Soup maker

Yes! We have had soup much more often for lunch this winter and I find it very useful indeed.

I too never thought I would want a soup maker. It is so easy to make soup in a saucepan, but DD gave me a Morphy Richards for Christmas 2015 and I now have soup every day for lunch, make it in 3-helping batches too. At the moment I am watching my weight so make the lowest cal soup I can, with just mushrooms, an onion and a stock pot. It is actually quite tasty, and I prefer it without the addition of cream.

I make batches of bolognese sauce in mine as well

I have a Cuisinart one - in its box - in the garage! DD's mother in law bought it for her; she couldn't get on with it and gave it to me. I suppose I really ought to try it out! It's been there so long, it may not even work now.

I'm another fan. So straightforward and easy. Yum.

Love my Morphy Richards soup maker,bought after recommendation on gransnet,have recommended to others who love theirs also.

Ditto Scooter 58!

I have always made soup in the pan which is dead easy, thinking a soup maker to be a faddy thing, but after all these upbeat comments perhaps I should try one. We do love soup.

I always made soup in a pan but I wouldn't go back to doing it that way now I have a soup maker.

Another fan of a soup maker here. Yes, easy in a pan but with the soup maker you can bung in the ingredients, set it to chunky or smooth and go off and do something else for 20 mins.

I have a Cuisinart soup maker and while I was still working I used it all the time for lunch time soup.
Brilliant machine for a quick pot of soup, specially now that they've come down in price so much.
I made asparagus soup in mine last weekend.

The only negative is that it makes only a small amount (I think mine says 1.5 litres)so if you want a big pot for freezing some you're better with a normal big stock-pot.

We bought the Salter Stainless Steel Soup Maker and really like it.

It is so simple to use, as it is simply a stainless steel container it is easy peasy to clean and a reasonable price.

What's not to like, you don't have to 'keep an eye' on it, push a button and go.

www.robertdyas.co.uk/salter-electric-soup-maker-jug-stainless-steel

Ok, further to the above, I decided to dig this beast out of the garage and get it out of its box. Read the books and it all seems a bit of a faff, but I am going to give it a go tommorrow when Himself and No 1 Son (Ah So!) are at the footie. Thingamajig if you are not using the recipes in the book, how do you work the timings out for your own recipes? It may seem like a silly question but I am used to making soup the old fashioned way, on the hoof!

Greyduster If the Cuisenart is anything like the Morphy Richards, the choice of timings is either 21 minutes for smooth soup or 28 for chunky, so you don't have a lot of working out to do. The recipe book which came with my MR had a few good recipes, but I found a lot more at scottishmum.com/soup-maker-recipes/ Recommend carrot and coriander, tomato and basil, frozen garden pea with ham (don't bother with the one with pickled onions in, it was vile).

I just had a look on Amazon at these. Not sure as I find making soup very relaxing DD always knows if I am in a bad mood, I make soup, de-stresses me really well.
Sorry meant to ask a question, do you still have to prep the veg?????? I assume you need to peel root veg.

Yes, Felice you still have to peel and chop (but a tin of sliced carrots don't need chopping . . .) Then you put it into the soupmaker with the stock or whatever, switch on and it produces smooth soup 21 minutes later (time enough to get out bowls and spoons and cut the bread) I don't understand why it takes longer than that to make chunky soup without blending it - must be because it has several shots at the blending so the bits of veg are smaller and cook faster.

I peel very little of the veg for my soup maker. Just onions really. One person I know actually makes the soup from the peelings of veg from other meals. I was dubious about whether it would be worth buying one until my daughter showed me hers. The best thing is being able to turn it on and forget it.

In what way is a soup maker an improvement on just bunging it all in a saucepan?

Brill invention! I buy from Asda frozen chopped red onions. Frozen mixed veg. Frozen Spinach. Bag Kale, bag Watercress, bag Parsley and bags of fresh herbs. The Kale, Watercress, Parsley and herbs which are not frozen I put them into small amounts into individual bags and pop them in the freezer. When I make soup in the machine I put some of the onions and mixed veg into the machine along with some boiling water this helps to defrost them. Then I put whatever I fancy, perhaps some Kale, Watercress, Parsley. A tin of chopped tomatoes, tin of green lentils, some tomato puree and four teaspoons of Marigold veg stock powder. Fill the machine up to the max mark with boiling water. When I use the Kale, Parsley, Watercress & herbs I make smooth soup as it would be stringy if I didn't. If I'm making chunky soup I leave these items out and can put a tin of chick peas in or tin of Kidney Beans or even a tin of corn. No need to stand and stir! Just plonk the lid on, switch on and the machine will do it's own thing. Delicious soup for about four days! I'm so glad someone mentioned soup making machines on here or I would never have known they existed. I have told family and friends about it and they are all delighted too!

Not sure if it would suit me as I tend to buy all my veg at the local markets so I would still be peeling and chopping.
I do not buy tinned food and not a lot of frozen veg except for fine diced mixed veg for couscous etc.

But surely no more peeling and chopping than you would do with a saucepan and a blender?

Actually, a few tins of carrots and so on in the store cupboard can be very useful as standbys for when you can't get to the nmarket.

felice, yes, fresh veg have to be chopped, but I have experimented, and found I can use huge chunks 2-3 inches square or halved onions and whole mushrooms. This is for a smooth soup. Chunky would leave large, but you have the option to pulse to blend to your required consistency at the end.
The MR soup maker makes a maximum quantity of 1800ml, which serves about 4-5 for a starter or 3 for a greedy guts like me as a lunch.
There are some good price reductions on Amazon and Groupon.

I have one, it's called DH . He enjoys knocking up soup for lunch, who am I to spoil his fun?

Butternut squash soup in soup maker as I write!