AIBU to be disappointed & hungry?

so the carnivore diet gone out the window @Parentofeanda?!

I love my soup maker. It's lovely if you sauté your meat and onion in butter before adding to soup maker. I always use potato to thicken and always just put them straight into soup maker. Maybe you just need to experiment.

Love my soup maker but here's a top tip - don't use red onions instead of white as the soup looks like a the product of a very upset digestive track.

@decisionssmecisions potato and leek is my favourite done in the soup maker! did you not get a book of recipes included in the box??

Soup maker won't sieve you'll have to keep that step manual 😅

But you don't stand over the soup maker either... you pick your setting or function and it just does it's thing.
So pop bits in... Go have a shower/ put some washing on or whatever and come back to a nice lunch...

I used to make soup on the hob and use a stick blender . Tried it in the slow cooker but it makes a vegetable stew rather than a soup .

I put off getting a soup maker for ages - would I use it / takes up too much room/ how to clean it/ just how much soup can I eat ?

Got mine half price in Sainsbury .
I had doubts as 20 minutes didn;t seem long , will it just give me hot vegetable water ?

It is smooth and perfectly cooked . If I use big bits of raw veg I might run it twice . But it is brilliant for leftover odds .

Though when I cook roast potatoes and say "any left go in the freezer" my DS will say "there won't be any left they're going in your son".
But I can usually get a few dodgy ones .

Hallowe'en 2022 I bought a couple of small eating pumpkins but the weather was so bad I didn't carve them, I sliced , roasted and froze !

I love mine, it also makes great gravy/sauces!

Thanks! My family really loves this soup: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/speedy-sweet-potato-soup-coconut

So instead of standing over pot and controlling the heat for each stage on the hob, I'm standing over a soup maker? Do you not find that some soups have to be watched so that you get it off heat and blitzed when the veg is "just barely soft"? Maybe I should just get one to satisfy me curiosity.

I too had a disappointing experience with leek and potato. It was sieved to remove fibres at the end, so a vichyssoise. I'm guessing so maker won't sieve. 🤔

That is subjective to what type of result you wish. We will have to agree todisagree there. While you absolutely can make soup without stock I do not find it is a good idea in a soup maker personally. I also would argue many other soups but French Onion can be made better with stock.

You don't have to agree with that but that is MY opinion of it.

@decisionssmecisions you said it was bland? I've always found homemade (leek and potato especially) needs lots of seasoning, especially (good quality flaky) salt. More than you think! (Same goes for tomato-based recipes like chilli con carne).

And that's OK if generally (like us) you don't add extra salt at the table.

This is my one!

It's great!

I made a great red pepper and goats cheese last week. Goats cheese added at end and I used roasted peppers. It was divine!

@Caiti19 yes it is just a one pot solution so no mess. Also minimal prep. when I met my DH he had a soup maker I thought it was so lame and a totally pointless gadget but it is just SO convenient, clean up is 2 mins max. We have soup way more as a result.

My favourite is sweet potato and red pepper but I use the long sweeter red peppers (Tesco finest range). Sweet potato has less starch. Some potatoes are less starchy might be worth doing a bit of research. I tried using King Edward’s at Christmas to use up turkey and veg. It ended up like wall paper paste and I had to throw it away.
For any veg based soup I use Bouillon Veg stock powder, you don’t need as much as it has a good intense flavour.

I bought a cusinart soup maker. It is large capacity and double s as a liquidiser. DS uses it for protein drinks.

I am also interested in learning what a soup maker does - is the appeal that you don't need to blend with stick blender at the end? I love a kitchen gadget, but haven't managed to justify a soup maker yet.

Also, make sure you don't add too much water! If you think you have then before it blends, dip a large mug in and scoop up some of the liquid (may need a few mugs) then let it blend. If it then becomes too thick, all you have to do is re-add some of the liquid

@Tatapie I make beautiful leek & potato soup in my soup maker and don't sauté them....? I just put the potatoes & onions in first. Then after 5 mins of them boiling I add the leeks. You have to make sure you put salt in the water before you add the potatoes & onions though.
Like I said previously, unless you're making french onion soup and as long as you have good quality fresh produce, then stock isn't required

If your ingredients/veg are good quality and very fresh then you shouldn't need any stock for soup. Not unless it's French Onion

Out of interest what does a soup maker do?

Same! Gutted. I think leeks needs sautéing first and the leek & potato combo isn't great in a soup maker.

My fave soup maker is general orange soup - mainly carrots, an onion, small potato, celery stick if h have it and the key ingredient- a small courgette , it makes soups creamy. 2 stick cubes and a spoonful of peanut butter for depth of flavour.

I’ve also made a disgusting leek and potato soup this week - after 5 years of happy soupmaker soup making with never a dud. I’m blaming the potato (and the leek)

My daughter makes what we call 'The Orange'. It's a firm favourite.

Carrot (at least 2/3), butternut squash (frozen or fresh is fine) and one sweet potato. Stock cube and water. Whizz it up- we like ours quite thick- then on serving add loads of mature cheddar on the top.

I adore mine! It's a salter one. If it's a butternut squash soup, I'll roast the butternut squash in the oven for half an hour before hand to add flavour

I use pre cut frozen veg, because I'm too lazy to cut up lots!

I generally just use the vegetable, a potato or 2 for bulk, then some garlic, black pepper and salt.

If the veggies are frozen, don't forget to allow for water coming out of them so not too much stock, I usually do about 2cm above the veggies but check occasionally and add a little flour if too runny, or a little more water if a bit thick. I get more excited than I should if consistency is just right!!

My biggest disaster was lentil soup I thought wasn't thickening so I shoved loads more in, it looked not too bad if a little thick when taking it out, on taking it to work the next day it was like concrete!

Honestly its the recipe, try some different ones. I made a really nice carrot and coriander soup and also broccoli and stilton but my veg one was MEH