Author Topic: TM5 vs TM6 for fermentation ?  (Read 4741 times)

Offline karcer

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TM5 vs TM6 for fermentation ?
« on: September 16, 2022, 05:24:00 pm »
Hi guys

Is worth buying TM6 more than TM5 when I want to ferment stuff but I want to save some money. Any chance someway using a manual function etc on TM5 to ferment yummy Nato?
Money is not important so much but I don't want to spend more if it's not reasonable.
I don't know much about both machines but I know what I would like to have.
I like fermenting kimchi and nato and want to try tempeh and other yummy fermented stuff.
Many thanks for any thoughts:)

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Offline cookie1

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Re: TM5 vs TM6 for fermentation ?
« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2022, 12:30:16 pm »
I make yoghurt in my TM 6. However I THINK that most other things are prepared in the thermomix and then fermented elsewhere.
I think it would be best if you rang Thermomix Australia and spoke to them or be referred to a consultant who will be able to help you.
May all dairy items in your fridge be of questionable vintage.

https://www.facebook.com/The-Retired-Thermomixer-834601623316983/

Offline karcer

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Re: TM5 vs TM6 for fermentation ?
« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2022, 04:03:51 am »
I make yoghurt in my TM 6. However I THINK that most other things are prepared in the thermomix and then fermented elsewhere.
I think it would be best if you rang Thermomix Australia and spoke to them or be referred to a consultant who will be able to help you.
Thanks, cookie1
I can imagine that fermenting stuff in thermomix could be awesome because it can keep the temperature very easily. I use a multi-cooker with yogurt function but I can't choose the temperature and the timer is maxed 12 hours There is a lot of DIY stuff for fermenting and just a few good machines and these are expensive. I'm happy to don't use thermomix for a couple of days and use it just for fermenting. Yeah, I'll try to contact them.

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Offline karcer

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Re: TM5 vs TM6 for fermentation ?
« Reply #3 on: September 19, 2022, 04:08:30 am »
I make yoghurt in my TM 6. However I THINK that most other things are prepared in the thermomix and then fermented elsewhere.
I think it would be best if you rang Thermomix Australia and spoke to them or be referred to a consultant who will be able to help you.
Thanks, cookie1
I can imagine that fermenting stuff in thermomix could be awesome because it can keep the temperature very easily. I use a multi-cooker with yogurt function but I can't choose the temperature and the timer is maxed 12 hours There is a lot of DIY stuff for fermenting and just a few good machines and these are expensive. I'm happy to don't use thermomix for a couple of days and use it just for fermenting. Yeah, I'll try to contact them.

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Is there a program in TM5 where I could keep the temperature (how long a want) from 35°C - 50°C and change the temperature manually? Thanks

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Offline cookie1

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Re: TM5 vs TM6 for fermentation ?
« Reply #4 on: September 20, 2022, 01:11:29 pm »
I’m not sure. I don’t think so but I will re check. Can anyone else with a 5 help?
May all dairy items in your fridge be of questionable vintage.

https://www.facebook.com/The-Retired-Thermomixer-834601623316983/

Offline karcer

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Re: TM5 vs TM6 for fermentation ?
« Reply #5 on: September 21, 2022, 02:30:56 pm »
I’m not sure. I don’t think so but I will re check. Can anyone else with a 5 help?

I just got answer for my questions.. Unfortunately it looks even TM6 is NOT very good for fermenting..   :-\ 

https://sophiaskitchen.blog/thermomixtips/tm6-review-thermomix-vorwerk/

This is written in the review:

Fermentation

Ok guys, brace yourself for this one… to me, this mode feels like a bit like a fancy description for yoghurt function and seems a bit more marketing gimmick than real improvement (I know those are strong words but hear me out).

We need to be careful about what we define as fermentation and what foods NEED higher temperatures than room temperature and what foods don’t in order to ferment correctly. I’ve done a lot of research on the subject of fermentation over the past few years through baking sourdough bread, making kimchi, brewing kombucha and growing up making Sauerkraut with my Oma back in Germany. I LOVE fermented foods and they are so good for your gut health and taste so amazing! I’m a bit of a fermentation nerd. From what I have seen and tested, the Thermomix team seemed to have skipped the research part and simply slapped the name “fermentation” on the yoghurt function from the TM5 and extended the time to 12hrs in the software.

Let me explain a little bit about how fermenting foods work in order to give you some context. Different foods ferment correctly at different temperatures due to the intricate balance that is struck between the different bacterias and microbes that you try cultivate during the process. The vast majority of fermented foods (such as kimchi, sauerkraut, sourdough bread, kombucha) go through a process called lacto-fermentation. Essentially we are trying to cultivate little microbes called lactobacilli that do the job of transforming the food for us. These bacteria thrive at temperatures between 22-28 degrees…no higher. Anything above 40 degrees and our lovely lactobacilli that we are cultivating start to die. Indeed, my Oma fermented her Sauerkraut in her basement which must have been around 20 degrees (room temperature)! Omas know what they are doing right?! Yoghurt on the other hand is a bit of a special case and benefits from higher temperatures (between 30-40 degrees) because you are trying to attract and cultivate totally different microbes in the process. In my experience, unless you are getting to be a real specialist with fermentation, foods that require fermentation at temperatures above 28C are extremely rare, with the exception of yoghurt.

The minimum temperature setting on the Thermomix TM6 for fermentation is 37 which is far too high for the vast majority of fermented foods as discussed above. Also, good luck fitting a Kombucha jar or modest quantity of kimchi in the Varoma… if you do, please let me know how you did it! Further to that, Kombucha is traditionally fermented for between over 7-30 days. I’m not sure you’ll want to have your Thermomix running for that long at home!

During my tests I also measured the temperature in the Varoma during fermentation mode at 37C. I was hoping that the temperature inside the Varoma (due to heat loss) would be lower than 37C and hopefully hover around 26C which would be perfect for sourdough bread. Unfortunately my hopes were smashed here. Firstly, the temperature in the Varoma fluctuated dramatically between 22C and 35C as the Thermomix bowl heated and cooled the water intermittently and the steam that rose up hardly lost any temperature on its way. This environment simply is not stable enough to achieve any kind of consistency in your bread (let alone any other fermented foods). Fermenting, especially making sourdough bread, is ALL about creating consistency in the environment and this simply wasn’t predictable enough to be useful. You’d be better off proving at room temperature and waiting a little longer for the dough to rise! Secondly, the environment was too moist for sourdough bread in my opinion, it created so much steam and moisture in the Varoma that would make the dough highly unpredictable and you would risk too much condensation hitting the dough. Thirdly, I’m not sure you’ll find a bowl that can simultaneously contain an ever growing dough and fit in the Varoma tray! In my experience, the Varoma is simply too small to fit the quantity of dough that would make baking sourdough worth it (a minimum of 750-1kg of dough which has to roughly double in size). If you find such a bowl, please let me know!

You might be luckier with proving yeasted bread in the Varoma here if you discover a bowl that works for your quantities, but proving yeasted bread is not fermentation at all, next to zero fermentation takes place during that process as it happens so quickly (sometimes in as little as 30 minutes) so it shouldn’t be labeled under this heading.

Overall I was very disappointed with this feature and am a little concerned about the labelling of it as a fermentation mode, when I’m not sure it helps to ferment anything other than Yoghurt. It’s a yoghurt mode guys… nothing more than that!







Offline judydawn

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Re: TM5 vs TM6 for fermentation ?
« Reply #6 on: September 22, 2022, 02:02:11 am »
I’m pleased that you found this information to answer your question Karcer, such a comprehensive review and after reading it I’m quite happy to stick with my uncomplicated but trusty TM31 for the small amount of cooking I do these days. Thank you for sharing it with us all and welcome to our forum.
Judy from North Haven, South Australia

Make the most of every day, you never know what is around the corner.

Offline cookie1

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Re: TM5 vs TM6 for fermentation ?
« Reply #7 on: September 23, 2022, 07:57:51 am »
Sophia is a trusted thermomix person. She came out to Australia about 4 years ago and I was fortunate enough to go to one of her classes. She tells it like it is.
May all dairy items in your fridge be of questionable vintage.

https://www.facebook.com/The-Retired-Thermomixer-834601623316983/

Offline karcer

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Re: TM5 vs TM6 for fermentation ?
« Reply #8 on: September 24, 2022, 02:10:38 am »
Sophia is a trusted thermomix person. She came out to Australia about 4 years ago and I was fortunate enough to go to one of her classes. She tells it like it is.
Good to know! Thank you for the information cookie1

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