My first impression of the Tefal Jam Maker was that it looked a bit 'dated' - quite 80s and reminded me of the original Tupperware products (colour, texture of the plastic parts). It has a big clear lid, burgundy colander attachment, burgundy handles/blades, and a metal base which heats up... The colour of the product was unusual as the plastic sections didn't really match the metal base so it looked more functional than a 'design classic'. Other than that, it was a simple design and looked fairly obvious in its mechanics. You need a lot of worktop space to set the Tefal Jam Maker up.
I'd only tried to make jam once before (with just a pan, sugar and water) so I was looking forward to using a professional jam maker. I was probably a good person to test the Tefal Jam Maker as I am a real novice and had to read through everything, which unfortunately revealed that the instructions weren't quite as good as they could have been.

It took me several attempts to figure out what I needed to be looking at in the manual. The instructions, with their 5 different languages, were confusingly laid-out. I had to keep going back to front to check different things and therefore losing my page. It then became apparent that I needed additional reading material (the recipe booklet) for most other types of jam. The instructions were so annoying that I even referred to the website to see if that was easier to understand, but it wasn't. Once I'd read through the recipe booklet, it made more sense, although there was no recipe for the plum jam I wanted to make. I eventually managed by using a different recipe for another fruit with a similar sugar content (gooseberry). The sugar icons in the recipe could have been better described but I managed regardless.

During set up it took a long time to attach the main bowl to the electric base as the pins were bent, so it kept rocking around. I then spent ages wondering why the rotating blades wouldn't fit in only for it to become apparent that the colander section was the problem.  Apparently the colander is not needed for 9/10 uses of the jam maker.  I'd assumed from the instructions that it should all fit together.

However a great deal of effort had been put into providing information about the nutritional content of the berries and jams, which I found interesting reading. The accompanying pictures were also very nice.
Once I'd finished setting up the Tefal Jam Maker, the actual running was a lot simpler and very good to use.  I did the cleaning programme first, even though this is for after you've made the sticky jam, and is not required for pre-sterilisation.  I found the correct setting and it worked first time. The count-down on the screen was good, even though you weren't given an indication of the temperature (so didn't know if it was near boiling point or not)

To conclude, although I successfully made my plum jam in the end, I don't think I would buy this appliance for myself. This is mainly because I don't think I would ever want to make enough jam to warrant the price. Apparently the jam maker can also make other desserts.  I checked the rice pudding recipe as it's a dessert I'm familiar with, but the instructions seemed more complicated than they needed to be.  I would probably buy the Tefal Jam Maker for someone if they were a renowned jam maker; otherwise it's not the usual present I would buy.

See www.tefal.co.uk for details

Kathryn's website