New & Undecided

[cantonpixie]

hi Everyone!!
I've been lurking around for a month or so now and am finally plucking the courage to say hallo to everyone.  i can't decide if i need a thermomix or not.  will it really pay for itself with the time i'm spending on food prep?

i get the impression that a thermomix only makes sense for from large families - i'm only cooking for DH, myself and DD.  is that too small a family size to be buying something so expensive?!?!

i cook mainly asian stuff - stir-fries, soups, and rice, congee/ porridge, etc.  and i'm wondering if the TM can help me cut down on food prep? many of the TM recipes & food blogs that i'm seeing center on american foods (breads / cakes / pastries). i've yet to find an asian / chinese blog devoted to TM cooking. i used to bake a fair amount of bread and cakes before my DD was diagnosed with wheat intolerance.

also, we are a family with food intolerances (not true allergy) - dairy is out and wheat/gluten is allowed a couple of times a week.  does that limit the use that the TM would have for my family?

i'm really lost here...and would appreciate some advice!

[Twitterpated]

Hi CantonPixie and welcome to the forum. I too love to cook asian food and having just returned from a holiday (including cooking school) in Thailand am looking for recipes for the TMX. Although I don't have food allergies/intolerances to worry about in my family, I have seen many discussions and links to wheat/dairy free recipes on this forum. I will let those in the know direct you to relevant sites. Happy cooking!

[cantonpixie]

thank you Twitterpated!  i love thailand and thai food!  i forgot to mention that i'm from singapore so we eat everything - thai, vietnamese, indian, chinese.

[Perth mum]

cantonpixie... the thermomix (or Theodore as my kids have named mine!!) is seriously worth it's weight in gold!! It chops everything so it saves time with meal preparation. Soups are easily made in here... I have had mine for about 6 months, and after not really using it much to start off with, I am now using it daily to make everything I can!

I too have been lurking around here for a few weeks, and I have tried a few of the recipes here and they are awesome!! It astounds me how easy cooking in the thermomix is... tonight my 7 year old and I are making beef stroganoff (with a few tweaks I read on the forum!). That is the other thing that is wonderful about using the thermomix; it is easy and safe for my kids to use! They love producing meals for the family. 

[Katya]

Welcome cantonpixie.   There are only 2 of us in this household and the Thermomix is a wonderful addition to our kitchen.   It helps with both food preparation (chopping and mixing and so on) and also in producing delicious meals.   

I haven't calculated whether it has paid for itself or not but one huge difference is that I don't buy any pre-prepared food at all now - I make my own bread, stock and so on, and cooking up a meal for 2 is almost as quick as putting a ready-meal into the microwave and is so much healthier.  I now know there are no additives in anything we eat which is reassuring.

If you are used to doing a lot of stir-frying, I wouldn't think the Thermomix would help with that and you'd be better off sticking to the wok.   But it is really good with steaming - it has a large amount of space to steam things and it also cooks rice really well.   
There's an excellent Indian cookery book which is well worth getting

I know it's a huge decision to make but I don't think there will anyone on this forum that will tell you not to go ahead with getting one - we're probably all converts here anyway 

[cantonpixie]

hi perth mum!
i hadn't ever thought about a kid being able to handle the tmx!  now you're giving me ideas 

hi katya!
thanks for replying!

you mean, with only 2 people in your household you are actually able to find value in having a tmx?

i don't do half as much steaming as i'd like because the wok is taking up the stove space! (not to mention i can't have a steamer spurting water droplets into my wok when it's full of hot oil!)   

but if you're telling me that i cld steam something on top of the tmx while i'm cooking rice.......that's one more reason bringing me nearer to getting one!

[Katya]

I think it depends what you mean by "value".   To me the value is in making it so much easier to cook wonderful dishes, certainly having the machine has rekindled my interest and enthusiasm in food and we eat a much more varied diet and I'm much more likely to try new recipes that I find on here.   The machine was a present to celebrate a major birthday (and my OH got a very fancy coffee machine to celebrate his equivalent birthday!) so I guess I've never really thought about the cost. 

And yes, it's really easy to steam stuff while your rice is cooking underneath.  The varoma has 2 "layers" so it provides a lot of space.
The other thing is that, once you've put the rice and the water into the machine and set the temperature and the time, you can just leave it to cook so can concentrate on other things.   You obviously have to time when you put the things in to steam as some will take longer, but you soon will get used to that.

[judydawn]

Hi cantonpixie, welcome to the forum.  You have come to the wrong place if you are expecting people to have negative thoughts about this wonderful kitchen whizz kid.  There are just 2 of us and DH doesn't eat that much so I really only need to cook 4 times a week or less at times. Even if I don't need to cook a main meal every day, my machine usually gets used for something - it might be making a batch of lemonade, some laundry powder, cakes, rice or mashed potato to go with leftovers etc.  Soups are wonderful, bread is another thing most of us have mastered that we never made before, we do stir fries of sorts (probably not the same as wok cooking but tasty all the same), if you like Indian there is a great recipe book in that regard, there is a recipe book coming out in the near future called A Taste of Asia which would probably interest you. Just have a browse through the recipe section of this forum and you will see the versatility of the meals we cook.  In the recipe review section you will see comments and tweaks of recipes from some of the books which are available.  Any questions about anything - you only need to ask on here and someone will give you an answer.  Food intolerances affect a lot of people's families and we have members on here who know so much about alternatives.  All I can say is, buy one - you will not regret it. Enjoy your time on here and hopefully join in the fun with conversation, recipes etc when you get your machine.

[cantonpixie]

hey Katya,
that's the value i'm looking for!  right now there are certainly lots of fanciful dishes on (and outside of) the TMX forums that i can't do on a regular basis , from scratch, and i wish for more dishes that are not stir fries. (read:  that can be left unattended to cook)

like i'm doing a lot of stir fries right now for lack of better recipe ideas.  i would have loved to make biscuits/ cakes/ dumplings / scones / muffins / bread etc were it not for all the different equipment i hv to haul in and out of the cabinets.

i have a breadmaker, a food processor, a blender, a BOSCH mixer (which i bot for making whole wheat bread but never opened buecause it took up so much counter space and was duplicating some of the functions of the food processor and i didn't know how to handle it!), a slow cooker, a rice cooker and....a stove top steamer..and ...*cringe* ....

over the years i end up doing 2 of these things:  stash the bulky appliance into the cupboard and never do what it was meant to do, or leave it on the countertop taking up precious space and beat myself up for not using it frequently enough to justify its stay on the countertop.


and hi Judydawn!  i read a lot of your posts and hadn't realised it was just DH and you!  and did you just say laundry powder!?!?!  i can't believe this.  i DO make my own laundry detergent and it would be a boon if the tmx cld handle even that! i saw quirkycooking's GF breads and was really impressed.  i'm fixing a date for the demo now!

[sue_h]

Hi cantonpixie, welcome to the forum. A demo is a must if you are considering it. Once you see first hand what it can do you'll be best able to judge if it's for you. I've just started giving away my many appliances that sat in my cupboard and only got used occasionally. I cook for a family of 4 and we use it for breakfast, school lunches, dinner and other items in between. My kids (9+7) come home and make themselves fresh fruit slushies or sorbet. My DS9 is making us breakfast in the mornings now before he gets ready. It's so easy. We also ate many stir-fries before the Thermomix because they were easy and had lots of fresh natural ingredients in them. We now find the same natural ingredients can do so much more. Keep looking around this forum and the recipe community and you'll be inspired to cook so much more. Enjoy your demo.

[Bonsai]

Hi Cantonpixie

I've had my thermomix for over a year and have found it a great timesaver, plus I now cook foods that would otherwise have been too time consuming or fiddly to do.

I also love asian food - I have found cooking rice and steaming things a breeze in the thermomix. Chopping vegetables finely is also great - i often freeze ginger (quality not always the best in Perth) and can chop it frozen without bothering to peel it.

I know that you can make fresh rice noodles in the varoma as well http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=4110.0

I keep looking through my chinese cookbooks thining 'I could do that in the thermomix'. I'll have to post some recipes but as I love Hunanese and Schizuanese food, some might find it a bit too spicy!  I'm sure you'd find the investment worthwhile if you do decide to purchase one

[Katya]

Ooh Bonsai I LOVE Sechuan food so would love to see some recipes.   I'm a great fan of Fuscia Dunlop but haven't tried to do anything in the Thermomix....   

[Caroline J]

A friend of mine nearly didn't buy one because they ate meat and veg most nights.  I asked her if she wanted to eat meat and veg most nights, and the answer was no.  Having a TMX will offer a lot of new meals to try, and add to things to the repetoire you already eat

[CreamPuff63]

I really don't like cooking with anything else 

[Frozzie]

welcome cantonpixie

like everyone else here I love the thermomix..we are four in our family and I use mine everyday but there are families of two to much larger, with and without food allergies....i think the Thermomix is always a plus in any househould and would be even more so in a house where there is food intolerance or allergies and there are some great people here to guide you re food allergies..as they have themselves families with different food allergies.  As far as asian recipes for the thermomix, there are a couple here I think but you could with a bit of guideance also convert your favourite recipes in the thermomix..there are so many advantages..good luck with your decision