At a glance
Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Reasonable price
- Almost all Thermomix functions available
- Large screen
Cons
- Fewer recipes than Thermomix
- Mixing bowl must be manually attached and is fiddly
- Uses more power than Thermomix for most functions
Our Verdict
The Silvercrest Monsieur Cuisine Smart is a well made dupe of the Thermomix TM6 – at a fraction of the price. Of course, Vorwerk offers many more recipes with the TM6 and there are other advantages in processing and operation. Still, the Silvercrest Monsieur Cuisine Smart offers an affordable alternative.
If you want a Thermomix but you don’t want to spend quite that much, there are options. You could go for the Tokit Omni Cook (find out more in our review) or opt for the Silvercrest Monsieur Cuisine Smart. It has caused a storm in Germany, where Lidl is selling it as a rival to Vorwerk’s phenomenal kitchen assistant, the Thermomix TM6 (which we’ve also reviewed).
When buying, make sure you are getting the current model that’s from 2022 or newer. The Monsieur Cuisine Connect is the predecessor of the current model, the Monsieur Cuisine Smart. Be sure to buy the new model, as only it offers the new functions.
The Silvercrest appliance not only looks very similar – including controls, monitors, design and size – but its operation and handling are almost identical to the top dog TM6.
However, the basic appliance is slightly larger (31cm x 37.5cm x 49.5cm) than the Thermomix TM6 (32.6cm x 32.6cm x 34.1cm). The Monsieur Cuisine therefore takes up a little more space on the worktop.
Similar functions, but more budget-friendly
The functions of the Monsieur Cuisine Smart are very similar to those of the Thermomix TM6:
- Cooking
- Sautéing
- Steam cooking
- Kneading
- Mixing
- Stirring
- Chopping
- Grinding
- Pureeing
- Emulsifying
- Weighing
The appliance offers a large number of recipes with step-by-step guided cooking.
Brighter display, but fewer recipes than Thermomix
The Silvercrest Monsieur Cuisine has an 8-inch display. The current Thermomix TM6, by the way, only has a 6.8-inch monitor.
In the opinion of many users, the display of the Silvercrest appliance appears much brighter, more colourful and more modern than that of Thermomix. The Monsieur Cuisine can cook, stir, cut, simmer, fry, weigh and offers guided cooking to take you through numerous recipes. It can also be connected to the internet via WLAN.
The number of recipes is constantly growing. There are currently over 3,370 (official) recipes to follow. Thermomix, on the other hand, has a massive 90,000 (official) recipes. That’s the real strength of the Thermomix appliance. Still, you could use Thermomix recipes with Monsieur Cuisine. Since there are many free recipes for the Thermomix on the Internet, this is appealing.
But Thermomix has a whole team working on new recipes, whereas Monsieur Cuisine’s recipes are mostly “open source”, ie from users. So, you might find that recipes vary in quality.
Thomas Joos
The paid Cookidoo subscription costs £40/€48 per year with Thermomix and is actually almost indispensable in order to use the Thermomix comprehensively. The subscription is not compulsory, but without Cookidoo many functions, online access to recipes and many other things that distinguish the Thermomix from other appliances are missing. The recipes at Moniseur Cuisine, on the other hand, are free. In addition, Monsieur Cuisine users can create their own recipes and upload them to the portal.
The Monsieur Cuisine vs Thermomix
Monsieur Cuisine is a 1,050W appliance and it reaches a temperature of 130°C for frying and boiling. The Thermomix TM6, on the other hand, manages up to 160°C with 1,000W, so it needs less power to reach higher temperatures. The higher temperatures naturally result in better roasting flavours. However, most users hardly notice this in everyday life.
The motor of the Monsieur Cuisine reaches 5,500 revolutions per minute with about 1,000 watts. The TM6, on the other hand, needs only 500 watts for up to 10,700 (!) revolutions per minute. The Vorwerk appliance can therefore chop more than twice as much. Tough ingredients can be ground more easily. However, this doesn’t usually make a big difference, at least not for hobby cooks. You can achieve the same grinding level with the Monsineur Cuisine if you let it run twice as long. Of course, this increases the power consumption.
The mixing bowl of the Monsieur Cuisine is 4.5 litres, while the TM6 has 2.2 litres. However, you should not fill it with more than 3 litres of food, which is also the limit of the scale in the pot. The Vorwerk’s automatic, electric clamps make it easier to operate the lid and it is easier to settle the pot on the base than with the Silvercrest.
The operation of the appliances via the touch display is very similar, but the structure and appearance of the menus is much more modern on the newer Silvercrest model, however its software often crashes. However, Silvercrest is constantly working on updates.
Using the Monsieur Cuisine
Setting up the Monsieur Cuisine Smart is very easy. First, take the appliance out of the box. Inside, you’ll find a stainless steel mixing bowl, the cooking insert, the lid with an opening for adding ingredients during the cooking process, the stirring attachment, the spatula and two steam cooking attachments (deep and shallow) with lids, as well as an instruction manual. Also included is a 100ml measuring cup. This also serves as a plug for the opening in the lid.
The accessories are very similar to those of the Thermomix TM6. When whipping cream or performing other actions that cause it to splash out of the opening, Silvercrest and Lidl recommend that users place the cooking insert on the lid. This allows steam to pass through but prevents liquid from splashing out.
Switch on the kitchen appliance using the switch on the right-hand side and first select the language in which you want to use the appliance. Available languages include English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Romanian and Czech.
After selecting the language, select the country in which you want to use Monsieur Cuisine. For the start-up, you need to be connected to a WLAN, just like with the Thermomix. A wizard guides you through the set-up process, which is easy to use thanks to the large and bright display.
Of course, you can also use Monsieur Cuisine without a Wi-Fi connection. In this case, you can switch off the Wi-Fi completely during set-up. However, this is not recommended because of the limited usage options. The appliance receives updates and new recipes via the online connection.
Thomas Joos
Using the Monsieur Cuisine App on your smartphone
Just like Thermomix, Monsieur Cuisine also has a free smartphone app for Android and iOS where you can manage your recipes. The recipes you link to your account are of course also available on Monsieur Cuisine. When you first set up your Monsieur Cuisine appliance, you still need to link it to the app. To do this, you need to display a QR code on the kitchen appliance and take a photo of it with the app. You create the QR code via the hamburger menu at the top right and selecting “Settings -> Connections”.
Once you have photographed the QR code on the Monsieur Cuisine display with your smartphone in the Monsieur Cuisine app, select “Connect device”. After the successful connection, you can conveniently manage your recipes in the app and use them on the kitchen appliance. As with the Cookidoo app on the Thermomix, you can also create a shopping list with the Monsieur Cuisine app.
Verdict
While there are some compromises to be made, the Monsieur Cuisine is an excellent kitchen companion and represents great value for money. If your budget can’t stretch to the Thermomix, we would highly recommend it.
Read our reviews of the Tokit Omni Cook and the Thermomix TM6 to help you to decide.
