Soup maker - I love it!

Thank you Mapleleaf, I think my problem has been overfilling . It was better today with less of my veg drawer in it !

Hello, curvygran, I've just seen your question. My soup maker is quite steamy for the first 3 or 4 minutes, but it soon settles down. (Certainly not steaming for 10 minutes). I make sure I place it away from cupboards so they don't get steamed up. Just make sure that the lid is firmly in place, without a gap between it and the top of the body.
Hope that helps you.

Now sold on the idea and have ordered a cuisinart soup maker from Ebay this afternoon.
Just hope it doesn't end up gathering dust in my kitchen!

I, too, love my soup maker - it's a Morphy Richards and I use it all the time in the winter, along with my slow cooker.

hetty58 A lot of us felt like you, see up thread, again and again, but acquired a soup maker and succumbed to its incredible simplicety.

Must admit to being quite sniffy when first reading this thread. Just make soup in a large saucepan and then use stick blender to finish. However I was impressed with how easy people reported these were to use. Not having to watch the saucepan coming to the boil, etc. So, I splashed out and treated myself to a Morphy Richards Compact one - (there is only me).
When I arrived back from my weekly food shop today, I put this on whilst I was unpacking and putting away. By the time I had finished that the soup was ready for me for my lunch. Actually made three good sized bowls - I am a total convert now. So easy, no watching involved. I never sauted veg when I did it in a saucepan, so did not do so with this,. Just put everything directly into the pot. Easy to use -and - also so very easy to clean afterwards.
Thank you for persuading me to buy this

I often use a handful of frozen chopped onions if I have none fresh.
I never defrost but they are chopped quite small.

Almost any combination works!

kitty I defrost frozen veg., meat in the microwave first

I bought the Morphy Richards one is Sainsbury’s last winter £40, special offer. Also bought one for DD1. GDs enjoy coming up with different recipes and have more vegetables this way than served in a plate.

I use the same Scottishmum website as you Elegran but also experiment by just chucking in what I thinks will work now. Always accompanied with crusty bread and butter?

We have soup most days this time of year so a variety of tastes and veg. so easily done and worth every penny of £40??

Mapleleaf
Does your Tefal steam a LOT for the first 5-10 minutes of cooking?
I’m just wondering if my machine is working properly.

I think that they generally advise you to defrost the frozen veg first before putting it in your soup maker. I know mine does (tefal). I suppose it depends upon the size of the pieces you are using, though.

I've made lovely pea and mint soup in the Morphy Richards from frozen peas (and frozen mint leaves, plus Auntie Bessie's frozen mashed potato to thicken it and some veggie stock), but peas are individually quite small and defrost and cook quickly. If the frozen veg were in small pieces, I don't see why not. Bear in mind that cooking time is only about 21 to 28 minutes - larger bits might still be solid. Have a look on the websites of the maufacturers, it is likely they have been asked the question before and have included the answer in their FAQs.

Can you use frozen veg?

My favourite soup at the moment is the BBC sweet potato and red lentil soup. It is distinctively different with coriander, ginger, lime, curry powder etc.
The recipe states that you should grate the veg. As it is being blended I just roughly chop. Huge success with guests.
Do try it.

I really fail to see the usefulness of yet another gadget. I've never had a problem making soup in a saucepan. If I'm out for the day, it goes in the slow cooker. I can't see that a soup maker does anything that they can't.

I am a very new owner of my tefal , so still experimenting and so far delighted with the results! I have been using chopped shallots instead of onions - they are naturally sweeter and not quite so strong .

I don`t fry the onions for my soup maker, I do use a red onion neat and chopped. I made soup in the SM yesterday and am delighted not to have to think much about my food today. Lots of my 5 a day in that delicious soup. I love my tefal easy soup maker

I love my soup maker but use the stove top method too depending on how much I’m making. Mine is a Cuisine Art machine. It’s great for enough for one meal for two. If I want a large batch I use a saucepan and blend it. Both invaluable when the weather is awful.

I always start with putting some water in the soup maker. It seems to stop things sticking to the bottom. I do not saute the onion to begin with but just chuck it all in!

I've got a Morphy Richards - its instrucion book doesn't seem to match what I actually have to do to make soup, after I've fried the onions in the soup maker - but I rang them and they told me what to do and now I have no problems. For me it is far better than the saucepan method - just one bit of work to start it off, push a button or two and leave it, till you return to lovely soup! Washing up is much easier than if you've used a pan and a liquidiser - but you do have to wash up as soon as the soup is ready, when it is easy.

Yes , Mapleleaf, I got the Tefal. First effort very successful (without a particular recipe) and enough for 2 of us for 2 lunches . Brilliant machine !

Glad you took the plunge, Curvygranand bought a soup maker. Did you opt for the tefal? Mine is a tefal and I love it. So easy to use.
Mumofmadboys that recipe sounds lovely - I'll give it a try.

Thank you mumofmadboys, will definitely give it a try !

I agree with Craftygran - one of my best ever buys