Thermomix Tips

It seems everyone you speak to has some kind of handy hints and ideas that you haven't yet come across, or that you didn't pick up at your demo, so I thought that every so often I would share 10 tips for getting more out of your Thermomix.

Would love you to comment or leave a post on my Nat's Thermomixen in the Kitchen facebook page if you have some more.

• Spatula
this is to be used clockwise to avoid nicks. If you are left handed, purchase an inexpensive spatula for removing food from the bottom of the bowl.
• Cracking eggs
don't crack your eggs on the side of the bowl, as the eggwhite can run down the side and cook onto the bowl making it difficult to clean
• Getting food out from under the blades
to get more food out than your spatula can reach, flick the speed up to 10 or press Turbo to flick out the last little bits of food to the side of the bowl, then scrape out again
• Condensing liquid
when making jams or casseroles you can put your steaming basket on top of the lid to allow extra steam to escape but stop food from splattering out the top
• Peeling garlic here is a link to how to peel garlic in your Thermomix
• Weighing
you can weigh things part way through cooking. Say for example you are cooking your pasta sauce and forgot to pre-weigh your pasta. Simply turn the dial to the closed lid position, press the scales and weigh your items, then turn the dial back to the speed you were previously on, and Thermomix will remember the temperature and time remaining and resume cooking from there...genius!
• Varoma - the Varoma is FANTASTIC for reheating food, better than your microwave as it doesn't toughen the food as it reheats. Simply put your liquid in the bowl and set the time and varoma temp, put your bowl of food to be reheated inside the varoma tray and there you have it. I will quite often cook my rice and at the same time am reheating some kind of meat sauce in the varoma.
• Varoma - this can be used to sterilise baby bottles, dummys, toys etc.
• Varoma - I sometimes use this to heat my plates or my Thermoserver before use - when the Varoma is going I place my Thermoserver metal bowl on top of the Varoma lid and this takes the chill off the Thermoserver. If I'm not using this, I put 2 dinner plates on top and they are nice and warm ready to plate up. 

What can you add to the list?