Hand blender or blender for soup??

[Sunflowers842]

I want to try and make soup this winter, only made one once and it was horrible 😂
Ive only got a hand blender which i dont think is a particularly good hand blender, should I invest in a proper blender? Thank you

Hand blender is fine. I make soup with a basic supermarket hand blender and have done for years. If I want some chunky pieces I spoon out so pieces of veg with a slotted spoon and set aside before blending. Then return afterwards.

Soup maker
Best thing I ever bought

Why would you make soup in a pan then stick blend and get it everywhere or ladle into another blender??

The thread will now ignite with people saying you don't need a soup maker, big pan , stick blender blah blah
It's so much easier with a soup maker and I can set it when I WFH and have lovely fresh soup all ready.

No need for anything but big pot and hand blender. The secret to soups is sweating your onions etc and adding lots of flavourful ingredients such as butter, stock, celery, carrot.

The soup you tried is highly unlikely to have been horrible because of how you blended it. What specifically didn’t you like about it, and why are you waiting soooo long to try again?

Hand blender

1. you already have one
2. no extra worktop space used
3. can blend soup insitu in the pan

If you prefer blended soups then a proper blender is best.There are plenty recipes where you don’t need to blend.
Hand blenders can leave lumps.
A big blender is harder to clean and obviously takes up more room but can be used for smoothies and milkshakes too.
Enjoy your soup. I don’t use recipes for soup and make it quite often. Was the one you didn’t like to do with just texture or flavour?
You can get lots of ingredients from Sous Chef ( I get mushroom powder for my soup) and pulses from Hodmedodds.

I use a hand blender (bought it 21 years ago to puree dc1 food and still going strong) so cant comment on what is better, all I know is it works for me. Try something like this to start
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/leekandpotatosoup_1920.

I prefer a hand blender, make the soup in a pan or slow cooker then blend when it’s ready. With a separate blender you have to transfer it which is always messy!

Big pan and hand blender used here.

Pan and hand blender, bought a kenwood one years ago, it’s absolutely brilliant. Can blend in the pan rather than transferring and then making the blender dirty.
My tips are really slow cooking your veg and using good spices/aromatics, and the best stock you can make or get your hands on.

I love my soup maker. Saves so much time. Soup cooked and blended in 25 minutes! I stopped using a hand blender when I splattered and scalded my arms 😬

Either one is fine as long as it’s decent. I used to only use a hand blender, then it broke. Now use a blender. Both the same really. The hand blender marginally easier to wash.

Same. Super-easy, minimal fuss. No idea why anyone would need a ‘soup maker’. 🙄I have a big stockpot (that also has steamer inserts so handy for veg) and a Guzzini hand blender that I’ve been using for 20+ years.

All you need is a big pan and a hand blender. Dont buy another kitchen appliance that only serves one purpose, it just adds to the clutter! I started making soups again a couple of weeks ago and make a big batch and then use some and freeze individual portions to take to work for lunches. Trying to make a different one each week so any suggestions welcome!

Hand blender is used for over 20 years here. It’s fine.

Hand blender because I’m lazy. The blender does make a slightly smoother soup but it’s just for me/my kids so the hand blender is good enough. I need to google soup maker now, I didn’t even know this was a thing!

How many servings OP?

If its just for you you can get small soup makers that double up as blenders, this is what I have

I have a slightly larger soup maker for 2 people but as OH prefers trashy shop soups (!) it doesnt get used but is very good

I cant use a stick blender easily due to dexterity and muscle control

I have one, it has been in constant use for about 8 years now

I can put all the ingredients in and go off , come back and have perfectly cooked blended soup.
I dont need a big pan and a stick blender , I have arthritis so it hurts to get large pots out and the stick blender splatters - cant maintain constant pressure .
I then have to ladle it out, more drips .

Then washing up said big pot, blender, ladle

It cooks, blends and pours neatly from one small kitchen appliance.
Perfect

I personally prefer pot and hand blender - too much faff transferring to a blender and inevitably losing some of the delicious soup!

Hand blender for me, no lumps in mine

I’ve got a Kenwood hand blender I’ve had for years. It’s got a separate attachment for soups which is larger than the usual blender attachment. With a pan you can add the ingredients at the right time to cook them properly. I don’t get how this works with a soup maker where it all goes in together?

All the same for me. I did not realise until I was reading about soup makers on here just how easier it is. Also the cleaning function on them, no need to be worrying about slicing my fingers off on the blender blade but equally making sure its clean and dry. (I dont put any blades of mine in the dishwasher)

I also make houmous and other dips in my mini soup maker.

I only ever use a hand blender for soup, works a treat. Why was it horrible? Did you make a meat based soup? If so, I wouldn't blend meat, I'd blend my soup base and add the meat in small chunks afterwards, I usually make veg soup and it's absolutely fine blending the whole thing with a blender.

You don't need anything other than a stick blender, you might just need to prepare the cook the soup better.

Always start with a slow paute of onions, and as they cook, prepare all your other veg which you can add slowly to the pan. Once it is all added and sauteeing nicely, you can add your stock or whatever you use [water and stock cube] and season and leave it to all cook down. Then turn it off when all cooked, and blend, making sure you hold the blender bit under the surface to stop it splattering. Then taste, season again if needed and reheat if needed and serve.

What you can also do at the end is to cook extra spices in some oil - eg mustard seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seed, more finely chopped onions, garlic, chilli, leaf coriander, parsley, etc...and then just add that to the soup, stir in prior to serving.

Mine has a saute function, so you fry off some of the ingredients that you want and then you have to get clever at working out which function you want. For example, I love putting watercress in soup, but wouldnt do that the start when using the soup maker as I dont want the freshness or goodness or colour cooked out. So I'll saute the bits I want sauted, then put it to make a chunky soup with the other ingredients, so it doesnt blend it, then when its finished put my water cress in or other fresher ingredients that will just 'cook' in the heat of the soup (which is boiling) and then blend for however long I want.

Then I'll put it on the cleaning function while eating my soup.