I made my first batch of Yoghurt yesterday using the following recipe which I got from an earlier post.  I changed the sugar to Equal, as hubby is a diabetic.  This is a nuisance as you use equal on a cup for cup basis, but it doesn't weigh the same as sugar, so I had to weigh 50g of sugar and eyeball it, so that I could pour the same quantity of equal into the mix.

800g full cream or light milk (I used HiLo)
50g Milk powder (have always got this on hand for when we are caravaning)
50g White Sugar (I used Equal but not 50g worth)
5g Vanilla Extract (not essence)
3 tablespoons Pot set Yoghurt (I used Pauls All Natural Yoghurt set in the tub 99.8% fat free)

Place milk, powdered milk, sugar(equal) and vanilla into TMX bowl.  Blend 10 sec speed 7.  Cook 30 min, 90c, speed 1.  Allow to cool to 37c.  Add starter yoghurt.  Blend gently 4 seconds speed 4.  Cook 10 min, 37c, speed 1.  Boil kettle to fill Eazyo Thermos.  When cooked, pour yoghurt into container, seal and place into thermos.  Leave at least 8 hours or overnight to set.  (I put mine in about 8pm and left it until 7am)  Do not disturb at this time.  Place in fridge, reserving 3 tabs for the next batch.

This turned out beautifully, producing a lovely thick yoghurt, sweetened just enough, but with a lovely tang to it.  

I have spent so much time reading the last 20 pages that I can't remember who posted this recipe, but you can be sure I am very grateful.  Thank you.  Cheers, Nola.

Just a little edit to this.  I severely burnt the bottom of my bowl with this recipe, so that was a bit of a bummer.  Took ages to clean it with vinegar and water and a lot of scrubbing.  I think I might use the microwave to heat my milk next time.

Thanks everyone, I'm making a batch this afternoon,  Cheers, Nola.

I don't suppose it really matters.  Yours was awesome so I'm going to go with that

Thank you so much.  I don't have any problem with the converting of cups etc to weights and will do that, but I am really stuck when it comes to what can be whizzed together, what temperature and speed, and what length of time.  Hope that comes with time.  Cheers, Nola.

I have got all three of the Tupperware Thermal servers.  Being Tupperware, they are quite expensive, but I have been luck enough to get them all at different garage sales for $10.00 and $5.00 for the gravy boat.  They are all plastic, with the black thermal part being microwave proof (just take it out and zap it in the microwave if needed).  I do like the idea of the Indian ones though.  Cheers, Nola.

Hi everyone,  I am new here and I am also the owner of a Thermo Chef.  My daughter has a Thermomix and as I am retired and living on a pension, the "Chef" was the only version I could afford.  It seems that a lot of people would like a comparison of the two machines, so here's my 2 cents worth.

I attended a Thermo Chef demo last Friday and the lass that demonstrated did an excellent job.  The demo was a 3 hour one, and the menu was as follows:  Fruit Sorbet, Houmus Dip, Peanut Butter, Bread, Asparagus with White Sauce, Rice, Soup (can't remember what sort), and Lemon & Coconut Steamed Puddings with Lemon Syrup.  She finished before the 3 hours were up.  We were able to taste test and everything was yummy.  I purchased my machine at the end of the demo, because I felt the $795.00 price tag was justified.  I received a $50.00 voucher and am awaiting another $40.00 voucher for their VIP customer plan.  Thermomix was mentioned several times, but always in a nice way.  

The main differences I can see are:  

Lack of reverse speed.  The "Chef's" answer to this is the butterfly and speed 1 (which I believe is the way the previous Thermomix handled these jobs"  The butterfly is fitted over the blade.  I have made a few recipes which call for reverse, with no problems at all (thanks of course to your lovely recipes here and yes the recipes are interchangeable).

Apparently the Thermo Chef is not as powerful as Thermomix.  This may be so, but it hasn't caused me any hassles yet.  It still makes lovely bread, I have yet to try mincing meat, but our demonstrator said that meat doesn't present any problems as long as you don't try doing too much at once.

I like the scales being on the side (heavy handed).  If you want to measure directly into the jug you simply put the jug on top of the side scale and zero it out.   And I like the Varoma locking on the top (I am a klutz!).  The temperatures are the same as the Thermomix with a Varoma temperature as well.  Speeds from 1 - 10 plus a turbo button. The bell noise when you push a button drives me mad, so I usually hold it in and advance through the menu quickly and silently.  

Probably the thing that has annoyed me the most is when I made pumpkin soup recently - really nice soup by the way thanks to your recipe site.  It said to blitz the cooked soup going from speed 1 - speed 9 slowly.  Unfortunately I could only go to speed 5.  The Thermo Chef has a built in safety mechanism which stops you going on higher than speed 5 when the food is over 60 degrees in temperature.  I got around this because I cooked my soup first, so was able to put it aside in a pot while I made the rest of my menu, and then finish blitzing it when it had cooled down.  Then when my guests had arrived, my Chef heated the soup up again.  Just a little thing, but annoying.

The blade is removable and everything is washable in the dishwasher except obviously the main body of the machine and the jug (there are electrical sensors underneath the jug).  If things catch on the bottom, which they do occasionally, I haven't had a problem washing it.  Just put a little hot water & detergent in it and push turbo a couple of times, then empty the water and remove the blades (easy) and use a non abrasive cleaning pad such as a Chux to clean the rest off.  I was told an extra jug & blades was going to be available very shortly at a cost of approx $99.00, so that will be really handy.  

The recipe book sucks seriously, very basic and with only a few recipes, but I believe the people at Newwave Appliances are working on a new recipe book to be released sometime in February (hopefully).  Plus the internet is full of lovely recipes for the Thermomix, and as they are interchangeable - no problemo.

As for the warranty, I am sure the 12 months mentioned in the small print is just a typo.  In the main body of the warranty, it guarantees 2 years and later in the small print it states that in the event of a product or accessory being replaced during the warranty, the warranty on the replacement will expire at the original date i.e. "2 years from the original purchase date."  Reading the manual, it seems to me that a lot of it was translated from Spanish to English - and not very well.

We were told that the Thermo Chef was designed in Spain, manufactured in China but has a Japanese motor.  

All in all I am very happy with my machine.  Obviously I would have loved a Thermomix - who wouldn't, but this was not an option for me, so I am very happy to have second best.  I call it second best because I don't believe it is quite as good as the Thermomix - but it's pretty damn good anyway.

Thank you everyone for a really great site, full of wonderful recipes and very nice people.

Cheers, Nola.