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Friday, March 16, 2012

Road Testing the Bellini Intelli Kitchen Master - Day 1, Part 1

I bet you are all excited to hear my reviews of the Intelli Kitchen Master??  Well when I got home last night and unpacked and washed it, Mr D and I decided to cook something easy... Mashed Potato followed by Strawberry and Chocolate Smoothy!  So here's how it went....

PS. ... Don't forget to read Part 2 of this post which features the strawberry and chocolate smoothy!

The unpacked box above

So after giving the parts a quick wash in some mild soapy water, we were ready to start the potatoes.  I googled a recipe for Thermomix and found this youtube clip which I found helpful http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qV0TMDB4j8.   BTW there is NOT a recipe for mash potato in the recipe book provided with the Bellini mixer!

I used the theory from the Youtube clip:  weight of potatoes divided by 2, minus 10% = Mills of milk to use.....it was just OKAY and it made a creamy mash (think KFC tubs of potato and gravy)! BUT I think next time I will use less milk.  I also found that because I used really waxy potatoes it wasn't the light and fluffy  texture I'd hoped for (see photos below)... next time I'll try some floury potatoes instead.  Remember you can ALWAYS add more milk when you are blending the potatoes after they are cooked (so best not to add to much milk at the beginning)!

So next time I'm going to try this: Weight of potatoes x 20% = Milk needed (so what I'm really saying is milk should equal 20% of the total weight of the potatoes.  EG. 500g potatoes x 20% = 100mls of milk

PLEASE remember that I am only still learning so please try out my theories and give me feedback - I will update my potato recipe as I perfect it! :)

So after preparing the potatoes and milk, I attached the butterfly to the blades and added the potatoes, milk and a good pinch of salt.  I set the dial to 18 mins on 130 degrees, speed 2, put on the lid and pressed start.


I decided to check how it was all going and at around 8 minutes I pressed the start/stop button to pause the machine and I opened the lid.  At this stage, something told me (kitchen intuition?) that I had set the temperature too hot, so I turned it down to about 80d and continued on for another 8 minutes.  After this time, I removed the butterfly and proceeded to whiz it for about 5 seconds on speed 4... and voila!



HOWEVER......... I was HORRIFED to notice that when Mr D was pouring out the potato that I had burnt the potato to the bottom of the bowl :( :( :(  see, I knew I had the temperature up too high!  Never the less, the potato still tasted good!

SO, next time, I will set the temperature to 80d.  Surprisingly the bowl cleaned up to new, after a bit of a soak and a light scrub (thank god!  I thought I'd ruined it!)



See Part 2 for my smoothy creation!

27 comments:

  1. Thanks for taking the time to review the product! If you can, I'd be interested in how it does with a basic bread recipe. Thanks again!

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  2. thanks for sharing,,its all learning,,l've got one on raincheck @ target,so l'll be following ur trails with great interest.

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  3. we are having the same issue with burnt spots in the exact same location as you got. never had this occur with my thermomix. will be interesting to see if others find the same problem

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    1. what happened to your thermomix?

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    2. I made some custard and had the same burnt spots also.

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    3. If you have a Thermomix why would you buy a Bellini?

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  4. Intersting! thanks for showing us your reviews :)
    I have one on hold for 24hrs coz im not convinced yet!
    is that last pic of the cleaned bowl coz it doesnt look like the burnt bits lifted that well??

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  5. Try streaming the potatoes in the basket next time then blitzing with the butter and milk in the bowl once cooked, I've found with thermomix it's the over mixing that makes them gluggy.

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  6. Thanks ever so. I am watching with interest. Was going to try it out tonight but didn't get a chance between ferrying the kids to various Friday night happenings. I have been gagging to use it since I got it on Thursday! Have some fruit in the freezer and will be trying a sorbet over the weekend. Good luck with your creations, looking forward to more updates :)

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  7. I'm reading your reviews with great interest. I too have one on raincheck. I'm interested to know if the Bellini can do a few TM tricks like blitzing brown sugar for few seconds to get white icing sugar, peeling and chopping garlic and grating parmesan cheese. Let us know how you go

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    1. I bought the Bellini on Thurs. and one for two friends.
      It does turn sugar into icing sugar and make sorbet and crush ice. It does not go backwards so I'm not sure about peeling garlic. It did cook rice perfectly though.
      HOWEVER, mine worked fine for one day and I have already had to return it and am waiting for a replacement. My friends however are running fine with theirs. All of a sudden the blade did not want to turn. I am going to give another one a go.

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  8. Ive been testing out mine too, but havent used it for cooking yet...thanks for the tip about having it on tooo high will keep it in mind :)

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  9. I agree thank you for being the first (that i can find) reviewer. I too have one on layby at my local target. So i will be following your blog with great interest.

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  10. Hi does anyone know if you can mill or grind like you can on the top speed like with the TMX and the thermochef eg for almond meal, rice flour , or for castor sugar ...THANKS!!

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  11. IS IT POSSIBLE TO MILL OR GRIND ??

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    1. Yes it is possible to grind like the Thermomix - just put on the highest speed. I will make a post about this later in the week

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  12. Hi

    I bought my Bellini last Thursday and was going away Friday so just made a banana smoothie and a hot chocolate on Thursday night. They worked out fine. Made some choux pastry today and that turned out very well although I did find the bowl/blades very tricky to clean afterwards. Are there any thermomix users out there who have made choux pastry in their thermomix? I'm figuring maybe because it's a really sticky dough it might also be difficult to clean from a thermomix. Thank you to all those contributing because it really will help everyone. I too have looked at thermomix but could not justify spending that much money. I have to say that already I don't like that you can't see into the bowl very easily. I made my choux pastry in the Bellini today and then was too scared to whip my cream in it in case I overdid it. I used my old food processor for that. But, once I have experimented and documented how long to whip for and what speed etc., that might change.

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  13. Paula i have a thermomix and have made choux pastry, i usually put soapy water in my thermomix and whizz it up to get most of it off, then i take it apart and use a scrubbing brush, dose the bottom of the bellini come off and the blades come out?
    I'm interested in the reviews, sometimes 2 machines would be handy when i'm having a cooking day.
    In the thermomix If you put the butterfly in the bowl with the potatoes at the end and turn it on for a minute it will make the potatoes light and fluffy.
    Starchy foods sometimes stick and make the bottom of the bowl brown in the thermomix.

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    1. Agreed - this is how I clean the Bellini too, put in a bit of warm soapy water and whizz for a few seconds to release the food. Then I take out the blades and give it a quick wash :)

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  14. Hi Sarina

    thanks for that. I made a bolognese sauce yesterday and it was almost a disaster. I put the butterfly in before I sauteed the onions and it started to burn when I put the oil in and began to cook them. I panicked. It burnt the bottom of the bowl in two places. I removed the food, cleaned it and managed to put the food back in (no burn smell), took out the butterfly and then only returned it after I had put the meat and the other ingredients in. It did not burn at all. The sauce was a little on the thin side as the blades continue to break up the mince during cooking. My son liked it but I'm not sure it would be good for adults as it was a little 'blended'. The cooking process worked fine though. Just going to try some mashed potato now!

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  15. To clean the jug, do it immediately before food has time to dry out and stick. (I fill the jug with warm water and use a kitchen brush to get off some of the food first, tip out dirty water) Cover the blades with warm water, add a couple of drops dish detergent. Wizz on 10 for 10 seconds, stop do 10 secs a second time. Tip out the soapy water, rinse, then use a kitchen brush and warm water to remove any leftover food. Rinse and dry. If need be remove the blade and clean thoroughly. If it "catches" on the bottom, soak for an hour then use green Scotch-brite to assist in removing the browned bits.

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  16. FYI: Temperature Info: The Thermomix has temperatures 37C to 100 and the Varoma setting for use with the steamer cooks at 120C. Thermo Chef has temerature settings 37C to 100C and the Cook setting (equivalent to the TM Varoma setting) is 110C. The Bellini goes up to 130C. This may be why some people are having problems with burning on the base of jug. I have spoken to the people at Bellini, they are aware of the burning issue. If you have this problem contact Bellini on 1300 373 199, they have an upgraded version coming out in 6 - 8 weeks and if you leave your details with them they will arrange an exchange (ok to use in the interim), they will contact you when the new machines are availble and arrange a courier to deliver the new machine and pick up the old one.

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    1. Thank you for letting me know about this! I will be sure to contact Bellini and make sure I can get the upgraded version and hopefully this will solve the problem of the burning base! Have you been using the Bellini - or do you have a TM?

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  17. I am really worried about getting a replacement after reading the latest recipe book on line for Bellini. It says:

    Note: When using the appliance in conjunction with heating function please be aware that recipes containing ingredients with high sugar or dairy contents may leave a thin film of caramelised deposit ( Brown staining ) on the bottom of the bowl during the cooking process “ This can easily be removed after the use of the appliance by adding equal amounts ( approx . 300ml ) of white
    vinegar & water , heating bowl and allowing it to steam for a few minutes , turn the appliance Off and allow mixture to sit overnight , dispose of mixture in the morning and immediately rub with a fine scouring pad and rinse bowl afterwards.

    What do you think?

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  18. Has anyone made risotto in the bellini? I find the recipe book very limited.

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  19. There is a new blog which has recipes for the Bellini and the Maxi SuperChef (they work on both). http://themanagingmum.blogspot.com.au/

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