Stuff UK — June 2017

KITCHEN GADGETS

This slow cooker is a bit of a

Tardis. Smaller and lighter than

it looks in pictures, it’ll still hold a

family meal’s worth of meat and

veg – and cook them to tender,

unhurried perfection while you

go off and play Overwatch for

the whole afternoon.

Lift the pot off and you can

put it on the hob to pre-cook

any of your ingredients, before

adding the rest and letting it do

its long, slow thing.

All that’s on the front is a

single dial with four positions:

off, low, medium and high. That’s

it. The only thing it really changes

is how long it’ll take to cook, but

even on high you’re looking at

four hours at least for most

dishes. It might be simple, but

it’s definitely not quick.

There’s no timer so you’ll

have to keep an eye on the clock

yourself – but with cooking

times as long as these, you’re

not going to burn the place

down if you leave it a few

minutes longer than you meant

to. Even on the high setting our

meat and veg came out as

tender as you like – and there

was more than enough to go

round. Tuck in!

STUFF SAYS ++++,

Simple and slow but cooks up

a scrumptious meal

You could probably buy an old

ice-cream van for the same price

as Heston Blumenthal’s Smart

Scoop ice-cream maker – but

you’d need to pay the driver a

lot more than £350 to make the

stuff for you.

So, you’d best have a crack

at making frozen treats on

your own. You’ll be faced with

a tricky, hour-long preparation:

splitting eggs, heating things,

cooling things, stirring things,

watching things, transferring

things from bowl to pan and

back again.

With the Smart Scoop

pre-chilled, it’s time to pour in

the fruits of your labour. Simply

select whether you want to

make sorbet, frozen yoghurt,

gelato or ice cream.

Towards the end of the

process it’ll ping to let you

know to add mix-ins (chocolate

chips, fresh fruit or, if you’re

feeling particularly Blumenthal,

sausages) – and shortly

afterwards, once it’s churned

to perfection, it’ll play a melodic

ice-cream van jingle.

The one problem? You only

get a litre out of it, so it’s a good

job it tastes amazing.

STUFF SAYS +++++

Heston’s one-box dessert

factory is a real treat

MORPHY RICHARDS SEAR

AND STEW COMPACT

SAGE SMART SCOOP

ICE CREAM MAKER

£55 / morphyrichards.co.uk

£350 / sageappliances.co.uk

It’s big and expensive but the

‚ ermomix TM5 is the Captain

Planet of kitchen appliances. It’s

a set of scales, mixer, processor,

cooker, grinder and chopper all in

one, with recipes stored on a chip.

£964 / thermomix.vorwerk.co.uk

ALSO TRY...

THERMOMIX TM5

OVERCAST

Cooking to

music is all a bit

Jamie Oliver but

it’s the perfect

time for

catching up

on podcasts.

Overcast lets

you boost

voices and cut

out silences.

Waiting for the

chicken to cook

will never be

boring again.

£free / iOS

POCKET

WINE PAIRING

Don’t just grab

the fi rst bottle

of wine that’s

on off er in

Tesco. Tell this

app what you’re

eating and it’ll

pick out a nice

drop that will

complement it

perfectly. Now

you’re ready to

apply for Come

Dine With Me.

£free / iOS

PAPRIKA

A bit like Pocket

or Instapaper

for chefs,

Paprika lets you

save recipes

from the web

and draw up

shopping lists

of everything

you’ll need to

knock each one

up. No excuse

for beans on

toast now.

from £4.79 /

iOS, Android

APPS FOR DINNER

There’s a Keep
Cool mode that chills
your ice cream for up
to 3hrs. Or you could,
you know, keep it in
the freezer.