Soup makers

I wouldn't be without my soup maker. Couldn't be easier. Just put ingredients in, switch on and 21 minutes later smooth soup is ready or 28 minutes later chunky soup ready. Whichever you prefer. Meanwhile, I go and do something more interesting than standing over a pan.

I use a large saucepan and a hand blender. Once had a soup maker and the first time I used it I ended up with boiling soup over me and the kitchen. Took it back and exchanged it for a hand blender. Also you can, if you wish make larger amounts in a saucepan.

I use a pressure cooker for soup. Bung everything in, cook on pressure for 10 mins then blitz with a stick blender until you get the right consistency. If I want chicken or ham in it (rarely, as my husband is vegetarian and I don’t tend to have meat that needs using up) I add it afterwards.

I have a soup freezer tray from Lakeland that is basically a silicone ice cube tray with portion-sized compartments that freezes leftovers into rectangular pieces that use less freezer space than pouring it into bags. They are a great fallback for a quick lunch, as you only defrost what you need.

I make about three pans of soup a week because it’s so nutritious and I grow my own veg so use them. I roast a lot of veg before I make soup with them its adds flavour with the addition of herbs home grown and always garlic.
I save stocks made from ribs chicken stews etc and add them to soups I am making. Lentils grains barley and beans I add often for texture nutrition and fibre.
I tend to blend half the mixture and leave the rest chunky with veg unless it’s onion soup I like it rustic.

Deedaa, I feel the same , just use a saucepan. I make soup out of whatever is in my fridge or use the remains of a chicken or beef casserole. All goes in the pan with onion , stock and sometimes a tin if tomatoes. Wizz it up with my stick blender, season if necessary, heat and eat. I keep left over cooked veg for my soups, waste nothing. Get it from my lovely Mum , I can hear her say "oh that will go in the soup" Making in a saucepan allows me to taste as I go to ensure success. My DH loves it!!

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.

Mines a Salter. It cost about £20 and makes lovely soups. Add the ingredients, choose smooth or not, press go, then leave it for 20 mins while you catch up on GN.

I just fail to see the point. I've already got a slow cooker and many pans. My Kenwood has got a barely used liquidiser, the food processor does the same job and then I've got a stick blender. I do make soup, but some in the slow cooker and some in a pan.

PS I don’t sauté first,, and the soup is always lovely.

A soup maker scores if you just have enough vegetables for a couple of servings, and want to go out, because it needs no supervision at all. I put mine on the timer, go out for the morning and time it to be cooked when I get in. Another bonus is it cooks everything in a short time, and you can pre set it for your preferred level of chunkiness. You can the put it in the dishwasher. It suits the busy and lazy, which is me.

I just like being able to leave it, not stand and stir and then blend, as I used to.

I just bung the makings in a saucepan or slow cooker, bring it to the boil, turn it down and leave it on a low heat for 45 minutes. I do not even always liquidize it as I like soup chunky.

I no longer buy kitchen gadgets I don’t need. I make gallons of soup and use a large saucepan. I like making chicken and turkey soup and you can’t do those in any soup maker that I know of. I put the carcase in the stock and boil it up, then fish out the bones and carcase, add loads of veggies, cook a bit longer.Job done.

Sometimes I make chunky soups, other times I like them smooth so I give them a quick whizz with a stick blender.

I've a Tefal soup maker, it's very good, vegetables have to only be roughly cubed, raw onions, garlic, it creams the soup beautifully, my most used piece of kitchen equipment.

Thanks very much everyone. I’m sorry if there have already been many threads about this. I’ve been away from GN for a while

Mistyped, I will have it deleted.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

I just like being able to leave it, not stand and stir and then blend, as I used to.

In an ordinary pan you can sauté first if necessary and make as little or as much as you want - plenty for a couple of days and freeze the rest. A cheap stick blender will get the right consistency when it’s cooked. I’d use a soup maker if it was a gift, but I wouldn’t buy one for myself.

Sounds lovely for those who want one. We use a pot on the hob.

Bit like an air fryer, slow cooker, Ninja -- we've no need for more gadgets (though I've looked). Our splendid oven is used daily.

I use a saucepan and a hand mixer works good for me

I had the same problem as winterwhite. If you are a 'bung it in and boil it' type of soup maker like me, it required too much precision in vegetable chopping for me to persevere with it.

I've got the Lakeland one and love it - just throw everything in and that's it. It works well with frozen veg too. I do find that milk "catches" on the heating plate but I usually make soup with just veg and stock so that's not a problem for us. You really can't tell that the veg hasn't been sautéed before and I like to think it is more healthy this way

I had a Morphy-Richards but found I had to chop the veg so small I didn't need a machine to blend it. If chunks too large it snarled up.

I bought a Morphy Richards after a recommendation from a friend. I just didn’t get on with it and passed it on. I prefer making in the slow cooker and freezing portions.

My Lakeland soup maker just requires you to chuck everything in and press the button. Walk away and leave it until the soup’s ready. Wonderful. The previous one (don’t remember the brand) which conked out sautéed onions and garlic first, before other ingredients were added. Much more of a faff. The new one is a great improvement and there’s no difference in quality of the soup.