Is It Worth Having Two Thermomix? My 22-Year Cooking Journey

I’ve been using Thermomix in Ireland for over 22 years, through very different chapters of my life. I started cooking for myself, later spent 11 years as a Thermomix advisor, and today I’m cooking for a family. I’m no longer an advisor, but my love for the machine and for practical, enjoyable cooking hasn’t changed.

One question I’m often asked is whether using two Thermomix machines is really worth it. This blog shares my honest experience of cooking with two Thermomix machines, how it started, and why it has made such a difference to my daily life in the kitchen. This blog is for anyone who already owns a Thermomix or is considering a second machine and wants a realistic, pressure-free perspective.

My mum recently got her TM7 and it is now next to her TM6 black edition

Why I Started Using Two Thermomix Machines

Cooking with One Thermomix at the Beginning

When I first started using Thermomix, one machine was more than enough. Like most people, I cooked step by step. Finish one recipe, wash the bowl, start the next. It worked well, and for a long time, I didn’t question it.

When you’re new to anything, there’s always a learning curve, and Thermomix is no different. Using one machine and following the guided recipes on Cookidoo is, in my opinion, the easiest and most supportive way to begin. Everything is laid out for you, step by step, so you can build confidence without feeling rushed or overwhelmed.

If you’re new to Thermomix, I’ve written a separate blog on getting started and building confidence with your first recipes, which you might find helpful.

As time goes on, most people naturally start to explore a bit more. You might adapt a recipe to suit your taste, adjust seasoning, swap ingredients, or change quantities. Some people feel comfortable doing that quite quickly, while others prefer to stick closely to the recipes for longer, and both approaches are absolutely fine.

If you’re more adventurous and confident in the kitchen, you may even start creating your own recipes using Thermomix. It’s not as complicated as it sounds, especially once you understand how the machine behaves and how different functions work together. But that’s a topic in itself, and one I’ll leave for another blog.

At that early stage, though, one Thermomix is more than enough. It supports the learning process, keeps things simple, and helps you build a rhythm in the kitchen before you start looking for ways to speed things up.

Realising the Biggest Limitation Was Waiting

Over time, as my cooking evolved, I noticed something. I wasn’t short on ideas. I was short on patience for waiting.

Waiting for dough to finish before starting soup.

Waiting for yoghurt to ferment before making dinner.

Waiting to wash the bowl before moving on.

That constant stop and start began to feel unnecessary.

At the same time, time itself was becoming more of a challenge. I was working full time, and I had also started as a Thermomix advisor. I didn’t do it to sell machines. I did it to meet new people, share ideas, and learn more about food and cooking.

This is where my curiosity really grew. I wanted to try more recipes, explore different cooking methods, and understand the machine on a deeper level. I also started teaching cooking classes in a local shop in Cork city.

Those classes were a turning point.

In a one hour class, people didn’t want to see just one recipe from start to finish. They wanted variety. They wanted to see what Thermomix could really do. To make that work, I needed to run more than one recipe at the same time.

That meant using two machines. It was the TM31 model at that time.

All set up for my first public event with two TM31 (one was my machine and the other was from another advisor)

At the beginning, I didn’t even own two. I used my own machine and asked another advisor to join me with her Thermomix. But that immediately forced me to think differently. I had to plan recipes carefully, organise timings, and decide which machine would do what, all to make the most of the attendees’ time.

It was the first time I experienced how powerful using two Thermomix could be. Not in terms of speed alone, but in terms of flow. No waiting. No dead time. Just continuous cooking and learning.

That’s when I realised the limitation wasn’t the machine. It was the fact that I only had one running at a time.

Using Two Thermomix at Different Stages of Life

Cooking for One and Still Valuing Convenience

This often surprises people, but even when I was single and cooking just for myself, having two machines made sense.

Not because I needed large quantities. But because I wanted freedom.

I wanted to cook once or twice a week, enjoy the process, and be done. I didn’t want to be tied to the kitchen every evening.

From Advisor Life to Family Cooking

During my years as a Thermomix advisor, my kitchen was always active. Later, as life changed and I started cooking for a family, that need for efficiency became even more important.

How Two Thermomix Changed the Flow of My Cooking

Using two Thermomix completely changed my relationship with cooking. What had once felt like a stop–start process became far more fluid, calm, and efficient.

One of the first shifts was how I started looking at recipes. Instead of treating them as fixed instructions to follow in a strict order, I began to see them as a series of steps that could often be rearranged, grouped, or shared across dishes.

If two recipes both needed something chopped, like Parmesan for a basil pesto and again for a tomato risotto, I’d do it once and set it aside. The same applies to onions, garlic, herbs, or nuts. Rather than repeating the same task in separate recipes, I grouped those steps together and moved on.

This is where cooking with two machines really opens things up.

One Thermomix can quietly take care of a longer recipe in the background. Things like yoghurt fermentation, bread or pizza dough, soup, vegetable stock or stock paste, or a slow cooked sauce. Once these are started, they need very little attention.

This is also where the Varoma comes into its own. If you’re making stews, soups, casseroles, or anything with liquid and a cooking time of more than about 30 minutes, it’s the perfect opportunity to use the Varoma on top. While the main dish cooks below, you can steam vegetables, rice, simple steamed cakes, sandwich bread, or even custard pots at the same time.

That’s when you really start to save time and use the Thermomix to its full potential.

It’s worth knowing that not every recipe works exactly as written on Cookidoo when you start layering cooking like this. Sometimes you’ll need a little extra water to create enough steam. Other times, increasing the speed from 1 to 2 helps keep the steam circulating properly through the Varoma.

These are small tweaks, but they come with experience. Over time, you begin to understand how your Thermomix behaves, how steam moves, and what different foods need. This is where freestyle cooking really develops.

Instead of feeling restricted by the recipe on the screen, you start using it as a guide. With practice, you gain confidence to adapt, adjust, and layer your cooking in a way that suits your kitchen and your time.

The second Thermomix stays free for quicker tasks. Chopping, blending, making sauces and dips, preparing energy balls, granola, or getting ingredients ready for the next dish.

The key is to play with the order of the recipes. While one machine is busy with a longer step, the other can be actively cooking or prepping. And while both machines are running, you can still be doing something by hand, like rolling energy balls or portioning food for the fridge or freezer.

This is what I call freestyle cooking. It’s about using the Thermomix as a tool, rather than being limited by the order of the recipe on the screen. It’s using imagination and resourcefulness to work outside the recipe when it makes sense.

When I was teaching cooking classes in Cork with the team, planning was essential. One of the busiest sessions I ran was the Festive Season class, focused on Christmas recipes. We hosted classes with up to 80 people, so timing had to be spot on. During that time of year, when most households are hosting, cooking for groups, and juggling multiple dishes, efficiency really matters.

To manage this, I used a simple spreadsheet. Each Thermomix had its own column, with time running down the rows, and I blocked out the recipe steps as the class progressed. At a glance, I could see exactly what each machine was doing at any moment. That experience reinforced just how effective using two Thermomix can be, especially during busy periods like Christmas, when having more than one machine makes entertaining and batch cooking far easier.

At home, you don’t need anything that structured, but the principle is the same. Before you start, think about which recipes take the longest, which steps can run in the background, and which tasks can be grouped together. Start the longer recipes first, then fill in the gaps with quicker ones. It requires a bit of planning the first time you do it but once you have the list of recipes and ingredients you are going to use, the rest comes very easily.

A simple example could be one Thermomix making soup and steam salmon in the Varoma, while the other makes pesto, granola, bread or a sauce. The oven might be baking bread or roasting vegetables, and the freezer is ready for sliced bread or extra portions.

To make this more concrete, here’s how a session like that might look in practice.

Step 1

Start with the longest recipe. In Thermomix 1, set up a vegetable soup from Cookidoo. Add all the ingredients to the bowl, prepare the salmon, and place it in the Varoma tray on top. Once everything is in place, start the cooking process. At this point, the soup and salmon are taken care of and will run quietly in the background.

Step 2

While the soup is cooking, move to Thermomix 2. Use it to knead the dough for a quick bread. While the machine is kneading, start preparing the ingredients for the next recipe, for example getting all the ingredients out of the cupboard for granola and getting the trays ready for the oven with baking paper. As soon as the dough finishes kneading, turn on the oven, shape the bread, and place it straight in to bake as this recipe doesn’t require proving.

Step 3

With the bread now in the oven and the soup still cooking, Thermomix 2 is free again. Do universal clean and ready to go again. This is the perfect moment to make the granola, a pesto, or a simple sauce or whatever you need for the week. A curry sauce or a tomato sauce that you can freeze or keep in the fridge until you are going to cook. The day you need it, just boil the pasta or rice and dinner ready in 20 mins.

Step 4

As everything finishes at slightly different times, you simply move through the kitchen calmly. The salmon is ready when the soup is done, the bread comes out of the oven, and the granola cools on the tray. Portions can be set aside for later, bread sliced and frozen, and dinner is ready without feeling rushed.

This kind of setup isn’t about following strict timings. It’s about understanding which recipes take the longest, starting those first, and then using the free moments in between efficiently. Once you get used to this way of cooking, it becomes very intuitive and surprisingly relaxed.

Different Setups I’ve Used Over the Years

Using a Second Bowl with One Thermomix

Even if you only have one Thermomix, having a second bowl can make a big difference. It allows you to move straight from one recipe to the next without stopping to wash up. You can cook a soup or sauce in one bowl, set it aside, and immediately start the next recipe in the clean bowl. It’s particularly helpful when batch cooking, making dough followed by a main meal, or preparing both savoury and sweet dishes in one session. For many people, a second bowl is the easiest way to improve flow in the kitchen without needing a second machine.

Cooking with a Thermomix and the Thermomix Friend

I’ve also used one Thermomix alongside the Thermomix Friend. One handles a longer or background task, while the other keeps things moving. Not my favourite as the TM friend has some limitations like speed (only goes to speed 2) and the lengh of time, but for a lot of recipes like boiling pasta and rice, it does work and it is a lot cheaper than buying a second machine. The TM friend works with the TM5 and TM6 bowl.

Cooking with Two Different Thermomix Models

Over the years, I’ve cooked with two different Thermomix models at the same time. The models changed, but the benefit stayed exactly the same. Not the most time efficient as you have two different bowls but I can manage.

Two Thermomix on my kitchen counter. Not about cooking more, but about cooking with less waiting.

Using Two of the Same Model

I’ve also used two of the same model together. This makes switching between recipes seamless and very intuitive. If possible, this is the best option. I am concious not everybody can afford two machines, so maybe joining as advisor and earning one of them could be an option? or getting a second hand machine?

Two TM7 side by side in my friend Heidi’s kitchen. A setup that makes batch cooking and busy days much easier.

A Calmer Kitchen, Less Washing Up, and Everything Working Together

One of the biggest misconceptions about using two Thermomix is that it must mean more mess and more washing up. In reality, it’s usually the opposite.

Because so much happens in the bowl, there are far fewer pots, pans, chopping boards, and utensils scattered around the kitchen. Between recipes, a quick rinse is often all that’s needed, and at the end of a cooking session, the machines clean themselves or I put everything into the dishwasher. Compared to traditional cooking with multiple pots on the hob, everything feels more contained and manageable.

Cooking with two machines does require a small amount of awareness, but not in a stressful way. It’s simply about knowing what each recipe needs and thinking one step ahead. The freezer becomes part of the system too. Bread sliced and frozen, cupcakes stored for easy days, extra portions ready to grab. When you start using the freezer intentionally rather than as an afterthought, everything flows much more smoothly.

Another detail that makes a big difference is Cookidoo. With one Cookidoo membership, you can link up to five Thermomix machines to the same account. That means your recipes, favourites, weekly plans, and personal notes are available across all machines. You don’t need a second subscription, nothing is duplicated, and everything stays organised in one place.

All of this together creates a calmer kitchen for me. Less rushing, less mess, and less mental load. Once you get used to it, the process feels very natural, and cooking becomes something that supports your life rather than competing with it.

Final Thoughts

After 22 years of cooking with Thermomix in Ireland, across different life stages and kitchen setups, one thing has stayed the same for me. Cooking works best when it supports your life rather than competing with it.

You don’t need two Thermomix. One machine is more than enough for most households, especially when you’re learning or cooking day to day meals. But if you have the space, enjoy batch cooking, or are in a busy season of life, using two Thermomix can completely change the flow of your time in the kitchen. Have you ever cooked with two Thermomix, or would you consider it in the future?

In short:

• One Thermomix is enough for most households

• Two help when time and flow matter

• Planning matters more than speed

• Freestyle cooking grows with confidence

  
  

I’m no longer a Thermomix advisor, and I don’t sell machines. I share this simply because I’ve lived it, and I know how helpful small shifts in approach can be.

If you already own a Thermomix, I hope this gives you ideas to use it differently.

If you’re considering a second machine, especially second hand, I’ve shared guidance in another blog and in my second-hand Thermomix group to help people make informed, safe decisions.

And if you’re thinking about buying new, I’m always happy to point you towards a trusted advisor.

Connect me with an advisor

Cooking doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to work for you. And when it does, it becomes something you move through with ease, not pressure.

And if this post helped you, I’d love to hear what you’re cooking in your Thermomix.

You can find me on Instagram @flowithme and Facebook @flowithmeIE, where I share Thermomix tips, beginner-friendly recipes, and moments from the kitchen.