The Tefal Cuisine Companion is designed to replace an array of appliances in the kitchen. How does it do this? It comes with a range of attachments including a stirrer, dough hook, whisk, blade and a steaming basket. All the while being able to cook whilst using either manual settings or pre-programmed settings on the machine.
Furthermore, you also get a recipe book which has over 1 million menu combinations as well as being packed full of recipes you can use with he programs on the Cuisine Companion. I put it through its paces by trying a variety of recipes that require different cooking methods.
Custard recipe
So, I wanted to test a few recipes with the machine, so I started with my favourite dessert which is custard - using the whisk attachment and the dessert program. To start with, if you need to whisk ingredients together, you can manually set the speed, time and temperature to do this. What's also great, you can remove the stopper from the lid to add more ingredients whilst the machine is mixing (if you need to).
Next, I use the Cuisine Companions dessert program to mix all of the ingredients together up to a specific temperature ,for 15 minutes. With custard, you need to make sure you're continuously stirring it whilst keeping a close eye on the temperature so the eggs don't scramble. So the Cuisine Companion is perfect for this because it does all of the hard work for you whilst maintaining a specific temperature.
Bolognese recipe
The next recipe I wanted to test was bolognese. Here I use the Ultrablade attachment to chop up all the onions and garlic. Using the machine at a high speed, it does a pretty thorough job at chopping up the vegetables. You can also use the Tefal Cuisine Companion to fry foods as well - by replacing the Ultrablade with the mixer attachment, adding oil into the bowl, then using the 'simmer' setting which will leave the machine to fry the ingredients at a high heat whilst continuously stirring.
To finish off the bolognese, I add the rest of the ingredients including the red meat. Whilst keeping the mixer attachment in, you can then use the simmer setting again on a lower heat, but for a longer time, which will slowly cook the ingredients at a simmering point whilst stirring occasionally.
What's great, is once the cooking time is up, the machine will keep your food at a low heat until served.
Risotto recipe
And lastly, I wanted to test a recipe a lot of us may be afraid to make - and that's risotto. Here, I use a lot of the same programs I have before, but I'm curious to see if the timings on the programs are just right in order to cook the rice perfectly.
This risotto and directions are from the recipe book that come with the Cuisine Companion. After following the programs and adding the ingredients when specified, the machine did a pretty good job at cooking the rice just how I like it.
In conclusion
So to summarise, if you're thinking of buying a Tefal Cuisine Companion, I'd certainly position it as an investment purchase. Whilst it may be at the higher end of the price range for a kitchen appliance, it's certainly worth remembering it can probably replace 7-8 appliances in your kitchen. And that can lead to a lot of space-saving and a lot less clean-up, especially as most of the parts are dishwasher-safe.
Finally, especially if you're a busy person and time is usually of the essence, the Tefal Cuisine Companion is perfect for simplifying meal preparation and making it quick and fuss-free.
Watch my Tefal Cusine Companion Review below.
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