FOR a quick and easy lunch as the weather turns cold, a soup maker will deliver with minimal effort.
It may not be a kitchen “essential”, but these machines can save a great deal of time, stress and washing up.
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Many of them can be used to make smoothies, dips and sauces too so you can stretch your investment even further.
One even makes boiled eggs.
They also use less energy than a hob, so could save you money on your bills too.
We asked mum-of-three Lynsey Hope, 41, from West Malling, Kent, to try our some popular models and share her verdict.
Here’s what happened:
Tower 1.6L Vizion Soup Maker
- £79.99, towerhousewares.co.uk
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Lynsey says: “What I liked about this model is the transparent body, so you can keep an eye on your soup while it’s cooking.
“Most of the others were stainless steel and didn’t have this function and I did find it quite handy.
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“You can knock up a smooth or chunky soup in just 20 minutes and use it to make smoothies too.
“The LED control panel is easy to use. It’s pricey, but it did a good job.”
- Taste: 9/10
- Ease of use: 9/10
- Value: 7/10
- Overall score: 8/10
Judge Soup Maker, 1.7L
- £53, amazon.co.uk
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Lynsey says: “The ‘smooth’ soup wasn’t as smooth as I would have liked.
“I had to stand using the pulse button to blend it down further, which was a bit annoying.
“The plastic jug was very light to handle compared to many others though, as some are heavy, and it’s clear so you could see what was going on inside.
“You can even cook boiled eggs in it! Comes with a brush that makes it easy to clean.”
- Taste: 6/10
- Ease of use: 5/10
- Value: 6/10
- Overall score: 6/10
Salter Digital Soup Maker
- £39.99, robertdyas.co.uk
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Lynsey says: “Quite a big machine that takes up a lot of space and it was very noisy while in use.
“That said for the price it made very tasty soup and you can basically leave it to its thing so very convenient.
“I had one or two issues with the sensor saying it was too full when it wasn’t.
“You could make about four bowls with it so big enough for a family.”
- Taste: 7/10
- Ease of use: 9/10
- Value: 9/10
- Overall score: 9/10
Morphy Richards Perfect Soup Maker
- £89.99, morphyrichards.com
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Lynsey says: “Chop your ingredients, pop them in, choose your consistency and away you go – your soup will be ready in 21 minutes.
“You’ll have to wait 28 if you want a chunky soup.
“This perfect soup maker has a whole host of fancy features including in-built scales which allow you to add the perfect proportion of ingredients.
“This is especially handy if you’re on a strict diet plan as all ingredients will be accurately measured.
“It’s a good size jug – 1.6L – so you can make up to four portions in one go.
“It has an easy-to-use LED countdown timer display. It really is the piece de resistance.”
- Taste: 10/10
- Ease of use: 10/10
- Value: 8/10
- Overall score: 9/10
Zanussi SDA ZSB-810-YL Blender and Soup Maker
- £69, amazon.co.uk
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Lynsey says: “I preferred the ‘smooth’ programme on this one as the chunky programme left the veggies a bit too big.
“I tried adding chickpeas to one recipe and they burned at the bottom, which was a bit of a pain to clean out.
“The lid was also quite difficult to get on and off. Pretty good for simple soups but not my favourite model.”
- Taste: 6/10
- Ease of use: 5/10
- Value: 4/10
- Overall score: 5/10
Drew & Cole Soup Maker
- £39.99, currys.co.uk
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Lynsey says: “Whips up a soup in just 18 minutes.
“You can choose chunky or smooth and there’s even a ‘Smooth+’ function if you prefer it extra smooth or want to make something like gazpacho.
“If you want to season or add more ingredients whilst cooking, you don’t need to restart it, the soup makers just carries on cooking once you close the lid again.
“Washing up is easy too – just add water and detergent and the Auto-Clean function will do the rest.
“Only downside with this is that it’s VERY noisy and the beep at the end to tell you it’s ready goes on and on if you don’t turn it off.
“It made great soup though and is one of the cheapest on the market, if you can put up with the noise.”
- Taste: 10/10
- Ease of use: 9/10
- Value: 10/10
- Overall score: 10/10
