I need help with making soup.

[ThePoorMansBeckySharp]

Made vegetable soup in my slowcooker. The veg didn't 'dissolve' into the water, making a nice thick soup, the bits just floated around! What am I doing wong? Do I need to pre-boil them? Pre- blend them?

Hmm, am not a slow-cooker person, but i would always liquidise/push through a sieve shortly before end of cooking, or else just say 'it's stew'.

oh you need a stick blender - it turns any amount of floaty veg into proper soup (but make sure to keep the business end under the surface)

also, always include a couple of spuds, as that thickens it nicely without having to prat about with flour & water

but anyway, you really don't need to bother with a slow cooker for soup - in a big pan on the hob it only takes about 20 mins (then stick your blender in)

Veg soup;

roughly chop 6 carrots, 2 patotoes, 2 celery sticks, an onion, and half a head of small cauliflower. Throw in a chopped tomato too, for the craic. Melt a tablespoon of butter and a teaspoon of oil in a saucepan. Throw veg in. Put on a low heat and stir it until the veg has gone a bit soft. Cover with water, simmer for twenty minutes or so until veg is soft. Blend. Add salt and pepper to taste. Done!

But I've gone and bought a slow cooker now, I HAVE to use it!

Yep, Ponders is right. Stick blender is the way to go and you don't need to slow cook. Cook your veg in stock on the hob and then blend and season.

I never slow cook soup but I do like to roast veg - such as butternut squash, peppers, shallots, onion and garlic drizzled with olive oil and sprinked with mixed herbs - in the oven and then tip into a large pan, add some veg or chicken stock but not too much, let it simmer for ten minutes and then blend until you are happy with the texture. Add whatever seasoning you like - chilli, curry powder, celery salt etc and serve.

I wouldn't slow cook it either. Much easier to hob cook it IME and very fast!

I love my slow cooker but I never use it for soup! I use it for curries, stews, casseroles, meatballs, pot roasts etc etc. I do often use the liquid left over from slow cooking for soup bases though but I just decant them into a pan and cook it on the hob.

Vegetables don't dissolve. Potatoes or peeled squash might disappear eventually. Red lentils will turn to fluff. Onions almost disappear if chopped very very small to start with. But something like a carrot or a piece of celery will just get softer and stay in once piece. If you don't have a hand/stick blender, attack your finished soup with a potato masher and/or push it through a seive to get rid of lumps.

True about the lack of evaporation, but Busters idea of saving the liquid from slow cooker stews etc for making soup (on the hob) later is brilliant

Aww thanks Ponders! It just seems such a waste to tip it down the sink.

I actually think slow cookers are great for soup, because cooking low and slow is what gives soup depth of flavor. I just allow for the fact that you will need to use less liquid.