Thermo cookers - advice please

[julie-in-oz2]

Hi Everyone,

Does anyone have one of these Thermo cookers?  Mutil function cooker 10 functions in 1 compact unit?  It is an electrical appliance.  Apparently it cooks, grinds, melts, steams, kneads, mixes, whips etc  Talking about the regular versions here not the top end.

Would love to know if you have one or know about them and if they are as good as they say. 

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you

[nevillesdaughter · Accepted solution]

My cousin has the $2,000 version and Aldi are releasing one for around $340 (I think) this week. As far as I can tell, they can be great for producing one-pot type meals, but if you are making say, curry and rice, it can be better co-ordinated by doing the curry in the thermo-doohicky, while the rice is done in a rice cooker, or on the stove.

A quick reconciliation of appliances you already have (slow cookers, blenders, rice cookers, pressure cooker,  ice cream makers etc) is worthwhile to see how much better off you'd be.

Also, with the $2,000 Thermo-Mix, if you buy from eBay, or any way other than via the actual dealership/party plan type presentation, no warranty exists.

I have a Tefal Cook-For-Me, which is essentially a pressure cooker on steroids, and I love it - for a certain type of meal. As with the curry example above, my machine can cook the rice too, but I'd then have to keep it warm while the curry cooked, so I choose to do the rice in a cooker. On the other hand, it does a fantastic risotto (where also the ingredients go in together)  in 8 minutes!

Capacity of the cooking bowl is also something you need to look at.

There are a gazillion different machines in this genre, and in my humble opinion, sound research is needed to avoid winding up with just another appliance you can't be bothered getting out of the cupboard. I think you also need to consider what sort of cooking you enjoy - a lot of these appliances are great fast family meal type solutions, but not necessarily a great choice if you enjoy more conventional cooking.

Hope this isn't too long winded,

Marina.

[julie-in-oz2]

Many thanks Marina - it is the Aldi one we were considering.

[nevillesdaughter]

I have always found Aldi's products great - it's the one I'd be going for!

Happy cooking,

Marina.

[nevillesdaughter]

Quick follow-up - you can check out the Aldi product at kuchef.com.au

Marina.

[julie-in-oz2]

Thank you we looked at the video and will be seeing if the item is in store ASAP.

[j*oono]

These appliances take all the fun out of cooking and they are ridiculously expensive.

Cooking is good fun and relaxing if you have the time.  Getting in to it this weekend.  I can't wait to try out my Christmas pastry cutters.

[purple_haize]

I cant see the point in buying all these new appliances that do everything.......much better to cook yourself, from scratch, our grandmothers didnt have all these things and did very well without them.

So what happens next year when they bring out an even better, bigger and does more things, what happens with this yrs. model?

Probably shoved to the back of the cupboard with all the other gadgets collected over the yrs.

Waste of money in my opinion, money that could be used for more useful things..........unless you have plenty of $$$$ and can afford new models yr after yr...........

Just my opinion.......

[donnashuggy]

I cook from scratch, all the appliances do is speed things up, I have the tefal minute cook which is an electric pressure cooker that cooks curry - meat on bones and large pieces of potato in 15 minutes and lamb shanks in 30. The breville rice box is brilliant as it actually steams the rice correctly, wouldn't be without my pizza maker - makes excellent home made pizzas with fresh ingredients within a few minutes.

My appliances get used daily as I am very busy with work, work from home etc. It is great to be able to decide what to have for dinner at 6pm and have it all ready in 30 minutes sometimes quicker.

Whenever we have take away I am up drinking water all night, unfortunately for me, my kids are used to home cooking so I can't get away with semi prepared meals as they can really taste the difference.

[donnashuggy]

Oh and the other appliance that gets used a lot is the sunbeam pie maker, kids love tandoori chicken pies topped in a yogurt dressing, takes a couple of minutes to cook, you can keep all your leftovers and make better pies that you would ever buy. They don't flop - they are rigid, perfect.