Forum Thermomix
Questions Doubts and Requests => Questions? Technical Issues? The Survival Guide => Topic started by: vivacity on May 04, 2009, 06:42:14 pm
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Hi!
While I am still waiting for my Thermomix to arrive, I thought I'd ask a question which I hope doesn't sound too stupid ;D
A lot of recipes say that you should quarter or cut up the onions and then drop them into the TM blade to chop. Doesn't that make them taste bitter? I remember once chopping onions in my food processor to save time and it turned out to be a big mistake. I know the TM is supposed to help the cook to save time, but if I'm supposed to fry the onions in my TM, can I instead chop them up on the cutting board and then fry them in a frying pan? Would the onions taste better then or doesn't it really make a difference? I'm also wondering the same thing about garlic.
Any info would be greatly appreciated!
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I find them quite sweet actually! ;D ;D ;D
Chop everything in the THX! Just be careful not to overdo it, you can slowly move it up to speed 5 so that you don't get mush, no rush and either do it for less time or longer depending on the speed. That's the way we are taught herein Spain by the THX consultants.
For example lets say a recipe says chop for 10 seconds, speed 5. You can slowly chop on speed 3 or 4 for longer, until it looks perfect. Don't get stressed with the exact times, just by listening to the sound of the blades you will learn to hear when it is ready!
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You know what I suffered yesterday?
I had to chop an onion, dropped it into THX and set it to speed 5 or 6, but what happened was that the onion got stuck on one specific blade and it wouldn't be released. As a result the Thermomix was rocking like a crazy thing! :o
Then I stopped to see what's going wrong and I found the guilty onion >:(
This usually doesn't happen. The onions are chopped perfectly all the times I need this to be done.
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Thanks for the information! Wow, a "rocking" Thermomix :) The tip about cutting onions at a lower speed is great. I'll just have to try it out ONCE MY THERMOMIX ARRIVES......!!!!! Oh dear, I ordered it on Saturday after a rather
rushed basic introduction by a TM representative and I've been scouring the Internet for recipes ever since to pass the time.
Ms. Patient I am definitely not ;D
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I know what you mean about "bitter" onion mash with food processors. The TMX doesn't do the same. Some recipes don't chop the onions before starting to cook - check Tenina's blog - Steamoven Cooking. They definitely aren't bitter if not overprocessed.
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Ok, thanks for your help. I'll try it out once the TM arrives!
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i have just discovered the beauty of the slower chop and am addicted :) i always chopped everything on 6 but no more :D ;D
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Yes, I agree. Mushed onions isn't for me either. I like to see my onion in dishes so just be careful with the times in the everyday cookbook - sometimes they are far, far too long. eg coleslaw, try it for a few seconds, check and do it longer if it isn't the texture you want and the potato cakes, do the same otherwise you just get watery mush. The more reading of the forum you can do (it will take you many hours or days to read through everything) the better off you will be and the less disasters too.
But, be assured, you will get there.
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The Australian book tells you to put onions, garlic etc in the bowl before chopping; the English book recommends dropping them onto the blades. Does anyone know whether one method is better than the other or why the difference?
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I was told by the Italians that the dropping in method stems back to the TM21 (old machine) where it worked better, especailly with garlic. With the new model TM31 it is not necessary, but for small amounts of garlic/ginger/lemongrass it seems to help.
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Thanks for all the suggestions.
I made a goulash yesterday in the TM and was really pleased with the thick sauce and the way the onions had melted during cooking. The sauce was not at all bitter and the family really gobbled the goulash up once it had been tweaked with a little more red wine, salt and paprika. So, thumbs up for chopping onions in the TM :D (I didn't drop them in, just put them in the bowl and then chopped).
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Related onion issue: My TMX has been smelling like onions since I made a risotto last week. I always take the blades apart to wash the bowl thoroughly, in hot soapy water (I don't trust the dishwasher). Anyone else has that problem?
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have you removed the seal from the lid and washed those thoroughly? (don't forget to put it back!!!)
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have you removed the seal from the lid and washed those thoroughly? (don't forget to put it back!!!)
Yep. Every single time I use my TMX, I wash all parts separate :-\
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Make the liquid detergent for washing and it will soon smell nice!!! ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)
Guaranteed! And really shiny! Just like new again! ;D
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No, mine doesn't smell like onions after using them at all. My consultant said the bowl was made out of surgical steel and therefore you can cook a savoury dish, wash it out and cook a custard or something and the small or taste isn't transferred to the next dish. I have put mine in the dishwasher occasionally, just to give it a damn good clean but not on a daily basis. Be interesting to see if others have this problem but certainly give Bron's suggestion a try to see if you can get it back to 'as new' again.
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perhaps try leaving some bicarb in it overnight?
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I'll try those ideas and I'll let you know. The smell stays on the plastic cover, not on the steel parts. Thankfully, the taste doesn't seem to transfer to other meals, but the smell is very strong.
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Make the liquid detergent for washing and it will soon smell nice!!! ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)
Guaranteed! And really shiny! Just like new again! ;D
The lemon in the dishwashing liquid should help - somewhere there is a post about cleaning under the lid. I know one idea involved using lemon. Another was to put it in the freezer - lid that is overnight.
Try washing with lemon juice and leaving in the freezer overnight ?
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you can do the freezer and bicarb thing combined actaully! (works for tupperware too by the way ;))
or bicarb all over the lid and leave in the sun for a while.
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I rarely have to take my TM apart to clean. I just use the self cleaning method, filling it half way with water and a small squirt of dish detergent. Let it process for a minute or two at a relatively high speed (making sure it doesn't overflow).
I find that sometimes when I cook something in it, the bottom of the bowl will have some residue, and then I use a plastic scrubbie. Otherwise, only pasta dough seems to be too dense to clean with the self cleaning method....
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I take mine apart fairly regulary to ensure that there is no food build up between the seals under the blade.
..
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I take mine apart every time! Unless its lemonade! It seems to get bits under the blades always!
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i take mine apart every few times, unless i've made something with gluten in it - i take it apart everytime i cook with gluten
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That water spinning in the opposite direction must really affect things down there ;D When I first got mine, I too took it apart each use. Pretty quickly I noticed that the self cleaning did a great job unless there is a cooked on coating on the bottom... I haven't poisoned anyone yet ;) Made the barley risotto tonight. Love that recipe!
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Hey Warren - bron (Amanda) is on the same (wrong) side of the world as you ;). I don't pull apart every time, but like Warren, it does sometimes get bits stuck - risottos, eggy things, that need a bit of a scrub.
PS Barley risotto is one of my favs - may be related to comfort food -mum used to make lots of soups with pearl barley.
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I wasn't home last night to see this, but my Wife said she tried chopping onions in the Thermomix to save a bit of time when she was making a chicken dish.
She said that she followed the directions in the Thermomix EDC (speed 7 for 5 seconds) and it ended up as mush.
Does anyone have the ideal speed and time to chop an onion and retain the texture (i.e: no mush)?
I also asked her whether she quartered the onions, she said she just halved them. Not sure if this makes a difference?
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That really annoys me Kent with those chopping times in recipe books. I do 2 sec/speed 5 and cut large onions in quarters. You can always add another second if the onions are not chopped enough but I like a bit of texture in mine.
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Unfortunately 7 sec at speed 5 is far too long for my liking as well. I quarter large onions and halve smaller ones before they go in. If I want a chunkier cut onion I use 1-2 sec at speed 5 , otherwise about 4-5 seconds at speed 5 gives a nice chop.the other inportant thing is to manually check after a second or two and scrape down the sides of the bowl. When you no longer hear the onion flying around in the bowl you pretty much know its done. Sometimes it's better to ignore the instructions in the EDC and go straight to the forum for advice especially with tweaks on certain recipes.
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Thanks for your responses, much appreciated. I'll give it a go next time :-)