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

Lentil and (quorn) bacon soup is ready and its a big success definitely be making this again

Really pleased with my first meal made in the kcook, it was a lot easier than I was expecting, especially since I was just going freestyle rather than following one of their recipes. I can see this being used a LOT

I was pleasantly surprised with how much we got out of it, 3 really decent sized portions. For things like pasta sauce, which are only part of a meal, you could get plenty of serving from it

You couldn't batch cook in this, but if its this east to make something then maybe you wouldn't need to batch cook anymore and can have things just as easily but fresher and no more having to find room in the freezer. The reasons I batch cook are for days when I have no time or days when my health is worse, this takes away the time issue and also the health issue as I'm having a bad day today and still managed to make soup (not a chance I would have attempted had it not been for testing this)

Non tester: I use my food tester regularly - one favourite use is to use it to make energy nuggets - great healthy snacks for the whole family. I use dates, oats, sometimes cocoa, apricots and coconut oil.

I can see the problem with things not thickening due to the lid, those 3 slits aren't enough. I actually think it's a bad idea as it means that there is excess moisture on the lid when you take it off and this could hurt you if hot and goes on skin

I didn't have problems today as the lentils soak up so much liquid anyway, I will be reducing my normal amount of liquid in any other recipes though

I enjoy making cakes in a food processor, particularly coffee and walnut

Never used a fancy food professor, so don't know what I would make,. But I do love to make soups in a blender...pumpkin soup, pea and mint soup,,,anything really.

Non tester, definitely soups, hard to say which but probably a vegetable dahl one. Yum!

Non tester, definitely soups but hard to say which type. Probably a vegetable dahl. Yum! But it depends how the mood takes me.

Sorry posted twice. First one froze and didn't appear a moment ago.

Tester

Made beef goulash from the app last night. Tasty, but as others have said ingredients pop in and out of the instructions - never told when to use the butter and oil - I guessed, but frying the beef was pointless - it just steamed. Also sour cream in ingredients list then creme fraiche in the method. And why would you cook parsley for 8 mins. The app recipes need some proper testing at Kenwood HQ.

Anyway, the food was lovely and I find using the kcook so much less stressful than hands-on cooking. I can potter off sorting laundry, or whatever, knowing I'll be beeped back into the kitchen when needed and nothing will have burnt. I do like cooking, but for everyday family catering this is going to be a great addition to the kitchen.

Put it in the dishwasher on the top shelf and very little water ended up in the electrics so a success there!

TESTER

The app is beyond frustrating!
Firstly it is an app; I can't see a desk top version anywhere. So it is v small on my phone.
So I brought an iPad home from work whch is better BUT there is no search function.... just scroll, scroll, scroll.
I spotted a little icon that looked like a download icon; a little rectangle with an arrow coming out. That would be useful to print the recipe but all that does is close that app!

Ham croquets (flour and milk in recipe not potato like most recipes Ive seen). Wish me luck as not looking very tasty yet! As it uses the chopper blade for recipe there are no ham chunks which I would of liked

Non tester. Carrot cake is easy in a food processor. So quick and much better than grating carrots by hand.

My favourite thing to make is any type of cake! I have my MIL's old Kenwood and it makes it so much easier than doing it by hand.

I have tried again -- the little download button on my phone is a SHARE button so I thought if I shared it to Facebook I may be able to print it off. So I shared beef stroganoff, but when I clciked on the link it send me here

not the right place

I've made the cream of bean soup and it's defintely not creamy, it's very watery. Should of listened about less liquid. I've put some more beans in which will hopefully thicken it up. Tastes nice though

Mincing the meat to make Chinese wontons :-)

Pavlova

Non-Tester
As someone who has never owned a food processor I think my favourite dish that I would use a food processor for would be an Apple Crumble.

White wine chicken casserole - not hitch free!
It didn't mention oil in the list of ingredients so I didn't know how much to add. I guessed at 1 tablespoon bit later it said add 3 tablespoons of flour. I thought this was a bit much for 1 of oil so only added one of flour. It is looking a little watery and only had 10 minutes left!

I cooked the quorn bacon lardons and chopped onions (both frozen) without any oil, the stirring combined with moisture as they cooked, meant they didn't stick and made it slightly healthier. I wasn't following a recipe though

Made my own recipe spag bol again today but adjusted it since my normal recipe was too wet due to non-evaporation. Normally I use 1 box of passata per lb of mince, so today I used 1/2 and about 1/2 a tube of tom purée. Much better consistency!

Non tester.

Also gutted not to be chosen! Looks fab though. I make bread dough in my fp the most. But also hummus and pesto. I was thinking of trying nut butter or milk, but I haven't yet!

non-tester - I love making smoothies in my food processor and also pastry dough to then use for savoury tarts. if i had a fancy one that could cook too i'd use it to make things like caramel sauces, lemon curd, etc.

Ooo lemon curd is a good idea, because of the constant stirring, not sure about only having 3 temperature settings though? Hmmmm hadn't thought of that