Rated 5 out of 5 by xxxlollyxxx from Excellent I was very impressed with the ease of use of this product... cooks to perfection

Rated 4 out of 5 by ando56 from "almost" effortless cooking for the family Used my new homecooker to coook up a hot lunch for my greedy friends and family and was very pleased with the results. Initial impressions on unpacking the cooker and the chopping tower was that the instructions were very brief, however both units are very easy to put together and so easy to use once you get started that I think you hardly need any instructions!!! .. it really is that easy to use. I made the tagliatelle bolognese recipe out of the accompanying Jamie Oliver cook book and everyone was totally impressed with the results. I had previously made a rice pudding for the first time also from the book for a delicious pudding on a cool day. Both recipes were easy to follow step by step and you really can just leave the homecooker alone to do 99% of the work for you. Chopping tower works well and shoots everything straight into the pan perfectly with no mess or bits of onion flying around the kitchen as I was expecting ! The kids loved pushing the carrots and onions in and watching them fly out the other end straight into the pan.. they've never been interested on the kitchen before so that's a first for the homecooker. Another great thing is (should you need to cos usually you don't !)that you can adjust the cooking temperature precisely up and down as you go along with the adjustment taking less than a minute to effect. Added to this precise temperature control is the stirring arm which keeps the food moving so it does not stick and cooks through perfectly. I found it difficult at first to trust the stirrer and kept lifting the lid with spatula in hand ready to scrape off all the burnt bits and mix the food "properly"! I was to be pleasantly suprised however to find no sticking or burning and everything mixed and cooked through to perfection. All in all I enjoyed using this appliance; it needs little or no attention once it gets going and left me plenty of time to get out of the kitchen and make a start on the drinks my guests had brought along !! Everyone appreciated a delicious fresh meal, cooked from scratch from fresh food using a single aplliance without a jar of cooking sauce or "ready made" anything to be seen. I enjoyed it so much I made a risotto later on to freeze for myself and I can honestly say that this machine with it's contant stirring and temperature control is just made for cooking rice dishes better than I have been able to do before. 10/10 for rice/pasta. One suggestion though. The accompanying cook book seems to have very long cooking times but with experience you can safely reduce these. If I had followed the timings for the Bolognese I made, it would have taken over two hours to cook and I never cook mince for two hours !! and I don't think my guests could have waited in any case!. However, the machine can make up for this as it is so easy to control you can amend the cooking time with ease as you gain more experience and confidence. All in all a very welcome addition to my kitchen. I am looking forward to using it tonight to make a big pot of fresh curry and rice for everyone all cooked in one appliance with hardkey any wshing up, and again no cooking sauce or microwave food to be seen !!!!!! Well done Philips/Jamie

Rated 5 out of 5 by mariamunkey from Wow, the Philips Homecooker is nothing short of Amazing!! Admittedly I was very sceptical of the Philips Homecooker, so to test it 100% I organised a dinner party for 10 people, with all 4 courses cooked entirely by it. The big attraction for me was that the Philips homecooker stirs as it cooks therefor needs minimum if any attention during cooking, which for a busy, working mother of 5 is a dream come true. What struck me at first was the quality of the product. It comes with a 3-litre family sized stainless steel bowl, and an upper 2 layers to steam or sauté. The next thing that impressed, was how easy the controls are to use. You have a power button to turn the cooker on/off, a temperature setting (between 40C and 250C) and finally a quickset timer (to a maximum of 99 mins). With all the cooking components being Dishwasher safe it's as easy to clean as it is to cook with. The power cable is kept within the unit so you do not have excess cables on your worksurface, however the cable can reach over a good distance if require. The added bonus....... a Jamie Oliver recipe book provided with the Homecooker, with simple, easy, everyday recipes for you to get the most out of your new appliance. I added all the ingredients for tomato soup, set the temperature, time and pressed start. The idea of walking away until the timer beeped to let me know it was all cooked and ready proved unnatural at first, therefor I lifted the lid to check several times, but had no need to worry as everything was clearly cooking nicely. When the homecooker beeped I had perfect homemade tomato soup, Wow! Nothing more than a quick rinse and the stainless steel bowl was ready for the next course. I added the ingredients for my Beef Goulash and set the timer. This time having much more confidence in the product and only returned once to add rice into the upper layer for steaming and walked away, leaving it until I heard the beeper. Again an amazingly flavoured meal with soft succulent beef, perfectly cooked and ready to serve with the rice (cooked to perfection#. I was astounded and now converted, this really does everything it states and is quite simply an amazing appliance. After another quick rinse I added the ingredients for Chicken Tikka Masala, again set the temperature, timer and left until ready. However when it beeped I was enjoying some wine with friends in the garden and didn't return to it for at least a half hour after it had finished cooking. The Homecooker will turn itself down to keep your food warm after cooking time has completed, ensuring it's still at the correct temperature to serve without having to reheat. Once more I'm very impressed, this thing just makes you love it! And for my final course I cooked a pot-roast fruit with wildflower honey desert. An easy dish to burn if cooking on a stove, however no danger of this happening with the Philips homecooker. Wow and Wow!! To sum it all up, this product is guaranteed to make your life easier and something every home should have. Every time it impressed, everything was effortless and every course I cooked tasted Delicious with a great depth of flavour my oven has never produced. I love the simplicity of it! I love the quality of it! I love having my time back to spend with my children or guests! I can't sing it's praises highly enough! I would also recommend the accompanying Philips Chopping Tower #sold seperately#, which makes quick work of anything needing chopped, cut, sliced or grated. This is a seperate tower, which sits perfectly at the side of the homecooker and fires all that's been cut/chopped straight into the steel bowl. It has 5 attachments, 2 that slice #thick or thin#, 2 for shredding #medium or course) and 1 for cutting julienne. And offers 2 speed settings. This Chopping Tower is priceless, as all I had to do was wash the vegetables, then push them down the feeding tube to be chopped. Unbelieveable! All the vegetables for 1 large pot of soup were in the pot within 2 mins. It made easy work of the carrots, celery, onions and turnup.