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What is, or better still, how does one make   "sausage mince" ?



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I've had my Breville Mini-Pie maker for several months.  I've made a variety of items in it including chicken & leek pies (very good), Aussie meat pies (must find a better recipe), mini-deep-dish pizzas (surprisingly good), chocolate chip muffins (fair), egg mini-pies for breakfast (okay), and several other things.

Muffins: cooked directly in pie maker, no liner used, came out fine.

Pie lifter: ordered one just now, over-priced, hope it is worth it.

Pastry: to date have been using store-bought and not too thrilled. As of now I'll be making my own in my Thermomix.

Burnt edges: recently read a tip to raise the top part way through cooking just a tad by inserting a couple of wooden popsicle sticks. Plan to give this a test.

Preheating: after much use I've found it works best to NOT preheat the Breville. As the fillings must be pre-cooked that's not a problem. I let it cool down a bit between batches, makes it easier to put in the pastry, no burnt fingers and results are just as good as preheating, sometimes better.

Changes: detachable plates to make cleaning easier if the non-stick properties wear off in time though at the moment it cleans incredibly easily; a thermostat perhaps, not too sure if this might be useful; and it would be really good if they included a pie-lifter in the box.

The Breville pie maker was an online impulse purchase when I saw it at just $44 with free shipping. I am sure it must have been a mistake because it was much more expensive on the same site the very next day. I would probably never have bought it at its regular price but I am really glad I got it, I use it a fair bit, it's quick and easy, and pies generally freeze and reheat well.

I can't speak for other brands but I would recommend the Breville mini-pie maker to others as a useful and easy to use gadget.
 
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I’ve made this a few times (love ginger) and have given jars of it as gifts.

REALLY good!

Once you settle on a specific crystallized ginger, of course Australian crystallized ginger is by far the best!, just work out by trial and error just how much you want to rinse it first to get the bite and sweetness you desire.

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I've decided to have a go at making hummus in my Thermomix.

When I followed the directions above, and in the Thermomix vegetarian book, for cooking chickpeas in the Thermomix.  Even after 60 minutes set at 90°C  (actual temperature measured with a really accurate thermometer was 92.4°C ) the chickpeas were still very firm, not at all "squishy".

Should the water just barely cover the chickpeas in the basket?

Is 90°C hot enough to cook chickpeas?

I have to add the obvious: Cooking chickpeas is so much easier in the Thermomix than on the stove! No need to check they're not boiling to much or simmering to low. I just put a separate timer on for 30 minutes to remind me to check the water level and add a touch more boiling water midway through.