Anyone have any views on Thermomix?

[Meganthemog Profile]

A friend has just bought a Thermomix and is raving about it. I assume you can only buy through an agent - the person who sold her hers has invited me to a demonstration but I'm not sure. As far as I can see it is a huge investment for a piece of kit that can do the prep and cook for you - but with limitations. I have watched a couple of Youtube videos but you still have to stand there and add the ingredients at various stages. Anyone got any experience they could share please?

[PatsyMFagan Profile]

I would find it hard to justify the cost, however, the point of the demonstrations is to show it's full potential, so you do feel like you are getting your money's worth I have noticed some chefs use them in the competition shows (Masterchef, Great British Menu)

It's the same with the Bamix - of course a fraction of the price, but still not that cheap and it was the demo at a food show (plus the show offer price) that enticed me. I also bought the SliceSY attachment that I get a lot of use out of too.

I am not advocating getting a Bamix rather than a Thermomix though --- horses for courses

[herbidacious Profile]

Does it not rather take the cooking out of cooking? I quite like cooking...

[KeenCook2 Profile]

I had to look up what a Thermomix is - impressive that the footprint is no larger than a sheet of A4!

Pat, I still have a Bamix I bought when I went to the Ideal Home Exhibition with my mother, early 70s - probably '73 or '74. They are, of course, made in Switzerland, and my sister has one there, and also here in her flat in Hove. She has very little worktop available, but still keeps it out all the time as she uses it so much.
She puts her Magimix in a cupboard.

I have my Magimix out, and the Bamix in a cupboard, but I don't have the display one - ah, just googled, and I have the "Classic", as sold in Lakeland. My sister has the SwissLine model.
It slides in quite easily next to my electric whisk.

OH favours it, and also uses it for soup, whereas I usually use my goblet blender when I make soup.

[Meganthemog Profile]

The footprint may be that size but I think the whole thing stands pretty high - I have limited space in my kitchen. I won't be parting with £1K + any time soon!

[PatsyMFagan Profile]

I had to look up what a Thermomix is - impressive that the footprint is no larger than a sheet of A4!

Pat, I still have a Bamix I bought when I went to the Ideal Home Exhibition with my mother, early 70s - probably '73 or '74. They are, of course, made in Switzerland, and my sister has one there, and also here in her flat in Hove. She has very little worktop available, but still keeps it out all the time as she uses it so much.
She puts her Magimix in a cupboard.

I have my Magimix out, and the Bamix in a cupboard, but I don't have the display one - ah, just googled, and I have the "Classic", as sold in Lakeland. My sister has the SwissLine model.
It slides in quite easily next to my electric whisk.

OH favours it, and also uses it for soup, whereas I usually use my goblet blender when I make soup.

I too have a food processor living in it's own cupboard in the kitchen ... hardly ever used and I only got it because I had some vouchers to use up iirc. My Bamix sits next to my Nutribullet that I use that most days for my breakfast oat smoothie. The SliceSY attachment for the Bamix sits in the deep drawer under the hob, but well within reach for when I need to slice or chop an amount of veg, or whiz up a standard portion of dough. I find the Bamix mixer blade so easy for blitzing veg for soups and of course blender blade only takes 20 seconds to process mayonnaise

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I think with all these things you have to see if they work for you

I just looked at the Thermomix site - claims to replace 20 gadgets/appliances but one is and egg boiler, so bring that down to 19 from my perspective

I don’t think I’d want one - don’t chefs use them for making super smooth emulsions and sauces? I think I’d rather have those occasionally in a restaurant than make them at home, but I suppose ideally I’d like to talk to a chef who uses one a lot.

I have my Magimix out on the counter, it sits in the dead space in the corner and I use the slicing and shredding discs a lot, for soups like minestrone and for things like coleslaw as I’m a bit slow now doing it by hand.

I also have my Bamix out, it has a stand but the stand is rubbish and falling to bits, I wish they’d make a decent one, apart from holding the main unit it’s handy to have somewhere to stow the blades safely.

[Earthmaiden Profile]

I agree with Sue. I think it has a good enough name to be trustworthy. If you didn't currently have any of the appliances it can replace - but wanted at least most of them and had room for it - it would probably be well worth the outlay.

[Rainbow Profile]

I agree with Sue. I think it has a good enough name to be trustworthy. If you didn't currently have any of the appliances it can replace - but wanted at least most of them and had room for it - it would probably be well worth the outlay.

I think most of us have got at least a few of the appliances it would replace.

Choice magazine (Aust.) cooking expert said;

"This style of appliance is great for people who are just starting out setting up their kitchen or for keen cooks who want to get rid of multiple appliances in favour of just one,"

'It's a different way of cooking. Learning to cook differently is a bit of a drag at first. It took some time, effort and practice to learn how to get the best out of my machine. If you aren't time pressured and love to spend an hour sipping wine and lovingly stirring your risotto then this may not be the machine for you.'

About Trustworthyness In Australia (so you wouldn't have heard about it ) There was the court case some years ago, when a lot of people got burn injuries when the lid flew off when mixing hot liquids It's not a problem now, but Thermomix refused to acknowledge the injuries caused until taken to court

'Thermomix in Australia has been handed a $4.6 million fine in Federal Court following an ACCC investigation that found the Australian-based sales team for the $2000-plus kitchen unit violated consumer law by failing to report dangerous defects.
The Thermomix TM31 model had a faulty sealing ring on its mixing bowl that had led to widespread scalding incidents (the model has since been replaced by the TM5).

Forty-five reported being injured, and 18 of the injured said they received medical treatment.
Between June 2012 and July 2016, Thermomix failed to give notice to government of serious injury caused by the machine within two days on 14 occasions.

Thermomix also released misleading and deceptive statements that the product was safe, the court found, even though Thermomix was aware of 35 serious injuries caused by the machine.'

That put me right off the company!!

[Busybee Profile]

We had a demonstration at WI, and I can remember zilch about it so I couldn’t have been that impressed.

But the price might have put me off, I already knew how much they were - although I do remember that they were coy about price.

BB

[Earthmaiden Profile]

Do you remember Kirby vacuum cleaners which were sold by people (usually men) knocking on the door and giving long demonstrations? They were hugely expensive but people who bought them seemed to like them. I knew a chap who sold them for a while. They were actually quite cheap, the rest was commission and they could lower the price quite substantially to get a sale but wouldn't get so much.

I always think of them now if there's something like this which is expensive and you can't just buy in a shop. Is someone getting a healthy commission?

[Meganthemog Profile]

What I find interesting is that of all the members on this site, it seems that not one of us has invested in this gadget. I think that tells me all I need to know. I will be interested to see if there is any hard sell - I will need a huge amount of convincing that this is for me.

[smitch Profile]

I knew someone with one. He loves it but then he is a show off who loves a gadget

I believe they’re sold via multi-level marketing (MLM) which isn’t great. I’ve never been tempted.

[Sloe-Gin Profile]

I have a friend who has just ordered one.
Her husband believes the more money you spend on a gadget, the more you can boast. He wants the best of everything, which is quite often left gathering dust.
However, he insists he'll use this, but somehow, I think it's another white elephant. But... it's their money.

[Earthmaiden Profile]

Something else has occurred to me. If it went wrong, you'd lose 20 gadgets at once ...

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Good point EM, very much eggs in one basket

I remembered that Kavey had reviewed one - turns out that was 10 years ago!
https://www.kaveyeats.com/?s=Thermomix

For some reason I have just felt the need to spring clean my Bamix (the toaster too)

[PatsyMFagan Profile]

I also have my Bamix out, it has a stand but the stand is rubbish and falling to bits, I wish they’d make a decent one, apart from holding the main unit it’s handy to have somewhere to stow the blades safely.

I'm on my second stand and agree Sue - the weakest part of the whole shebang, considering the wand has such a good reputation for reliability. It wouldn't have been hard to design a wall hanging bracket I think.

[Meganthemog Profile]

Just back from my demo. She made a tomato risotto and a chopped salad - she's got 3 machines! Risotto was ok but considering the amount of parmesan, butter and wine she put in it it should have been fabulous! The chopped salad was nice - it made short work of cutting all the veggies up. Was I wowed - no. You still need to use the oven to bake the bread, crisp the chicken, fry fish etc. The motor is certainly powerful and it is full of preprogrammed recipes etc. You can select a recipe and using the App it will order the ingredients from your chosen supermarket! If you are time poor and cash rich it might be a gadget for you. I would probably consider one if I had a caravan and didn't want a cupboard full of gadgets, but at about £1.5K I think it can wait.

[Uschi Profile]

Vorwerk, the makers of Themomix are a Wuppertal company. They originally made vacuum cleaners, then branched out to hairdryers and later to Thermomix.

One thing about their vacuum cleaners - the things cost silly money, too, but are nigh indestructible. Mine was from the early '70s and still going strong when somebody nicked it two years or so about.

[ZeroCook Profile]

Should this thread be in the main forum?