Verdict

Pros

• Auto cook, steam and blend programmes
• Stir function
• Auto clean programme

Cons

• Not dishwasher safe
• Very noisy
• No sauté function

What is the Scott Simplissimo Chef All in One Cook Blender?

It feels misleading to call the Scott Simplissimo Chef All in One Cook Blender a blender. It’s a hybrid appliance, combining steaming and cooking alongside a basic blitz, meaning you can make soup without simmering it in a pan first, steam food without resorting to a tower of bowl and lids, and make much more besides. All of which is contained in a smart black lacquer and steel grey design with a large borosilicate glass jug, four blades, easy automatic programmes and patented overflow sensor. This stops hot liquids spilling out, so you’ll never come back to a soup-splattered worktop.

Related: Best hand blenders

Scott Simplissimo Chef All in One Cook Blender – Design and features

If you hate a profusion of buttons cluttering your appliance, with the Simplissimo Chef, you’re in for a treat. When it’s not plugged in, the front and dial are completely black – no icons, no lights. Plug it in and there’s just a discreet on-off symbol on the top. It’s only when you’re using the blender that it comes to life with a full array of options. For cooking, there are auto programmes for thick soup, smooth soup, sauce, ice crush, auto clean and steam, plus icons for manual cooking, manual blending. There’s also a dial for setting time, temperature and selecting and starting programmes. Once each cooking programme has finished, there’s a 20-minute keep-warm mode.

The appliance itself feels well constructed, with a heavy jug containing electronic connections, two-part lid with measuring cup and metal prongs that fit into the jug, and a base with a channel for cable storage around the bottom. As well as a cleaning brush for getting into awkward places, there are two spatulas: one small and flexible for scraping out and the other rigid with a small hook for removing the steam basket.

Scott Simplissimo Chef All in One Cook Blender – What’s it like to use?

One of the biggest things that lets the Simplissimo Chef down is its instructions. There are no recipes and a real lack of clarity. For example, the blender is meant to be suitable for sous vide cooking, but there’s no guidance on how to do it.

I started by steaming broccoli with the basket in place, using the steam programme, which heats water below without activating the blades. There’s no guide on how long different foods need to be steamed for, so I guessed at 20 minutes. Selecting the programme with the dial was tricky at first as it flicked back to the programme options even after I’d selected steam and was trying to toggle the time.

The time can also be altered while cooking but it was hard to see the broccoli’s cooking progress inside the basket. After a minute, the water started to boil, and a column of steam started to emerge from the jug’s spout.

After the time has elapsed, I extracted the basket using the spatula. The florets were perfectly cooked – tender enough to eat but still retaining texture and form. Next, I prepared a vegetable soup, first sautéing onions and leeks in a pan as the machine didn’t have a sauté setting. Adding these to the jug with other vegetables and stock, I set it on the smooth soup programme, which lasted for 30 minutes.

It began to cook, stirring every few minutes or so and the outside of the jug grew very hot. The last minute of the programme was dedicated to blending the soup, during which time lots of steam emerged from the jug. Once the programme had finished, I let it switch to keep warm mode. After 20 minutes, the soup was still piping hot. While it was mostly well blended, it wasn’t as smooth as expected.

Moving onto the smoothie/ice crushing programme, I added fruit, water and spinach leaves to the jug. This blended the contents using high-speed bursts for one minute. The resulting drink was sufficiently blended with no lumps, but still retained traces of fruit skin.

Finally, I used the auto clean programme to get rid of any food underneath the blades. The jug still had to be rinsed beforehand, then water and washing up liquid added. The programme was a combination of heating and mixing to clean. Afterwards, there was no visible residue left.

Why buy the Scott Simplissimo Chef All in One Cook Blender?

Good for small kitchens where there’s no room for a steamer, a blender and a soup maker, or families who want quick, mess-free meals, the Simplissimo Chef does a great job of multi-tasking. Overlook the lack of clear instructions and a need to brown ingredients in a separate pan, and the appliance itself is pretty faultless, cooking and steaming without burning food and cleaning up in a jiffy. Considering that you could easily spend the same money on a high-end blender, there’s a lot here to love.

Verdict

Sleek on the outside, clever on the inside, this blender will shake up your mealtimes.

Trusted Score