ThermoFun - Techie Tuesday - Tips on Converting Recipes

I often get asked the question “how do I convert my old favourite recipes that I loved to cook before I got my Thermomix?”

Firstly my advice is to take your time to become familiar and confident with your Thermomix. The recipes in the Every Day Cookbook and Basic Cookbook are very easy to follow and have all been thoroughly tested – go through as many of these that appeal to you.

So after a period of time of having your Thermomix, you will be confident to try and convert your old family favourites.  In a nutshell how we suggest to convert old recipes so they can be made in your Thermomix, is to find a similar recipe in your Every Day Cookbook, Recipe Community or a Thermomix blog and use the ingredients of your favourite old recipe - then use the Thermomix method and you will have your favourite recipe cooked quicker than before!
  :)

There are a few other factors to consider too when converting your recipes.

• It is really important to read through the entire recipe before you begin and work out what ingredients need to be chopped or that can be mixed together.
• Often at the end of a recipe it may say - “top with grated cheese or breadcrumbs”. You really don’t want to read this when your bowl is full or dirty and needs to be washed and then thoroughly dried, before you can grate cheese for example.
• Think about your ingredients that need to be prepared. Ingredients such as garlic, chilli and herbs that you want chopped finely should be done first. Then add other ingredients that don’t need to be chopped as fine, for example onion.
• Try and get in the habit of thinking through what you want to make in your Thermomix in the one session. For example if I need to make vege stock to save me washing the bowl afterwards I would then go on and make a batch of soup. If I have just melted chocolate in the bowl, to save wasting the chocolate I can add a cup of milk and heat that and the result is a hot chocolate and a much cleaner bowl!  :)
• Do things first that need a dry bowl such as milling seeds, grating cheese, making bread crumbs or chop nuts and set these aside. Then go on with the rest of the recipe. If you forget to do any of these things this is when having a second bowl is very handy! I am a big advocate for having more than one Thermomix bowl!
• If you are not sure how long to chop something for, chop for a few seconds and then look in the bowl. You can do it longer but you can’t do it shorter once it’s been done!! The reverse button is good but it’s not that good!! ;)
• Become familiar with the sound of the blade on the ingredients in your bowl. For example when chopping garlic you will be able to hear the blade crushing the garlic for a few seconds but then you will notice that it goes quiet which means it has finished chopping.

Other points to remember when converting recipes:

• Steaming: you need a minimum of 500g water in the TM bowl for 30 minutes steaming food in the varoma. Add 250g water for every additional 15 minutes cooking time.
• If using the butterfly do not use it higher than speed 4 as it will come off and be chopped by the blades.
• Remember to refer to the fridge magnet that you received with your Thermomix or the same summary table for basic functions is in the front of your Every Day Cookbook or Basic Cookbook. For example if I need to soften my butter, at a quick glance at my fridge magnet I can see that it takes 40 sec / 50° / speed 4.
• When converting recipes remember to write down your conversions so it will be much quicker to you the next time you make the recipe. For example if my recipe says 1 cup of sugar – I weigh the cup of sugar and write down how many grams it is on the actual recipe.
• Remember the order of Time/Temperature/Speed. The temperature of the Thermomix will not activate unless you have a time selected.
• If you want to double a Thermomix recipe the general rule is to add 20% cooking time.  If you want to halve a Thermomix recipe, general rule is to reduce cooking time by 20%.
• Be confident! If your beetroot salad accidentally ends up as beetroot soup it really is not a first world problem!  Either get a straw or just be prepared to try again! ;)

Happy converting and have fun! :)

For a printable A4 size of Thermomix Frequently Used Reference Tips Click Here

For Cups to Grams Measurements Chart Click Here

For more ThermoFun hints and tips Click Here.

For more “Techie Tuesday” blog posts Click Here.

 

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