Do I want a soup maker?

[Thinkle]

Or will it languish in the back of the cupboard?

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MNHQ Update
Searching for a soup maker that'll take the stress out of making your favourite soup at home? Our guide to the best soup makers is up to date with a wide range of options tried and tested options. We hope it’s helpful!

The prep is the same for a soup maker or a pot. The soup maker can be left completely to its own devices and the integrated blender makes the soup incredibly smooth. If you can afford it then get one. If not then you aren't missing out on much. We got ours on ebay for £20, which makes me think lots of people buy them then don't use them.

I like a gadget but am not keen on soup makers. But I don't find it particularly faffy to make soup.

If you do get one make sure to get one with a sauté function.

I have a Thermomix (a TM31, two models before the current one and about 8 years old - doesn't do all the guided cooking stuff the newer models do but I'm not interested in that) which is the best thing ever for soup. I think you can pick them up for a couple of hundred pounds second hand now.

Mine's on now, making a nice creamy leek and parsnip soup with white pepper and lovage. Used very often and much loved gadget, we also use it to make gravy and sauces. Definitely recommend.

I for one as a present. It’s really hard to clean and the soup doesn’t taste great. Maybe that’s my fault. Mine doesn’t sauté so it’s bung everything in and cook for 20 mins.
I never use it .

We have a soup maker and I never use it - as others say, just as easy in a pan. But, my husband uses it when he cooks. He much prefers it, and after use, it's easy to clean. He only does one soup - tomatoes, red peppers and onions sauteed in the soup maker, add water and seasoning. Put lid on and turn on. Twenty minutes later, soup.

I really don't understand them, same as rice cookers.

Pan and stick blender, doesn't take any longer?

I just use my vegetable steamer to cook rice. Perfect every time

It's a brilliant gadget. Mine works overtime in the winter. Every veggie should have one !

Oh now I am a fan of a rice cooker!

Have the ninja - use it to make jam weekly, fruit purée for yogurt, chop and sauté veg and fruit , pasta sauces , smoothies, breadcrumbs - it’s so much less faff than standing over a stove and then trying to blend liquid without splattering yourself and every wall in sight although appreciate that may just be me - sometimes even use it to make actual soup 😁- self cleaning too - I really dithered about it as thought it would end up gathering dust but it’s simple to use and very versatile

I love my rice cooker. Press a button and get perfect rice every time. Keeps the hob clear, keeps the rice warm until ready to eat. It also has fuzzy logic which beats my rice making abilities. Even makes a tasty cake. I wouldn’t be without my rice cooker.

And stick blenders just don’t get soup to a nice texture. A jug blender does, but then there’s pouring the hot soup to deal with, and my bLender is more of a pain to wash up than the soup maker.

I have a very expensive soup maker and was keen to get started on making nutritious soups- discovered that it makes my entire house smell of fart and it lingers. My son will be selling mine at a car boot on Sunday

I’ve got a ninja one, it’s amazing, Chuck the ingredients in and press a button to chop it, fry it off if you want by pressing another button and then doing something else for 5 mins, then bang water in and press a button to cook it. When you’ve finished, stick water and a bit of soap in and press another button and it cleans itself.

I used to be in the saucepan and blender camp but I would highly recommend a soup maker, I wouldn’t go back now, it’s nowhere near as good. When I’m working at home I chuck ingredients in mid morning and have hot fresh soup ready at lunchtime (keeps it warm too for a while)

(current favourite is frozen soup / sauce vegetable base and whatever veg I have in the freezer with veg stock. Cheap, easy and bloody lovely)

Now considering buying a bread maker to make fresh sourdough bread alongside it every other day 😂

Ooh fruit purée…. I have loads of plums I should try cooking them in it

I had one and it was ok. Still had to do the chop and prep - but it broke after a few uses so I went back to using the pressure cooker (and hand blender for quick soup). One less gadget to clutter the kitchen!

Love mine. It doesn't need any more prep than soup made in a pan. Chop veg, stick in with stock and go. Mine doesn't saute but then I rarely bother to in a pan either!!

Just watch how much it makes our original regular sized one made too much so the freezer ended uo fill of bags of soup. When it died - dh overpacked the veg and broke the blade - we got a compact size which is much better.

There are still some spups I'd always make in a pan but for a quick lunch, where I don't have to watch a pan or make sure ds (sn) stays away it's ideal

About as useful as a bread maker.

Use a pan and a blender. Then you don't have to make extra space in the back of your cupboard for it.

I wouldn’t want one, but I’ve been making soups forever (mostly not puréed though I have a stick blender for those that are) - no big deal to me, so don’t want worktops/cupboards cluttered up with another gadget.
I dare say they’re useful for people who’ve never made soups and think there’s some great mystique to it, though.

It’s brilliant, to the point that when mine threw itself off the worktop and seemed to die, I bought another straight away-which I then sold when mark#1 dried out and came back to life.
It shouldn’t be better than pan /blender, but it is.

🤣🤣🤣

Well, one of my close relatives got one as a present and loves it, uses it often to make lunch, and I enjoy the odd flavoursome soup that they make for me when visiting as they put in the stuff and spices that I like.

However, I don't like soup that much, as I don't really like the texture of most pureed soups, so it'd gather dust at mine. When I want to make a soup I either have one of two flavours out of a carton as I have a particular brand I like for each, or I make a stewlike broth.

I can't either, you need a pan which you already have and a stick blender which is cheap if you don't have one already.

I dare say they’re useful for people who’ve never made soups and think there’s some great mystique to it, though.

It's not really that - I used to use either a stick blender or Kenwood mixer before I got a soup maker. It's the ease of use - once you've browned your ingredients and put them in with stock, you don't have to do anything else. If you're using up leftover cooked veg (or if you purposely cook extra with another meal) you don't have to use the hob at all.