Whenever the functionality changes, for example from cook to blend, you’ll hear a bleep. However, the lid had a hole to add ingredients, which is good, and it wasn’t very loud at all. Helpfully, the lid also has an in-built memory function, useful if, say, you’ve forgotten an ingredient, or want to add something halfway through the cook. I’d suggest waiting a couple of minutes after you’ve finished before removing the lid, as it gets quite hot.
Others even have a self-clean mode, though I found you often still need to rinse or scrub in the sink. A keep-warm function maintains the soup’s temperature for a limited time after cooking, up to an hour, in most cases. Usually, you can reheat your soup in the device. The first thing I made was a simple lentil soup. The blender lid houses a measuring cup, too. It is, admittedly, a tad more hands-on than some soup makers – the aforementioned sautéing, for example, requires you to switch between functions during cooking.
When Cuisinart offered me one to review, I asked my mum, Mamta, to put it through its paces, as she regularly makes soups at home. This burly blender is a pain to clean, as its blades aren’t removable. Navigating my fingers around the sharp metal to pick out pieces of lentil was a challenge. If you make a lot of soup, investing in a good soup machine will save you time and effort. Read our review of this Cuisinart model to see how it performed in our tests.
However, this makes it much closer to cooking on the hob and therefore adapting recipes becomes straightforward. Blending can be done once any of the programmes have finished. In addition, you can blend or pulse cold liquids such as smoothies. Every once in a while a product pops up that makes you think… Why has no one thought of this before? The Cuisinart SSB1U Soup Maker is just that. Combine a high power blender from one of the world leaders in kitchenware with a fast boil kettle, and you kind of see where this product is going.
Or alternatively you have the SoyaJoy kitchen gadget that makes soup, soy milk and a few other things and is more in the style of a soup maker. But if you are outside of the UK, then you won’t find the same choice in soup makers. You get what you pay for, the Morphy Richards Soup Maker is really cheap compared to the Cuisinart Soup Maker. The Cuisinart Soup Maker had a much better blender and a capacity to bulk cook soup. Its easy to clean and we love also using it for if we just want a quick batch of soup to go with dinner.
Do you have a question about the Cuisinart and the answer is not in the manual? Provide a clear and comprehensive description of the problem and your question. The better your problem and question is described, the easier it is for other Cuisinart owners to provide you with a good answer. Please comment and share your favorite Cuisinart Soupmaker recipes with us too.
Here are the best soup makers I tested, starting with my favourite. This recipe is excellent and can be easily adjusted to prepare on your stove cuisinart pots and pans set top. It has a slightly different taste than some other curry powders. This soup will definitely be a staple in our house this winter.