Free Guide for Thermomix · The Kit That Earns Its Place
Twenty-three years of trying everything, and this is what is still on my bench.
You do not need much. After twenty-three years of cooking with a Thermomix, the five things I reach for every single day are a silicone spatula that will not scratch the bowl, a brush that clears food from under the blades, a clear measuring cup you can leave in at any temperature, a board that lets you slide the machine with one hand, and a magnet on the fridge with the settings on it. Everything else has come and gone.
I have been cooking with a Thermomix since 2003. I was in high school, which tells you how long ago that was, and it also means I have had more than two decades of testing kitchen gadgets I did not need.
Here is the thing about running this business: I am constantly being shown the next best thing. There is forever a new accessory to sell you, a clever gadget promising to change your life. So when I look at what I actually use, day in and day out, it is telling that it is the same handful of things it has been for years.
Three of these five have been part of what we offer for over a decade. The machine has been upgraded several times over in that period. These have not needed to change, because they were right the first time.
Think back to why you bought the machine in the first place. To make cooking easier, and to get good food on the table without it eating your whole evening. That is the test I hold these to. When something is easier, you do it more often, and that means more real food on the table for the people you love.
1. The Thermo Spoon Spatula
If you buy one thing off this list, make it this one. Use it once and you will understand why every owner I know ends up slightly obsessed with it.
The reasoning is simple. Metal should never go near that bowl, because it scratches and the damage is permanent. Plastic will not scratch it, but I would rather not have plastic near our food when there is a better option. Wood is genuinely fine and will not scratch, but it cannot go in the dishwasher, and I am a lazy enough cook that this was never going to work for me. So I landed on silicone, which is the only one of the four that is safe in the bowl, safe around food, and safe in the dishwasher.
The Thermo Spoon Spatula is 100% food-grade silicone with no plastics and no BPA. The flat bottom and spoon curve are what get every last morsel out, right in around the blades where an ordinary spatula gives up. It is heat resistant to 260 degrees, so mine also lives on the stovetop, mixes my sourdough without anything sticking to it, and scrapes the last of the tomato paste out of the jar. You buy it for one machine and then use it everywhere.
"Alyce's spatula not only scrapes the last skerrick of food out of my Thermomix but also out of any bowl, saucepan, dish etc in my kitchen. Plus you can throw it in the dishwasher and it comes out looking new each time. It's a 'must have'." Leigh E
Meet the tool
If you only buy one thing off this list
Thermo Spoon Spatula
Food-grade silicone, heat resistant to 260 degrees, dishwasher safe. Suits the TM7, TM6, TM5 and TM31.
Shop now →2. The TM Blade Brush
Garlic custard, anyone? That is only half a joke. Food gets caught underneath the blades, it sits there through the rinse, and it turns up in whatever you cook next. If something has ever tasted faintly of last night's dinner, that is why.
The TM Blade Brush sorts it in about ten seconds. The handle length and the bristle size are designed specifically for getting in and around the blades, which is the whole point: a normal brush cannot reach. Whip the blades out of the bowl, a couple of quick swipes, done. It is also what I use on the lid locking inserts on the TM31 and the lid locking handles on the TM5 and TM6, which are the other two spots that quietly collect food.
It is dishwasher safe, so it goes straight into the cutlery basket afterwards, and it has been the same small, unglamorous, genuinely useful thing for over ten years.
"Nothing is as good at getting foodstuffs from underneath the blades than this mighty little brush. I purchase a few at a time periodically, and I even buy them for my daughter-in-law." Michelle
Clears food from under the blades in about ten seconds. Listed for the TM6, TM5 and TM31.
Shop now →3. The Clear MC
If you own a TM6, this one is not a nice-to-have. On a TM6 you are meant to sit the steaming basket on top of the lid when you cook at high temperatures, to stop anything spitting out at you. It is a safety instruction, so you cannot simply ignore it, but it is cumbersome and it leaves you washing a whole basket afterwards.
The Clear MC solves it completely, and the reason is mechanical rather than clever. It does not lock into the lid, so no pressure can build up behind it, which means it is safe to leave in at every speed and every temperature. No thinking required, no mental load, no working out what to do for each recipe.
It is not only for TM6 owners either. On a TM5 or a TM31 it is my everyday measuring cup. It is my favourite way to separate eggs, it is brilliant for green smoothies, and because it is clear you can watch mayonnaise emulsify without stopping the machine to look. Squeeze a lemon straight onto it and the juice runs down into the bowl while the pips stay behind.
Please note the Clear MC is not suitable for the TM7. If you are on a TM6 and you do not go the Clear MC, then go the Thermo Splash Cap, which does a similar job and fits the dishwasher even more neatly.
"It was so nice to not have to wash my simmering basket tonight. It's the best thing, no more simmering basket to clean, it's so simple to rinse and dry. I also love being able to see what's going on in my Thermomix through the clear MC." Janine
Safe at every speed and every temperature. Fits the TM6, TM5 and TM31, not the TM7.
Shop now →4. The Thermo Deluxe Slide Board
The real selling point is this: you can move the machine around the bench with one hand, without lifting it and without tilting it, and protect your scales while you are at it.
Lifting and tilting is a pain. The machine is heavy, and for plenty of people it is not merely awkward, it is genuinely not possible. With the Thermo Deluxe Slide Board you just push or pull and it glides. Unlike some other boards on the market there is no tilting required. Slide it back while you are prepping, pull it forward when you are ready to cook.
TM7 owners, I know your machine has its own slide function. I have used it, and honestly I find it awkward and heavy. In my opinion it is not a single-handed job, it needs two hands, which makes it far less user-friendly when you are quickly whipping something up. Filled with hot soup, I find it quite diabolical to move around the bench. My own TM7 lives on a slide board. I will happily admit the board was not size-optimised for the TM7, but it still does a perfect job.
It is also not just for this machine. I have one under my slow cooker and one under my coffee machine. Any appliance on your bench becomes mobile. It is FSC certified European Beech, in Light Beech or Stained Ash, and if you want a cheaper alternative that does a similar job, have a look at our Appliance Mat.
"I couldn't be more pleased, this gives me so much more room to move on the work surface, plus with rheumatoid arthritis it saves a lot of grief." Jean
Move the machine with one hand, no lifting and no tilting. Suits the TM7, TM6, TM5 and TM31.
Shop now →5. The Functions Guide magnet
I always say this: do not expect the machine to do everything. There will always be recipes you keep making the way you always have. But it can help with everything, and that is a different claim.
Friday night pizza on a bought base is a guilty pleasure for a reason, and your Thermomix is not doing much there, but it can grate the cheese for the top. Making your mum's chocolate cake from the recipe card she has always used? Use it to turn your white sugar into caster sugar. The family curry you have always cooked on the stovetop? Let it chop the onion, garlic and ginger.
The catch is that those quick little jobs need the right settings. Take onions. You might think you just chuck them in and hit a speed. In my humble opinion, chopping onion above speed five forces the juice out and you end up with that awful raw onion flavour. My rule is never above speed five. Five seconds, speed five, perfect every time.
Those are things I have spent twenty-three years learning, and there is no reason you should have to. The Functions Guide for Thermomix Machines is an A5 magnet for the fridge with all those quick tasks on it. The back carries measurement conversions, cups to grams, which matters more than it sounds: once you start cooking this way you weigh everything in grams, but your grandmother's cake recipe is written in cups. The conversion depends on what you are measuring, since a cup of flour weighs very differently to a cup of oil, so they are all on there.
"I refer to this guide first when chartering unfamiliar territory or how-tos that slip my mind. So handy for a quick reference and saves time flipping through a book or manual mid-cook. Highly recommended." Sonia
Functions Guide for Thermomix Machines
A5 fridge magnet with the quick-job settings, and cups to grams conversions on the back.
Shop now →Watch
The kit, in use, in a real kitchen
A few short clips of the accessories for Thermomix that get used here every day.
Questions I get asked about this
What accessories do I actually need for my Thermomix?
Far fewer than you are told. A silicone spatula, a blade brush, and something to move the machine with will cover almost everything. The Clear MC matters most if you own a TM6, and the Functions Guide magnet is for anyone still learning the settings.
If I only buy one thing, which should it be?
The Thermo Spoon Spatula, without hesitation. It is the one that gets used every single time the machine comes out.
Do these fit the TM7?
The Thermo Spoon Spatula and the Thermo Deluxe Slide Board both suit the TM7. The Clear MC does not fit the TM7. The TM Blade Brush is currently listed for the TM6, TM5 and TM31.
Why does my food taste like the last thing I cooked?
Food caught underneath the blades. A rinse does not reach it. Lift the blades out and clear underneath them with a brush shaped for the job.
Is it worth buying accessories at all, or is the machine enough on its own?
A machine gathering dust on the bench is worth nothing. The things on this list exist because they remove the small frictions that stop you using it, and when something is easier you do it more often.
Nothing flashy, nothing destined for the back of the cupboard
Just the handful of things that have earned their spot next to my machine, year after year. Here is to less waste, less lifting, and a whole lot more delicious home cooking.
