I've broken my Thermochef butterfly

[EmeraldSue]

I have just made butter in my Thermo Chef for the first time. I used cream with 51% fat, inserted the butterfly and mixed on speed 3. In less than a minute, the blades stopped turning in the machine and I quickly turned it off. The buttermilk had separated, so I continued with 2 water washes without any problems. However, when I was squeezing the water out of the butter, I came across some lumps of black plastic. They were the little sticky-up parts on the top of the butterfly. When I took the butterfly out, I also noticed that  the butterfly is also broken across the top.

Has anyone else had this problem?
Does anyone know what I did wrong? I was careful to have the two sides of the butterfly bar in the same direction as the blades like it says in the manual.
Help!

[cookie1]

Sorry can't help. I've made butter in the TMX. Hopefully someone with a TC can help you. I don't suppose you really want to eat butter with black plastic bits in it.

[nola276]

No, EmeraldSue, I haven't had any problems with mine while making butter.  I did chop one up a bit, but it was my own fault, I tried to fit it while the jug was full and you really can't do that with the "Chef" or you can't see what you are doing.

Yours sounds like it might be faulty.  I would contact New Wave and let them know what has happened.  I am sure they will replace it free of charge.  They did that for me and breaking it was my fault.

[Thermobudgie]

Hi there

I was talking to a lovely man in a kitchenware store the other day, we were talking about the thermo machines and I mentioned that the butterfly was a pain in the **** He has a TMX and TC and doesn't ever use the butterfly in either machine. I made my first batch of butter yesterday after talking to him (without the butterfly) and it worked beautifully.

I think to replace a butterfly it's less than $10, so no major drama if you mash it 

[thermoheaven]

i don't have TC, but i don't use a butterfly in all the recipes which call for one, eg, lemon butter.
i do use my butterfly when i make risotto, fruity dream and whip cream and egg whites. i can't see how you'd make fruity dream and whip egg whites and cream without one. i guess you have to work out when you need to use it and when you don't. i've never had an issue with mine at all - always use it at speed 4 or below, just like i've always been told, and not a single problem, even when making butter. i will say that it seems sturdier than it looks. i only know of one person who has had her butterfly chopped up and that was because she used her butterfly over speed 4. she reckons her consultant didn't tell her, so she had to buy one from my consultant because hers had disappeared off the face of the earth.

[EmeraldSue]

Thanks everyone. I rang New Wave today and spoke to a lovely lady who is going to send me a new butterfly.
I'm excited because she told me that they are producing a new cookbook which will be sent to people who have sent their registration cards in. I can't wait!

[judydawn]

That's great news ES, maybe they had lots of complaints about the lack of recipes.

[petit4s]

I must let my friend know. She's really unhappy with her TC and her butterfly breaking was one of the many things she's unhappy about. She's really regretting the purchase and is trying to get her money back now. Has anyone else had problems? I lent her my TM book so she could have access to recipes (didn't like the book it came with). She said the TC couldn't cope with making bread dough and could only knead for a short while if anything because the engine sounded like it was going to die.

[EmeraldSue]

Tell her to ring New Wave and they should replace her butterfly. I'm really happy with my Thermo Chef. I'm having a ball making lots of different things. I'm finding that all of the recipes for the Thermomix convert very easily. Today I've made bread rolls, strawberry jam, banana and strawberry smoothies and tonight I made up a creamy spinach pasta sauce. The only time I have had problems with it is with bread (apart from breaking y butterfly yesterday). Nola has given me some great ideas for making bread in the TC. I agree that the major disadvantage with the TC is that the motor is not as strong as the Thermomix, and this is noticeable when making bread. However,  I don't regret my purchase. If I really want to make a lot of bread, I could buy a decent bread maker with the $1100 I saved and still have plenty of change.
I would urge your friend to give her TC another chance. There are quite a few TC owners on this forum and we have been made really welcome. it really is a great resource. I'm trying to remember all the things I have successfully made in my TC. Here is a list of what I can remember making in the last month: risotto, smoothies, daiquiri , sorbet, bread rolls, strawberry jam, pasta sauce, pesto, chocolate cake, apple cake, pavlova, chocolate pavlova, custards, yoghurt chicken...

[CreamPuff63]

when doing a TM recipe how have you had to adjust the speeds and temperatures for TC?

[nola276]

Hi Cream Puff, often there is hardly any adjustments to be made.  Usually when the recipe calls for reverse, we just use speed 1 and the butterfly.  Occasionally, we adjust the temp by 10c, but not often.

[CreamPuff63]

wow thats great!

[nola276]

Actually Cream Puff, I think if we followed your guide to the conversion from TM31 to TM 21 here, it would be pretty spot on.

[cookie1]

The TC looks a bit like the TM21.

[judydawn]

There was a woman in Home looking at one this morning whilst I was in there and I'm sure the saleswoman told her they would throw a second bowl in for free