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. The $200 Cuisinart Soup Maker and Blender looks to streamline the entire soup process.
The recipe booklet offers a good spread of recipes – jam, chutney, risotto, smoothie, nut milk, curries and soups. You can strip the process back to basics if you like but we feel the usefulness of this product has the potential to grow and grow as you become more familiar with it. We wished we’d chopped our ingredients for carrot & coriander soup more finely to reduce cooking time and create a finer result. The blender part of that soup heater / blender machine just seems so gimmicky to me.
Blending Power This is the one thing it does well, it purees things to a pulp and that’s all it will do, don’t use it if you’re only wanting it chopped it won’t do that for you. Versatility Not very versatile at all, like I said before it’s mainly for pureed soups and that’s about it nothing with any thickness or rustic style soups sadly. Ease of Cleaning Not easy to clean at all, you can take it apart somewhat, but it’s still so very hard to really get it cleaned. Ease of Use It’s easy to use but you won’t get the results you’re looking for most of the time. Design Very poor design, you can’t even clean it properly which is really gross.
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While a soup maker isn’t an essential buy, it has fast become the secret tool in any professionally inspired kitchen kit. The best soup makers can create a delicious soup – be it a simple, creamy tomato and rosemary or a more complex chicken and tarragon – in under 30 minutes. One of the biggest benefits of soup is its cuisinart soup maker high comfort factor. Nothing, that is, except a bowl of warm homemade soup. With a combination appliance such as this soup maker, the comfort level is pushed even further as it reduces the time spent cooking, giving you more time to relax. The “stir” function will work better if your vegetable pieces are smaller.
This blender is very easy to use and has many features. The owners manual is definitely worth taking a look through since some of the functions of this machine may not be obvious to a new user. The blender function works very well and easily blends ice, raw vegetables, fruits and mixes them appropriately. The soup function is also very helpful since it keeps all of your food in one container, rather than dirtying multiple dishes.
Given that you could spend the same on a standalone blender, this is a super-smart buy. Because this appliance functions as a hybrid slow-cooker, food processor, and blender, it’s something that deserves a piece of real cuisinart soup maker estate on your kitchen counter. It’s the perfect gift for busy folks trying to find a little bit of extra time during this holiday insanity. The blender function is not as powerful as many other soup maker brands.
Cuisinart Soup Maker Plus is a ‘one-stop shop’ for a whole host of comforting recipes. You can adjust the heat settings and add extra ingredients during cooking, stirring throughout using the slow stir function. At the end of cooking, you can choose from the different blending options. Select the ‘slow stir’ function to gently mix ingredients and retain a chunky texture, perfect for a risotto. Or use the high speed blend for smoother soups and sauces without any messy transferring from pan to blender.