Tokit Omni Cook Review: Smart Kitchen Assistant

The Omni Prepare dinner is a rival to the favored Thermomix. It was developed by Chunmi Expertise, a model inside the Xiaomi ecosystem.

You may see what we considered the Thermomix by checking out our review, however the Omni Prepare dinner – whereas nonetheless expensive – is a little more budget-friendly. Not solely will your preliminary outlay be decrease (the Thermomix prices £1,149/ $1,499) however whilst you’ll must subscribe to entry Thermomix’s library of recipes, these from Omni Prepare dinner are totally free – though there are fewer of them and there’s no approach to obtain and entry them offline.

The Omni Prepare dinner’s design and construct

• 6.8 inch color touchscreen
• Stainless-steel jug
• Heavy, cumbersome equipment

The Omni Prepare dinner is a plug-in good equipment, with a white encompass, black moulded plastic floor and chrome steel trim. It’s chunky, concerning the dimension of a bread maker (35 x 22 x 20cm /14 x 9 x 8in with out its jug), so that you’ll want loads of house to make use of it.

It’s additionally fairly heavy at 19.4lb/ 8.8kg, so it’s not excellent to maintain in a excessive cabinet. Actually, to take advantage of it, it is best to discover a everlasting spot for it in your countertop, so it’s useful for any jobs you may have across the kitchen.

Inset into its base is a full-colour, 6.8 inch touchscreen. In contrast to the Thermomix, the Omni Prepare dinner’s display screen is portrait type.

Subsequent to it’s a massive (2.2 litre), top quality chrome steel jug with blender blades. You will be utilizing this for every little thing from steaming to weighing. The jug clicks into place on theOmni Prepare dinner and there is a launch button to free it, so it is safe throughout use. 

There’s a cable tidy on the again, which is a pleasant contact, and the equipment sits on 4 suction cups in order that it received’t skate when it’s mixing.

In addition to the jug, the Omni Prepare dinner comes with numerous sturdy equipment: a steam basket, a silicone scraper, a set of measuring spoons and a whisk. There’s additionally a detachable measuring cup that sits within the centre of the jug lid.

The blades on the base of the jug might be eliminated – however the jug can solely be used with out them should you purchase the sluggish cook dinner plug (£35 from Tokit), which lets you fill the ensuing aperture.

There are extra equipment obtainable from Tokit, together with a full steamer set, in addition to replacements for the bits that include the equipment.

What does the Tokit Omni Prepare dinner do?

• Multifunctional: weighing, steaming, mixing & extra
• Entry to 1,000 recipes
• Step-by-step directions 

The Omni Prepare dinner has loads of performance. It may weigh elements, knead, mince, chop, grind and juice, steam, stew, sous-vide and make yoghurt. The place applicable, you possibly can then specify size of time, temperature and blender pace.

There’s even a setting to wash the jug after use, a lot in the identical approach you’ll a blender jug.

You should utilize the Omni Prepare dinner in one in every of two methods. Both you should utilize its features individually – as a scale, a steamer or a blender – as you want them, or you possibly can choose to observe one of many 1,000 recipes optimised for the equipment.

In case you resolve on a recipe, the Omni Prepare dinner will information you thru it step-by-step.

Setup

It’s easy to arrange out of the field. When you’ve washed the equipment and clicked the jug into place within the Omni Prepare dinner’s base, you simply want to modify it on and observe the on-screen directions so it may possibly be part of your property Wi-Fi.

It related immediately in our take a look at however it is best to be aware that you just’ll want an honest Wi-Fi connection in your kitchen to make it work – it’s not one thing you possibly can transfer nearer your hub.

Recipes

You want the related performance so as entry the database of recipes. You may browse by programs (essential course, appetiser, dessert) or different cooking choices (beverage, baking, sauce or sous-vide).

Go for essential programs and there’s a sub menu of recipes – meat, fish, vegan, pizza and extra. There’s an important number of every, though we did be aware a number of suspiciously tacky “vegan” recipes.

As you may think, given the Omni Prepare dinner’s nation of origin, there are many historically Chinese language dishes reminiscent of congee, however loads extra worldwide choices.

To get a flavour of what’s on supply, you possibly can see a selection of recipes within the recipe part of the Tokit website.

The Omni Prepare dinner’s efficiency

• Nice baking assistant
• Cuts down on washing-up
• Much less good at sautéing

I began off by selecting a banana cake recipe. All of the instruments and elements you’ll want are listed. From then on, it’s a case of following the step-by-step onscreen prompts. You swipe ahead on the touchscreen to get to the subsequent instruction however should you suppose you’ve missed one thing, you possibly can swipe again to double verify.

What’s revolutionary is that you are able to do every little thing – besides really baking the cake – on the Omni Prepare dinner itself, in a single jug, with out having to clean something up as you go. It weighs the elements as you add them, melts the butter and mixes the batter when it’s full.

I adopted the directions to the letter, the cake got here out completely and as a substitute of winding up with a flour-bombed nightmare kitchen, I solely had the Omni Prepare dinner jug and a cake tin to wash. And I used the automated setting to wash the jug.

It made baking a lot faster and cleaner – and it could be simple to adapt the recipe to make your favorite cake or cookies and nonetheless use the step-by-step directions.

The steaming basket is equally simple to make use of (add water, set a timer) and I adopted a recipe for devilled eggs that was equally profitable, steaming the eggs as a substitute of boiling them.

Nevertheless, the Omni Prepare dinner does have a number of limitations. It may sauté, nevertheless it’s not a patch on doing it in a pan. The security settings imply that it’s important to maintain the lid on everytime you’re utilizing it, though you possibly can take away the inset measuring cup. So you possibly can’t stir the frying meals your self, though it would gently flip the elements utilizing the blender blades.

The blades additionally imply that elements can get caught beneath and are a ache to take away – except you additionally shell out for the plug and take away the blades.

Lastly, if you wish to mix elements after cooking, you’ll in all probability need to let the equipment cool for a number of minutes between levels. I attempted cooking a stew and needed to cease mid-way by for a cool-down interval earlier than I might use one other operate.

Worth and availability

The Omni Prepare dinner is offered globally from the Tokit web site. If you’re in the US, it prices $899. UK buyers can get it for £768.

This makes it a way more budget-friendly purchase than the Thermomix, which has roughly the identical performance however prices £1,149 in the UK and $1,499 in the US. There’s additionally no want for a paid recipe subscription should you go for the Omni Prepare dinner.

Verdict

The Omni Prepare dinner makes multi-step recipe preparation very simple and it’s extremely satisfying to cook dinner one thing sophisticated and wind up with solely a single jug to clean up. 

It is a expensive equipment however should you bake typically, it might be price it because it’ll reduce down your prep and clean-up time considerably. It is also a severe various to purchasing a single operate equipment reminiscent of a sous-vide or steamer – the Omni Prepare dinner can do this and far more.

There are some things that it may possibly’t do as nicely, reminiscent of frying, however should you even have an air fryer, you can make most recipes with out even taking a look at your oven or hob, which might be excellent news for power payments. 

And for individuals who wish to study to cook dinner, the Omni Prepare dinner would make a wonderful tutor: you are able to do every little thing from boiling an egg to baking a cake to creating a shepherd’s pie or sous-vide steak, with minimal problem.