We love a warming bowl of soup in this household its the perfect lunch after a morning stood by a cold football pitch. Paired up with some crusty french stick and butter is the perfect lunch.
We often crack open a can of soup but what about a delicious and comforting bowl or mug of piping hot homemade soup? Even the fussiest of eaters can enjoy well blended and healthy soups, but making your own the traditional way can be so messy and time consuming chances are you rarely bother.
That’s when having a soup maker in the kitchen makes a huge difference, but rather than rushing ahead and buying the first model you see take a moment to make a good decision, so you will get the most benefit from it.
Here’s a rundown of the key things to consider when looking for the perfect soup maker for you and your family.
Size/capacity
How much soup do you want to make at one time? If it will only ever be used for single or at most two servings look for something with around a one litre capacity, while around 1.7 litres should be fine for four average or six small servings. Larger models are also available. (Plenty of soups can be frozen after making, which could be handy for those living alone.)
You should also consider if a soup-making blender is more appropriate for your needs. These are basically just like normal blenders but are a little bigger in size and can be more powerful. They work faster than normal, cheaper soup makers so if you like to make soup on the fly then they are likely to be the one for you.
Ease of use
Check how easy a soup maker is to lift, (some are heavy), or to get the lid on and off. It is meant to make your life easier so consider if you want to pay a little more for a model that sautés your food before cooking – which does add flavour. If you do it yourself first it’s taking more of your time and giving you more dishes to clean.
Range of options
Some soup makers have a feature allowing you to choose to make your soup chunky or more blended, and many come with additional options making them a multi-functional device. If you want to make jam, smoothies or a host of other things choose a model which offers those options.
Easy care
A soup maker is designed to save you time, so go for a model that can be easily cleaned, either by hand or in a dishwasher if you prefer. Some come with parts that are removable and even have non-stick coatings which can make clean up so much easier.
After all you don’t want to go through all the hassle of buying a more expensive soup-making blender when all the time you’ve saved from making the soup gets wasted with the time it takes to clean it up.
Speed
Impatient types can find a model which will have them eating in less than ten minutes, but be warned that what you gain in speed you pay for with noise as fast settings motor through on full speed blend mode. The average soup cycle takes around 20-30 minutes. Some may have a timer option too, so you can set up your soup maker like you can a crockpot slow cooker.
Cost
There are models to suit all pockets available in stores and online, and it’s worth spending as much as you can afford to get the features you are sure you will need and use. If you need a maker capable of handling large quantity of food then you may need to go for a more expensive model. The same goes if you want a particularly powerful model that can handle tougher, more viscous foods.
However, it’s fine to go super budget if you know the extra fancy features will be ignored. These smaller models will work just fine if all you’re serving is you and your family.
It’s also important to mention that soup-making blenders are more expensive than soup makers, generally. So even though you will save yourself some time, it will come at a cost.
It’s wise to look at various models but then check comparison sites and Soup maker reviews on various sites or social media of those you like before making the final commitment to buy.
This is a collaborative post.
