Welcome back to the sequel of my Thermocook journey to feeling confident in the kitchen.
I selected a few more recipes to try.
The Easy Stuff
My second dish was a veggie soup. Again, a very easy recipe.
I didn’t have all the ingredients they recommended but with the weights known, I could easily substitute these.
I wanted to use the slicer for cutting up the sweet potato, a couple of potatoes and some carrots.
That slicer is a brilliant accessory and fast to use!
50 minutes later the soup was ready, but we wanted it a bit creamier, so we added some cream and blended that in.
End result: soupilicious!
Moving on to Mains
Lasagna is one of my fave dishes.
Yet, I’ve never even made one – until today.
One of the TC recipes promised the Bestest Lasagna so with a few minor variations I managed to produce a delicious dish.
The only problem is presentation.
Don’t laugh or pity me as it was a steep learning curve for me…
The dish I used was actually not high enough so the meat and bechamel sauce came up to and over the brim.
Hence the drip tray…
I think with the next lasagna I will not use the steaming basket to “cook” the meat.
I had to repeat the much too short cooking step twice because the meat was undercooked.
So next time I’ll just use a fry pan for a quicker result.
Graduating to Desserts
Looking at some of the ingredients in our pantry, I thought the Blueberry Almond Delight Muffins should be next.
An easy task – if I had enough almonds and blueberries…
Turned out I only had half the almonds, and the blueberries came in a bag with other frozen berries.
So, I had to vary the make-up of these muffins, but they turned out quite delicious.
Note to self: next time use the silicone trays.
Importing Recipes
I’m an omnivore but my wife has to follow a much some stricter diet.
FODMAP anyone? Lactose free and gluten free is also important.
The built-in library is probably sufficient for most requirements, but my daughters have collected some specific recipes on their TM’s (the other brand) that I would like to port to the TC, the Thermocook.
I have not looked at importing recipes yet but hope to do so later and I will update this paragraph accordingly.
TIP
When pouring food out of the TC bowl, make sure you remove the blades first.
I learned that lesson when pouring a strawberry bliss into some glasses: the sharp blades came tumbling out as they are not as securely fastened as those in the Thermomix.
Both have their pros and cons. Just be aware of this.
ISSUES TO BE SOLVED
No man-made machine is perfect from the get-go.
There are always shakedown problems.
Most of them are just annoyances but some can be frustrating.
Here are some things to be aware of.
Some of them have also been reported by other users.
1. Sometimes the bowl gets stuck, even with the lid off. (Froothie has clarified how to correctly lift the bowl up: lid off and with both hands lift bowl straight up).
2. The screen comes up with some real curiosities, like: do you want to activate the breath screen? Puzzling Chenglish. They mean screen saver…
3. Likewise, the “skin for now” on the screen is a typo and should read: skip for now.
4. The App needs a real overhaul as I noted before. The app can be quite handy if it is designed for just the Thermocook.
Let’s talk about the app some more.
It would be so much handier if an updated (and hopefully bespoke) app would enable you to have all the recipes downloaded to your phone.
As it is now, you have to switch on the Thermocook and wait for the recipes to load to your phone. And that wait time is way too long.
I like to browse the recipes and check what ingredients I have or need to buy.
It’s easier to do that on the couch than hunched over the machine…
Having mentioned these gripes and wishes, I must say that the Support team is keen to listen to us users.
And there’s also the Froothies Facebook page or the Thermocook Adventures page to help out.
SUMMARY
As already stated in Part 1, the new Thermocook Pro M3.0 is a very practical appliance in anyone’s kitchen.
Well-built, well-priced.
Seasoned chefs may not need to refer to all the recipes and tips the Thermocook dishes up.
On the other hand, these recipes and tips are the best feature you could wish for if your kitchen expertise is less than stellar.
This feature will guarantee you can dish up a great-tasting meal every time.
Now if only we could learn how to plate up professionally!
I can recommend the Thermocook Pro M3.0 highly, despite my misgivings about the app.
This old fella is actually having quite some fun in the kitchen and learning heaps about cooking…
It’s about time, I hear my wife thinking.
Check it out on the Froothie website for more info.
For DRN readers we have a $50 off the purchase price of either Thermocook Pro M3.0 model, valid until Jan 15, 2025. The Code is DRN50.
