I love to eat, but I’m not a great cook. With the exception of pasta and meat, preparing delicious dishes is not exactly my best quality. That’s why I was very curious to go to Berlin to see the Thermomix TM7, the new kitchen robot made by Vorwerk six years after the previous model. We’re talking about a device that is adored by men and women alike because it facilitates and speeds up any preparation and cooking. After all, the Thermomix TM6 has allowed the German company to have 8 million customers and revenues of 1.7 billion euros only in 2024. A huge success.
With such high expectations, I listened carefully to the story of the Vorwerk managers, who have chosen to revolutionise the robot by changing its design, shape, accessories and functionality. For those unfamiliar with the robot, it has all the functions of 20 small appliances.
One that does for winds
During the presentation videos and even more so in the subsequent hands-on session with the company’s technicians, I understood why so many people want this robot. It costs a lot because it does everything: steam cooking and high-temperature cooking, vacuum cooking and slow cooking, it flavours, browns, heats, prepares eggs and cereals to the desired doneness, makes candy and raises the dough, and ferments yoghurt and homemade cheese.
Finished? Not yet, because the Thermomix TM7 avoids inconvenient tasks such as weighing, chopping, grating, peeling, slicing, whipping, shredding, pulverising, mixing, blending, emulsifying, thickening, puréeing, and even kneading. I must say that I was impressed when I saw it at work, beyond the initial hesitation of the 10-inch multi-touch display, with which you can select recipes and follow the preparation of food step by step.
Cooking on 4 levels
Vorwerk’s idea was to create a food processor that balanced form, functionality and safety. For this reason, it broke with tradition by designing a machine with little in common with past models. Taking centre stage are the jug and the display on the base, both of which have been redesigned. The jug has new lines and is more stylish than in the past, while the base has a larger monitor (on the TM6, the display was 6.9 inches).
‘Looking at it carefully, the shape of the jug is reminiscent of a trophy’, commented Jan Delfs, head of global design at Vorwerk. He’s not wrong because to satisfy customer requests and transform Thermormix into an object that harmonises with home furnishings, the shapes are sinuous, while the volume remains at 2.2 litres. Just enough to prepare a meal for 4 people. In addition, the jug has an insulating coating to handle it safely and maintain the ideal temperature of the preparations, avoiding scalding.
Once again, there’s the colour because white has given way to black, the community’s favourite colour. The community is very large, and listening to the presentation seems to count for a lot in determining the company’s choices. Black is better than white also because it has allowed Vorwerk to increase the amount of recycled material used for the construction of Thermomix TM7 by up to 30%.
Thermomix TM7
The robot’s strong point is that it can prepare and cook on 4 levels, because the action of the knives positioned inside the bowl is supplemented by the accessories. These range from the mixing bowl, which is inserted into the mixing bowl, to the Varoma, the multi-layer container used for steaming, which now has a 45% larger volume than before.
To facilitate activities, there is also a spatula shaped like a Japanese Santoku knife and a butterfly whisk that is useful for whipping egg whites and cream. Overall, the Thermomix weighs 9.45 kg and is powered by a 500 W motor that is really quiet; tested in a muffled environment, up to speed level 4, it made no noise. This is anything but a given with kitchen robots.
Next step: first, AI Thermomix
An important new feature is Open Cooking, which allows you to cook at 100°C and add or taste the preparation. A way wanted by the community to experiment and customise recipes. There are over 100,000 available through Cookidoo, the subscription platform. As for the preparations, you can choose between guided or manual mode, with detailed instructions on ingredients, times and methods in the former case and greater freedom in the latter.
During the launch of Thermomix TM7, I asked the Vorwerk team if and how AI could expand the machine’s potential. At the moment, there are no features in this sense, but it seems that the company is working to integrate a kind of AI agent capable of facilitating dialogue between the robot and the person. Perhaps to be able to suggest a dish based on the food available or to list the possible recipes with a certain food.
We’ll have to wait a while before seeing the first Thermomix AI, but this summer, we’ll be able to monitor the robot remotely and use voice recognition to guide the machine with our voice, leaving us free to do other things.Having a kind of chef in your kitchen costs 1,599 euros. Is it a high, fair or low price? I don’t know, because there are less expensive alternatives. However, when I discovered the Thermomix TM7 I realised that having one at home helps speed up dinner preparation. And since the meatballs it cooked during my test were delicious, the new Vorwerk robot has earned my trust. Which it will have to consolidate when I test it.
