It has become an integral part of millions of kitchens: the Thermomix.
The versatile, intelligent cooking appliance now has a huge fan base. The price of the device is similarly huge: the current version costs 1369 euros. No wonder there are plenty of copies of the concept out there. One of them comes from China, has been successfully on the market there for a long time and is now also being delivered to Germany. BILD has tried the 899 euro Omni Cook from Tokit and reveals whether he has what it takes to be a chef.
Thermomix vs. Omni Cook: Comparable equipment
The technical data of the excellently crafted device are, as is usual with Chinese copies, very close to those of the original: Both devices have a bowl that holds 2.2 liters, a 500 watt motor, a gram-accurate scale, a 7-inch screen and WLAN radio for remote control or updates. While the Thermomix delivers temperatures between 35 and 160 degrees, the Omni Cook reaches up to 180 degrees – but this higher temperature hardly helps with cooking, frying and baking in everyday life.
Manufacturer Tokit advertises the Omni Cook with up to 21 different functions, some of them for exotic uses such as fermenting, making yoghurt or mixing soy milk. In everyday kitchen life, however, the strengths of the Omni Cook are more in classic cooking, kneading and mixing. The device is also suitable for steaming, juicing and sous vide cooking.
Stainless steel pot, plastic housing and display are high quality and superbly processed. However, the difficult-to-clean holder for the pot with its many corners and edges causes problems in everyday life
Only partially suitable for beginners
The control via the large display works perfectly. However, the recipes that the Omni Cook also offers for atomized cooking are not so convincing. There are many Asian dishes in the collection, some of the ingredients listed are not available in Germany or are only available in specialist shops.
The translation of the surface was also only reasonably successful. For example, it is irritating that recipes are shown in English despite the German language setting. The device also occasionally cannot access its online recipe database – then the internet connection simply does not work for some inexplicable reason.
On the other hand, the cleaning routine is excellently implemented. Filled with a little water and washing-up liquid, the Omni Cook ensures that at the end you only have to wipe the pan and dry it.
The operation works very well at all times via the touchscreen and the large rotary wheel. Unfortunately, this does not change the fact that for the time being only menu items and not the recipes are available in German
Buy? Or save on the original?
Like the Thermomix, the Omni Cook is certainly not suitable for every kitchen. It is a great help for soups, risottos, stews and the like. In terms of functions and workmanship, the device achieved the quality of the Thermomix in our several-week test. Operation, recipes and software still show significant weaknesses.
Whether the price difference of over 400 euros here is really a saving depends heavily on the buyer’s budget and the cooking and English skills of the buyer. Beginners who don’t speak English should prefer the Thermomix (or other alternatives than the Omni Cook). English-speaking kitchen professionals can also achieve very good results with the Chinese cook helper.
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