My Top Secret Tips for the Thermomix

The Thermomix mindset and my top secret tips!

When you work with a recipe which is not Thermomix converted, I always work backwards. Once I have set my mind to reverse mode, it will be easier to understand how to use the thermomix. Always think about how long each ingredient takes to cook and work your way through them. I.e, start with the rice, then attach the varoma and steam hard vegetables first, then soft ones and then fish or chicken.

Dry ingredients need to be prepared before beginning with the recipe to avoid longer cleaning times. For example grind the nuts first, mill flour first, etc, then move on to the next steps of the recipe.

Be careful with higher speed to avoid puréed onions and mashed veggies.
< speed 5 roughly chopped, combining cake batter
Speeds 5-7 finely chopped, grating cheese
Speeds 8-10 blending, pureeing soup, grinding spices or milling flour

• Recipe language always time, temperature, speed.


• When adding liquids into the bowl, add the measuring cup and pour liquid into the lid to let it drop down slowly. This is specially helpful when making mayonnaise and want to pour in the oil slowly or squeezing lemon juice and want to catch any pips. The measuring cup prevents the liquid from dropping down too quickly and creates a gentle steam.


• If you want to cook more food than the recipe states just make an extra ½ or do it in two batches. The risk is that it can bubble up. Generally the rule is 20% extra time, but this applies to some recipes and not all. Recipes with meat would be better to add 30% and check that the meat is cooked through. You can always add more time. For hard things like ice or frozen fruit it is better to stick to the amount in the recipe and do it agin with a second batch, the blade can suffer.


• When grinding spies, insert the simmering basket so that you avoid having whole spices being dispersed too far.


• Use the spatula to cut through any dough and divide into individual pieces. It is the perfect tool for scoring bread.


• The measuring cup can measure liquids up to 100g.


• When working with heavy cake batters, lots of veggies, tough pastes or dips, insert the spatula through the lid and swirl around to help you achieve a smoother consistency. Remember that the spatula is designed not to touch the blade.


• Use the turbo function to walk any residual against the mixing bowl and separate it from the blade. It makes cleaning the bowl much easier.


• Make sure that you turn the spatula clockwise in the bowl to remove anything, otherwise you may end up with some nasty looking nicks in it. Clockwise means avoiding the sharp side of the blade.


• When you are chopping anything that it is quite hard, such as large vegetables, only fill up the mixing bowl half way so that everything can be chopped up to the same size. Filling the bowl too much will cause some veggies to stay large while others get chopped too finely.


• If you want to sterilise jars, place them in the varoma dish, fill the bowl with 1000g of water and put the varoma in place cook 15 min/varoma/speed 1. Carefully remove the jars and PRESTO!


• To chop herbs without bruising them, chop them on turbo 3-4 times for 1 second. It keeps them fresh without releasing any bitter aromas.


• To peel garlic, place between 2-10 cloves in the mixing bowl. Blitz 5 sec/reverse/speed 5. The cloves will be chopped but the skins will remain large. Add 200g water to the mixing bowl and wait a few seconds until the skins float to the top. Remove with a scoop and drain the water, you will be left with gorgeous chopped garlic.


• The reverse mode is perfect for combining ingredients without chopping them at all. It is ideal if you combine a salad with a dressing or when you want to preserve some chunky bits in a dip. Simply press the reserve button before setting the speed


• When using the varoma make sure that you leave some space for the steam to circulate. If you want to prevent juices from escaping through the holes, put a piece of grease proof paper, wet it and line the varoma tray with it. Then place your fish or chicken on top. Use it to stem cakes! Instead of baking a cheesecake, make a smaller quantity, wrap the bottom in foil paper and add 1000g of water into the bowl. The cheesecake dish must fit the varoma dish and it is best to add a few aluminium foil balls to the bottom before placing the cheesecake on top so that the steam can circulate. Cover the cake tightly with cling film and steam for 1-1.5 hours/varoma/ speed 1. In between refill with water if needed.


• To avoid anything sticking to the varoma, either use a piece of greaseproof paper and wet it to line both trays, or oil/butter it


• To reduce sauces, simply take the measuring cup off and insert the simmering basket. The basket lets through some additional steam and ensures that the sauce does not retain too much water.


• The best eggs are in the simmering basket follow this timings for perfect consistency

Very runny 10min/varoma/speed 1 (egg yolk is liquid, egg white syrupy)
Runny 11 min/varoma/speed 1(egg yolk is liquid, egg white firm)
Soft 12 min/ varoma/speed 1 (egg yolk soft)
Firmly boiled 13 min/varoma/speed 1
Hard boiled 15 min/ varoma/speed 1

• Never use more than 4 egg whites, otherwise the mix may not get stiff enough.


• If you want to zest a lemon or orange, simply use a peeler, peel off the zest, place the sugar that you need for the recipe, add the zest and blitz 15sec/speed 10. The zest will be finely grated into the sugar.


• When the butter needs to be at room temperature, simply place chunks in the mixing bowl and cream 40 sec/ speed 5. The butter will soften and it will be ready for immediate use.


• When creaming butter and eggs together to make a fluffy sponge, make sure that you are using the whisk attachment 1 min/speed 3.5. Use only room temperature ingredients for that otherwise it may curdle. Should this happen, simply cream again 1 min/37 degrees/speed 3 to get a homogeneous mixture.


• When Tempering chocolate the thermomix is the best! The simplest trick is to place the chocolate chunks in the bowl blitz 7 sec/speed9 to break into small crumbs. Then you can melt the chocolate. I do not recommend to go higher than 37 degrees, otherwise the chocolate may separate and you may end up with a fatty, oily mess.

Have a great time with your TM5!

M x