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

A soufflé! I tried that once as a teenager, and failed miserably. I'm now 40, and have never dared to try again.

Tester! I checked out the French recipes programmed in, and there are quite a few different ones - it's interesting!

My mum does a beef and ale stew with dumplings I would love to try this out for myself x

Turn machine on, scroll to bottom where there's a settings button like on a computer, select languages, french, France, recettes and there are lots more than in English - admittedly some are rabbit - but have a look, some look nice!

Non-tester

I always steer away from scallops, Im terrified that Ill posion somebody with them! Id love to be able to cook something adventurous like that with the cook 4 me.

Feedback 3 - bolognaise was a huge success and that's me converted. Again, not a fan of har sauces so I used the recipe setting but chucked in tinned tomatoes, wine and water to make up the liquid and also added courgette and aubergine for a fuller flavour. The browning works so much more efficiently than on the stove because it seems to heat the whole bowl evenly rather than just the bottom. I was quite sceptical as to whether there would be any depth of flavour after only 10 mins of actual cooking time but I was really impressed.
All in all it took about 30 mins. Normally it would take nearer 45 to prep and brown and then I would leave it on a low heat for a couple of hours. This is definitely a winner!

I now need to get my head around the manual setting instead of using recipes.

I've tested the Cook4Me out now on a preset and a manual recipe. DS is doing a pudding at the weekend!

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

Very easy - the controls remind me of a VTech toy! My only problem has been with the app on my iPhone. Installed it ok, but it flatly refuses to let me register to access all the recipes. Each email address I use is apparently 'already in use with another account' (they're definitely not) but if I try to use the lost password facility I get a 'fail' message. I'm afraid the fail isn't mine! So I'm limited in what 'official' recipes I can test from the app.

Other people have mentioned the length of time it takes the Cook4Me to pre-heat and I found that too. So I have to remember to set it going while I prep and not after, otherwise there'll be less time-saving.

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

I tested a pre-set recipe first, the Lentil and Bacon Soup. The results were taste-approved by DD and DH. And the speed and ease of production was great. No problems following the recipe on the machine. However, I like a bit of bite in my lentil soup however and to my taste it was a bit overcooked and gluey. So I'll do it manually next time, with a shorter cooking time. I really want to try a risotto, but no-one else in the house likes them!

Next I did a manual recipe - I wanted to do a ragu but due to my app issues I couldn't access the pre-set recipe. That said, I never, ever use jarred sauces and I understand the app recipe specifies one. So I did my usual Carluccio ragu recipe on manual settings, with browning first and a few bouts of pressure-cooking 'til I was happy with the results. Easy-peasy and ready in about 35 minutes instead of 2 hours or more. The family said they prefer the slow-cooked version, but they still ate the results with no complaints!

I feel I need to branch out a bit and test recipes with more variety, for example puddings and a pot-roast chicken, which I'm really looking forward to trying.

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

I've been pretty happy with them, although I'm a keen from-scratch cook and like to control heat, timings and tasting on the gas-hob and I think results are better when cooked that way. But overall the difference isn't huge. No complaints from taste-testers in the family! So this gadget isn't going to revolutionise my cooking methods. But..once I'm back at work in the colder months it will be an absolute boon in terms of getting soups and casseroles on the table quickly after work. I grew up using my mum's pressure cooker, so using it all feels quite familiar. I'm happy to be testing and glad I have it!

4. Would you recommend the Cook4Me Connect?

Yes, I think I would, especially in terms of its ability to speed up cooking times. It takes up a fair amount of space, but I'm pretty sure mine will get enough use to justify it. It'll be a good tool to get the kids cooking too, as the old-school pressure-cooker was for me. I think Tefal needs to do a bit more with its recipes though and perhaps separate the jarred-sauce ones out from others. And I'd like to see nutritional values included on the recipes too.

non-tester - I have never ever got a chicken curry right cooking in a frying pan so I would love to try this out

Non tester - I'd love to try a risotto, never make it normally as it requires so much stirring and I have always worried the one pot ones wouldn't work out.

Non-Tester; I've never dared to try and cook lemon meringue pie and would love to know if it was possible in the Cook4Me.

Non tester: I have never mad a souffle & would love to give it a go

I'd love to try a pea & asparagus risotto in the Cook4Me

Non-tester - I would love to make bone broth in a reaonable amoount of time if it does that.

Non tester

Oh no I was so hoping I'd be picked for this!

I'd love to try slow cooking lamb, the Greek lamb recipe sounds delicious

I'd like to try risotto :)

Non tester: I would love to make a risotto , they look so difficult but I'm sure they would be amazing in the tefal cookie.

Non-tester here - Would love to cook a Thai green or red curry as we all love them in our family!

Homemade paella - I would love to make that dish from scratch!

I'd like to try a proper curry; not one from a jar

Non tester:

I'd love to try and make pulled pork. DH is vegetarian so I can't justify meat dishes with long slow cooking times and DH complains about the smell of meat if I roast chicken etc. The idea of being able to cook a delicious meal so quickly really appeals.

Non-tester: I would like to be able to make a great tasting and healthy balti dish.

I am a non-tester but would love to try to cook a risotto. I am not adventurous with cooking obviously

Non tester. I would love to try and make a soufflé in this because they always look so hard to make.

It would be Beef bourguignon for me with some nice homemade crusty bread.