Mumsnet users review the Tefal Cook4Me Connect

[JustineBMumsnet]

This is the feedback thread for the 30 Mumsnetters who have been testing the Tefal one-pot digital cooker Cook4Me Connect (RRP £319.99).

Here’s what Tefal have to say about the product: “You don’t need to be a masterchef to achieve delicious meals in no time! Tefal have innovated again, and now give you Cook4Me.

Cook4Me is a one-pot digital cooker, ideal for parents looking to make fast and fresh meals:
- It is easy to use and intuitive: Cook4Me comes with 50 built-in recipes, and features a digital screen with guided cooking steps.
- Cook4Me cooks under pressure, which means you will save a lot of time. For example, after browning and pre-heating, it cooks a Chicken Tikka Masala in 3 minutes, a Thai Green Chicken curry in 4 minutes and a Risotto in 9 minutes (and no need to stir!)…
- It is the ideal all-in-one cooker, with up to 6 cooking manual modes: not only does it pressure cook, but it also steams, browns, simmers, gentle-cooks and automatically keeps your food warm. Its dishwasher-safe bowl can feed 6 people, perfect for the whole family or for batch-cooking.

Cook4Me comes in a standard version, with 50 built-in recipes (RRP is £269.99), and in a Connected version, that works with My Cook4Me app, giving access to over 100 recipes (RRP is £319.99).”

Testers, please ensure that you’ve tested the digital cooker using both the recipes and the manual/ingredients modes and then give your feedback by answering the following questions as well as completing the survey we will email to you.

1. How easy or difficult did you find Cook4Me Connect to use?
2. Which recipes did you try? What did you think of them?
3. What were your thoughts on the cooking results of the Cook4Me Connect?
4. Would you recommend the Cook4Me Connect?

All who give their required feedback will be entered into a prize draw where one tester will win a £100 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list).

Non-testers, please answer the below question. All non-testers who answer the below question will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £200 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list).

• Is there a recipe you’ve never dared to cook and would really like to be able to make in the Cook4Me?

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Non - Tester : I would love to bake a baked Alaska ... but I have never dared to try !!

Non tester- I'd love to cook a proper Italian bolognese!

Non tester: Would love to make a risotto _

1. How easy or difficult did you find Cook4Me Connect to use?

Ok, so honestly, it took me a while to get my head around what I was supposed to be doing with it! However once I'd worked it out it was pretty straight forward.

1. Which recipes did you try? What did you think of them?

Beef tacos- really easy and tasted delicious! My own recipe of spicy chicken on the manual mode.

1. What were your thoughts on the cooking results of the Cook4Me Connect?

I was really happy with the cooking results, the preprogrammed taco recipe was delicious and even got a thumbs up from the dc.

1. Would you recommend the Cook4Me

Yes I would to certain people but I don't think it's for everyone.

Had it a week so....

1. How easy or difficult did you find Cook4Me Connect to use?

Very easy

1. Which recipes did you try? What did you think of them?

Bolognaise, chilli, a couple of risottos, green Thai curry, chicken tikka I was disappointed at jars being used in the recipes, its not muchof a time saver because using jars is so much faster than cooking from scratch anyway. I tweaked the recipes to avoid using jars and that did become a good time saver. Other than that, the food was good and tasty.

1. What were your thoughts on the cooking results of the Cook4Me Connect?

Good, although I found the chilli and green curry were both quite runny and needed reducing. Pre-heating times need to be included in the recipes as I had a pan full of rice ready for chilli that wasnt ready when I thought it would be according to the timings on the recipe.

1. Would you recommend the Cook4Me Connect?

I'm not sure. I like it and it is good at what it does, but I really dont think that the price tag is justified. There are nowhere near enough preprogrammed recipes imo, and as I said, the use of jarred sauces is a disappointment. I would happily extol its virtues to anyone, but I thik in order to be able to fully recommend it, the price needs to come down significantly.

1. How easy or difficult did you find Cook4Me Connect to use?

It was a bit daunting at first, as it seemed quite complicated, but once I got going with it I found it really easy and user friendly.

1. Which recipes did you try? What did you think of them?

I tried the bacon and leek risotto and the chilli con carne. Both were very tasty! The chilli was a bit watery but that was probably more my fault than the recipe. I cooked it down using the manual browning setting. I tried the simmer setting but it didn't get hot enough.

1. What were your thoughts on the cooking results of the Cook4Me Connect?

So far so good. I like how quick and easy it is to make a tasty meal. I don't like that you can't taste the meal as it's cooking, you just have to cross your fingers and hope for the best.

1. Would you recommend the Cook4Me

Yes. I think it's quite expensive but it's a good kitchen gadget, especially if you want to make the sort of meals that you'd normally spend a few hours simmering down on a hob but you don't have the time to do so.

lobster thermadore

Tester here - first use & I got an error!

Tried the bolognese sauce as I usually make it on the hob & know what it should look like :) The first bit was fine, I browned everything, added the extra stuff with the exception of the cornflour, it cooked for about a minute before releasing the steam & giving me an error message about the lid not being clean. Even though this was the first use & I cleaned the lid yesterday. It also said that if the error persisted I had to send it off somewhere to be fixed.

So I looked in the book & error 24 says to add more liquid & cook again, so I added the liquid but couldn't find a way to return to the pressured cooking bit without all of the browning faff in between.

So I poured it into a pan on the hob & cooked it that way.

Will try something else tomorrow but tonight its just been a pain in the arse tbh

Currently going a la carte for the first time ever. Have bunged in some veg and stock and stuff and hoping it comes out vaguely like soup... I've never made soup before and I didn't follow a recipe. My hopes aren't high...

Non-tester

I never dared making confit of duck and I think the Tefal Cook 4me would be perfect for this recipe.

Non Tester I've always wanted to make a proper vegetable biryani - cooked in the oven - but have always been put off by how complicated the recipes look.

Today I used the manual mode and made a vege chilli dish with dried kidney beans which I soaked last night.
Normally I would boil the kidney beans for up to 3 hrs but this was done in 25 minutes plus browning times.
I over did the water a bit so I had to reduce it on the hob. It's all trial and error at this stage but I'm getting to know how it works!
the end results were great.

Drama tonight - had planned lamb and sweet potato Tagine but couldn't get recipe to load on the cook4me so had to do it on manual..

Non - taster......I love cooking but some recipes it's seems to be too difficult for me to make....such as green Thai curry. The dish doesn't taste as I wish for. I would love to try in Cook4Me beef Stroganoff. I think it would be a lot easier to get it right.

Non tester. I'd love try making rabbit stew in this.

Non-tester but I'd love to try pulled pork in it. I've heard nothing but good things about it but never had the courage or equipment to try it properly

@LiveLifeWithPassion you can reduce in the cook4me on browning mode. I had to do that today with my chilli

I know it sounds silly... but a good casserole/ I've never made one before because I lack a slow cooker

Non tester- I have never successfully made risotto so would be very impressed if this made a nice one for me! This sounds like a godsend to be honest x

Beargrylls I didn't think of that! Thanks.

I need an easy pudding to do. I can't be bothered faffing around with ramekins, foils and strings or gelatine sheets!

Non Tester - I've always wanted to make my own tonkotsu ramen but have never had the patience/skill to make the pork bone broth.

Tester -

1. How easy or difficult did you find Cook4Me Connect to use?

It's easy to use, just read though the instructions and recipes before you start cooking and get some ideas etc and then you are ready to go.

1. Which recipes did you try? What did you think of them?

I have tried a few different ones, I made curry with chicken and everyone said it was nice (I am not the best cook normally so that's good to hear) I made the same curry again but I added potatoes cut into small pieces and a tiny bit more veg (I am vegetarian) and it was yummy. I made the risotto, that had good feedback too. I feel like I will try more and more and also make a few changes to the recipes when I feel more confident using it.

1. What were your thoughts on the cooking results of the Cook4Me Connect?

The results are very good. It's a different way to cook for me and the food seems to always taste nice. I have a slow cooker my mum lent me that I have had for too long and that was fantastic but I always seemed to make spag bol.

1. Would you recommend the Cook4Me Connect?

Yes I would, I already have done! My family is considering all chipping in and buying one for my Gran for her birthday as it will make things easier for her too. The only thing is the price, it is expensive. However I can see it's a time saver when you cook and I have made a few frozen meals from it too which will save time again later so in that way it's worth it.
Also when we have had a busy day and have done the 'can't be bother too cook let's order takeaway thing' we haven't actually ordered the takeaway as prepping the food and cooking it doesn't take as long as the wait for takeaway food - so I think we have saved money there

Thank you for the opportunity to test it.

Someone mentioned French recipes earlier in the thread so I will try some of those next week and update again. If my fingers aren't too fat to type by then

Non tester. I'm not sure of what I would like to try and cook in it, but after reading the cooments above, perhaps pulled pork. I love ir, but have never been brave enough to try making it.

Non-tester

I've never dared to try and cook beef wellington as I don't think I could get the pastry right

So today I have made a vegan korma. I used the pre set Thai green curry setting but substituted veg at the chicken stage.

I added korma paste, white kidney beans, broccoli, mini corns, red pepper, onion, leeks, tin of chopped tomatoes. Coconut cream and oat milk.

Delicious and cooked to perfection.

Also made country chicken but modified the recipe. Added tin of tomatoes, broccoli, was a bit worried about the chicken legs being cooked through but they're perfect.