Soup makers

A potato peeler? What’s wrong with a knife?

I'm reminded of an overheard conversation in a doctor's waiting room between 2 elderly ladies about vegetable spiraliser gadgets. "What's wrong with a potato peeler?"

I just use a hand blender

I make it in a big pan, always more than i need!! and then blend it in my blender. Easy peasy and i freeze it in plastic containers

😂😂😂

Deedaa

My soup maker is a saucepan. It would never occur to me to buy something special to make it in. It happily simmers away with a quick stir now and again.

This.

Bung it all in the pressure cooker, give it about 25 minutes and blend with the hand blender. A soup maker would simply take up space on my worktop.

Two steps:
1. Put your prepared veg and stock in.
2. Press the button.
Only the soup maker jug to wash up.

Easily! Far fewer steps to follow and less pans and equipment.

I make soup by buying frozen prepared veg. from the supermarket, first I sometimes use ready chopped frozen onion, I have been know to chop them myself! I fry the onions, put a load of veg in a container to microwave, then whisk the with my braun stick. For variation I add tomatoes or spinach or other bits and pieces add some stock cubes Put it all back in the pan heat and serve - how could a soup maker improve on that?

I had one and loved it (The Morphy Richard’s one).
However it stopped working just after the guarantee ran out.
Meanwhile, I bought the smaller version for my daughter and hers broke down within a few months (still under guarantee).
Won’t bother gettinng a new one this winter. Will go back to saucepan method.

I suggested a soup maker to my husband, a retired chef, and he nearly had an apoplexy. He pointed out that he can make veg soup in 25 minutes, why have a machine. I asked how many times a year he made soup...not sure...I knew, he'd made it twice!! I may sneak one in, but as he does all the cooking it may be suspicious...

That's a good point.

I have a very well used and trusty Morphy Richards with no sauté function. It makes very good, sometimes excellent soup in 21 minutes from whatever I throw in, so I don’t feel I’m missing out. I do occasionally roast a tray of tomatoes or peppers when the oven’s on anyway and use them in the soup maker, which gives a different depth to tomato or pepper soup.

I do wonder if the sauté function might lead to ingredients sticking to the bottom of the soup maker? I learnt very early on that it’s best to put some liquid into it first to avoid that happening.

If it helps, I sautée onions and veg when I make soup in the (electric) pressure cooker. I think it does add a depth of flavour.

I wonder if sautéing the onions first makes them a little more flavoursome atqui? However, my soup maker doesn’t have a sauté function and I just chop up whichever veg I have to hand, set it going and leave it to do it’s job, and find it to be very tasty. I suppose, though, that you could pre fry your onions in a little pan first before adding to the soup maker, but that creates extra washing up. If you don’t want extra washing up, but want to sauté the onion, then go for a soup maker with the sauté function. Sorry, I’m not being very helpful, really, am I? 😅

I had a soup maker, it broke after only a year. I now make soup in the microwave using a large rice cooker. After cooking I mash or blend depending on the texture I want. Quick and easy.

I did consider getting one at one stage, but I'm a 'bung it in the pot' soup person too, and I make huge pots of soup at one time - usually after boiling a carcass or bones for stock, so I decided it wasn't really worth it for me personally. However, if a soup maker encourages more people to make their own soup, I'm all for it! There's nothing like homemade soup (and it's usually even better the day after!)

And I have lots of kitchen cupboard space - I know I’m lucky there - so the only appliances sitting on the worktop are the kettle and the toaster.

I know but we soup maker fans find ourselves being implied as being lazy, gadget fiends by the pan and spoon brigade!

I just find it very easy to chop the veg, measure the stock, chuck it all in and press the button. I don’t want to stand stirring the pot, add different ingredients at different times as I used to and then get out the blender if I want a smooth soup. I understand others prefer to do things differently!

Some people advocating soup makers have done it in a way that is dismissive of those of us who don't, suggesting that if we want to continue in our time consuming, attention demanding ways, when it is so much quick and easier with a soup maker, a contention I do not agree with, anyway, at least not for me.

I never make the same soup twice in my soup maker. It's whatever I've got lurking in the fridge that needs used up along with lentils or broth cereals or rice or whatever really. No additives or preservatives. So much nicer than tinned or fresh carton soup..

I really can't see the need for one here - and I'm a great fan of gadgets. I do like a thick vegetable stew, done in the slow cooker, a kind of chunky soup in itself. Roasted vegetables can be blended, too, (I do carrots that way) and my favourite is Gazpacho with croutons on a hot summer day - no cooking!

OP going back to your original question (re the sautéed onions in recipes) why don’t you try a soup made in a pan one time with onions and / or veg sautéed and the next time without sautéing (?). See which tastes best.

I prefer to brown in oil most of the base of the soup which for me is most always carrot onion and celery. Then whatever is making up the bulk of the soup goes straight in when stock is added. I think the sauté adds a depth to the taste. But that is just me, and how I like it.
I’m like some of the posters on here who never measure anything and it’s always ‘an experiment’.

Whatever encourages you to make lovely home made soup is a good idea.
You will not want to go back to the tinned variety again!