I want to make soup. Lots of soup. WIll a hand blender cut it or do I need something better?

[BooBooGlass]

I have no idea where to start. I'm a big fan of minestrone type soups where there is no blending, but now it's getting colder I want to expand the repertoire a bit and fancy trying blended soups. If i get a cheapy hand blender thingy will that do? Or do I need a super duper food processor jobby? Pennies are tight so I am prayign someone will say the former

I make absolutely gallons of soups, and have always found my hand held whizzer thingie to be absolutely fine.. can get soups very smooth with it.. i used my food processor so little, i took it to the tip about 6 months ago, i got it when we got married 12 years ago, and i rarely used it as too faffy and the hand held blender did the trick

lulu, I think I love you. Me and my bank manager salute you
I had a fabulous food processor given to me a few years ago and that also went to the tip as it lived under the sink and the blades scared me!

better even, because you can just leave the soup in the pan. will be just as smooth.

Hand blender is fine. A processor is actually a pain in the neck as you have to get the soup out of the pan and in to it in stages (unless you have a HUGE processor). Dh used to do this - then he saw the light and spent a tenner on a hand blender - so much easier! Make sure you wait for the soup to cool a bit though or you'll get splaashed with boiling liquid!

Hand blender does the job just fine.
I make soup all the time, usually a big le crueset full, I just take it slowly with the handblender so that it doesn't whizz out and splatter the kitchen iykwim.

I have a GIANT Pan that i make Soup in and i use my hand Blender, I love Soup i could eat a different variety every day. :)

Ooo fab, it's looking good. I have a dreadful desire to make mushroom soup. God only knows why. And I want to try my hand at making a sweet potato one too. Any good recipes knocking around

i buy the ready prepped sweet potato and butternut squash chunks, fry some some onion in olive oil, throw in teh veg, add some veg stock and simmer til soft, then blend, and then add a couple of hadnfuls of red lentils, simmer until they're cooked and then blend again, season to taste.

et voila !

hand blender better - less washing up!

But I prefer lumpy soups personally. Favourite is tomato, lentil and butterbean. Yum yum

1 onion
1 tin chopped tomatoes
garlic
1 teasp paprika
1 tin butterbeans
1 big handful red lentils
hot water/stock as necessary

sweat the onion. add the garlic and paprika. then add tin of tomatoes and lentils plus enough stock so that the mixture is nice and wet. Season. Allow to simmer for 30 mins, adding more water if it gets too thick; check that the lentils are cooked then Drain and rinse the butterbeans and add to the pot. Allow to heat through. check seasoning then serve with crusty bread, a drizzle of olive oil and a little squeeze of lemon.

Cheapy hand blender us perfect. Make sure the liquid is deep enough of else you might throw soup everywhere.

I always use my hand blender mouli doofa for soups, works very well.

Sweet potato soup would be lovely, I've done one before where you roast chunks of sweet potato with butternut squash, then add to a pan with onions, garlic and sage. Add stock, simmer, blend and season to taste then that's it, although a spoon of sour cream on it is nice as well.

Am soup whizz \Swear by Braun hand blender, don't buy cheapy one, it will be mush better, and value for money!

I always blend soup in the thing the whizzer comes with with high sides, if I do it in the pan I splatter it everywhere but then I am very clumsy

Here's the BEST mushie soup recipe ever, make it every Autumn:

Bonfire Mushroom Soup

3 x 250g packs of mushrooms, mix of portabella and chestnut, sliced
110g unsalted butter
2 tablespns fresh parsley
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
1 large clove garlic peeled and finely chopped
whole nutmeg for grating
2 thick slices wholemeal bread, crusts removed
2 litres hot chicken stock
1 x 284ml pot double cream ( NB I use half this, I find it too creamy and unshroomy otherwise )
sea salt

Stew mushrooms gently in the butter in large heavy bottomed pan and when their juices begin to run, add half the parsley, the thyme, garlic and season with sea salt, pepper and a grating of nutmeg. Soak the bread in a little of the stock and add it to the mushrooms and then add the rest of the stock. Cook for about 15 mins, uncovered at a gentle simmer, then liquidise. If freezing, freeze at this stage. Otherwise stir in cream and bring soup just up to boil test seasoning and scatter over rest of parsley.

I only have a hand held blender and it is bloody marvellous for soup.
In fact, better than magimix, because you blend in the pan you cooked in, and a magimix is a bugger to wash!!! Make sure it is a nice big pan and DON'T lift blender out whilst still switched on!!!

I am eating this unbelievable pumpkin soup RIGHT NOW. Made it slightly less proportion of chilli, so kids would eat it (they love it) and it is amazing.

Mind you, I did have 6 huge pumpkins from my veg patch, so now I have used 1 pumpkin (and have 4 double portions of soup in the freezer and we ate equivalent of 6 bowls at the weekend). My pumpkin was a tad bigger than theirs (like, ten times bigger!).

I like my soups really thick, so don't go mad on the stock quantities. You can always add more, you can't take away, if it proves a bit thick when you blend it.