

App -
Great that the app has veggie recipes and a separate category for it
Helpful if you could add comments after trying a recipe to help future users
If you could add your own recipes the app would grow at a faster rate
Not very straightforward which app it is you should download (I got there in the end!)

Size -
Small which means doesn't take up much counter space
Small which means you could not batch cook
Small which means that some meals wouldn't serve our whole family (soup etc where it is basically the whole meal)

Positives -
May not need to batch cook if it is this east to whip up a fresh batch of something
Meant I could make healthy home cooked meals even on my bad days
Has given me some more independence back in the kitchen
Dishwasher safe

Negatives -
The beeping when in warm mode! OK for the first minute, maybe less frequently for 5 minutes, but please make it stop!!! Goes on for whole 30 minutes
Recipes on app have inconsistencies
Can't cook without the lid
Lid very difficult to take off or put on
Reheat setting would be good so that you could prepare earlier and then just reheat when needed
Doesnt blend things smoothly enough

Looks like lots more negatives than positives but I would say the positives do outweigh the negatives. I am so happy to have this and it will make a big difference to our lives, I would give it a 7 out of 10, would be 8 if the price was lower

My favourite thing and one which I make most id my tomato soup. I pack it full of other veggies too and freeze some that I use both as a soup and as a base for my tuna pasta so I can make it up faster

I love to make chicken soup

Sometimes I use my pasta sauce as a base for a lentil soup, really nice, couldn't really do that with the one I made in the kcook unless I blended it seperately

My favourite dish to make in a food processor is hummus.

Non tester, I like to make leek and potato soup.

NON-TESTER
I use my food processor for making soups, my favourite is tomato and sweet pepper. I've also got a mini chopper which I use to make breadcrumbs. Done in seconds with no mess!!

Non tester
I use my food processor for making the paste for curries. Quick and easy to mix in all the ingredients and spices needed. I often slow cook my curry so this nodel could be perfect for making the oast and cooking at once. I also use my food processor as a whisk when making a cake (after a good clean to take away those curry spices, I've not yet tried a curry cake).

I like to make this lemon pie thing, with a crumbly Digestive base, lemon curd and sponge on top.

I would agree about the lid taking a bit of getting used to. I am still scared of the putting the bowl in the dishwasher thing too. What will that do to it long term?

Final thoughts - made the beef goulash last night (but with pork instead) - recipe called for a lot of oil - probably should have twigged that had to cut the amount because of the pork. I also cut the stock down and just used tomatoes. Came out very tender.

Will continue using as it fits nicely on the countertop and is handy if I've got other things to do than stand over the stove.

However, really hoping they sort the app out - bit dodgy at the moment.

thank you very much to Mumsnet and Kenwood for the opportunity.

Sorry for last minute review, I was trying to make as many things as I could before reviewing.

Q1. How would you describe the kCook to friends or family who had never heard of it before? What was your overall impression of it?

It's like the bastard love child of a slow cooker and a food processor but it STIRS!

My impression overall - it promises more than it delivers. It's good but not great. I haven't made anything in it so far that wasn't better made the regular way on the hob. But I love the concept of hands-free-cooking letting you get on with other things. I really wanted this to be better than it is...

Q2. How easy, or not, did you find to use the kCook? What time saving tips did you find when using the kCook?

It's moderately easy to use, but not as intuitive as I might hope. The fact that it goes in the dishwasher is fantastic - a major plus. I like the fact the bowl detaches easily so you can put it on scales and weigh into it.

I got confused with how you get it to warm without beeping every 10 seconds or so. It's so annoying when you just want to finish something off (side dish; loading the dishwasher; changing the baby) whilst it sits on warm. I instinctively go to press start/pause to stop the beeping and leave it to warm but that turns the warm cycle off and then I can't work out how to get back to warm without setting all of the preceding phases to 1 minute and letting them work through.

I'm not sure it saves time at all - more or less all the recipes I tried take more time in the kCook than on the hob with the probable exception of bechemel which seems very quick (might be why it was so thin?).

That being said it's selling point isn't that it saves time beginning-to-end but that it saves time during - you can walk away and do stuff in between stages which gives you back time you'd otherwise be hovering around the cooker.

To save time beginning-to-end you need to prep everything beforehand so it's ready to just drop in.

Steaming is pretty easy - although why you're told to steam with 300ml water then provided with a measuring beaker that holds 250ml I don't know. To be honest I'm not sure what the measuring beaker is for anyway. There's nowhere obvious to store it.

Design-wise - I would have liked a retractable cord and some smart way of storing the accessories. I like the size and the fact it doesn't take too much counter space.

Q3. What family meals did you create with the kCook? Did they go down well with your family? We’d love it if you could post some pictures of your dishes on this thread.

I made bolognese sauce, macaroni cheese, beef stroganoff, porridge, bechamel sauce, and steamed veg.

I found that sauces (I made bechemel and bolognese) were watery even though I used the receipe from the app for both (rather than my own recipe).

I said upthread that it made fantastic porridge but I think I had beginner's luck. I can't remember what settings I used that time; I made it another three or four times with slightly different settings and it was gluey and stodgy all the other times.

I didn't get around to trying a soup, but I made a couple of one-pots - macaroni cheese and beef stroganoff. Macaroni cheese was VERY thick and glutinous, possibly because the pasta seemed to dissolve into it - this might be my fault for adding broccoli and cauliflower at the same time - by the time of the suggested end time for pasta the veg were still hard. I would make it again but steam the veg first. That being said, the reason I added them at the same time was that the app recipe didn't give cook times, but it said the overall cooking time was 45 minutes, then the first flour-and-butter phase was 10 minutes so I assumed the pasta would be in for 30 minutes. I only realised afterwards when I looked at the booklet that the booklet and app disagree on the cooking method for macaroni cheese and it should have been in for lots less time.

Beef stroganoff was bland and too liquidy, although I had high hopes as it was cooking as it initially smelled amazing. The sauce was very thin. Also - no brandy in the recipe?! Sacrilege!

Steaming veg works well enough - I will probably continue to use it for this as it's less faff than my usual colander-over-saucepan method.

I hope to have a go at soup,ice cream, mayonnaise and a couple more casserole type recipes in future and am happy to update here if it's still useful (but I know today was the last day for reviews so perhaps it isn't.

Q4. Did you use the Kenwood recipe app? If so, what did you think of it? Did you discover new recipes you hadn’t tried before?

I did use it (Android version) - it needs some serious work; it is a big disappointment. There is more wrong than right with it. Problems include:

• many of the recipe titles are wider than the screen and the text doesn't wrap so you can't read the full title. When you click through, the title space is even smaller. So there are many dishes that are just "chicken and ..." and you have to scan the recipe list or look at the picture to work out what it is!
• no search function
• lots of the recipes don't even have a picture.
• when you look at a recipe then go back to the index it puts you back to the top of the list. Scroll, scroll, scroll.....
• inconsistencies between ingredients and method in several recipes I looked at (method often doesn't tell you where to add certain things e.g. where to add the butter/oil in beef stroganoff)
• inconsistencies between app and booklet recipe (macaroni cheese)
• no summary of how to programme the machine. I want to see "One pot. PHase 1: 10m heat 3 speed 2. Phase 2: 15m heat 2 speed 2 etc etc". At the moment to pre-set it you have to read carefully through the recipe. Or just programme-as-you-go.
• Quantities ought to be in the recipe if you're expected to work off an app. If you have a cookbook in front of you it's not a big deal to look up and see the quantities but if you're on a different pane on a smart phone you see "add the sour cream" and have to click back onto a different pane to see how much sour cream. Incidentally that putting-you-back-to the top thing I was complaining about with the recipe index is a problem within recipes on the ingredients and method panes. Every time you switch between the two it puts you back to the top, which is annoying in recipes with lots of ingredients or lots of steps.
• total cook times on front page of recipe seem inconsistent with the method
• the tips pane seems to be blank for all. It would be good to see variations/substitutions etc. E.g. for bechamel sauce - "you can make this into cheese sauce by adding x grams of cheese at y stage", or "if you don't have an ingredient this is a good substitute" - sometimes this is mentioned within the method text but that's not the best place for it.
• it usually crashes the first time i open it *recipe selection is a bit lacklustre. Not that much I want to cook in it. Which means that I have to work out how to 'convert' my own recipes to work in the machine. There are fewer recipes in total than I would of expected. Will more be added and rolled out through updates? A forum/section to be able to upload user recipes or add comments to kenwood's recipes should be included.
• I couldn't put it on my kindle fire tablet as it's not available through kindle store so I had to use it on my phone.
• I may be wrong but the selection of recipes to me feels like it's been developed for a mainland European market (German?) rather than a UK one.
• it ought to 'talk' to the machine! You ought to be able to say "I'm cooking this recipe - GO!"

Q5. If it came up in conversation, do you think you’d recommend the kCook to friends and family? If so, why? If not, why not?

Probably not. My overall feedback is that it's good but it's not great. For £330 I want great. It's worth having but only just. It's not good enough as either a cooker or a food processor that I would not buy/give up my (Kenwood) food processor and slow cooker. Which means it's a third appliance to find space for, and it's the least useful of the three. Before I tried it I was excited about it, and I would have considered purchasing one except for the price (I would have paid maybe £100 for something like this, knowing I already have a food processor and a slow cooker). Now that I've had chance to test it I have overall been disappointed. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't buy it myself at any price.

Sorry not to have been more positive. Are you sure you want me to leave a review on the other page?!

We love making soups and with our tomatoes just beginning to ripen, will make lots of Tomato soup.

non-tester

Pumpkin Soup!

Non-tester

Mushroom soup and every ingredient of cheese pie. And cookies. Chocolate ones.