Buying a soup maker can be tricky, especially if you don't know where to start. So many questions come into play, like what material to consider, the capacity, and whether you need additional features such as plant-based milk and smoothie functions. To help make the process smooth and simple, we’ve put together a buying guide so you can choose the perfect soup maker with confidence.
Qualities to Consider When Choosing a Soup Maker
Choosing the right soup maker depends on different factors. For instance, the amount of soup you regularly make, how important speed is, or if an easy-to-clean soup maker is a deal-breaker. To find a product that perfectly fits your requirements, here are the top qualities to look for when sizing up the options on the market.
Size
First, consider how many people you plan to regularly serve. Typically, the serving size for one person is about 13 ounces; however, many people may eat more (taking second helpings) or less (if they’re a child) than this. The amount of soup you plan to cook also depends on where and for whom you’re cooking. For instance, a small jug is likely more than enough for a couple living in an apartment. However, if you’d like to serve soup at your workplace to a larger group of people, for example, we recommend choosing a family-sized option.
Functions
Many soup makers come with different functions to determine the texture of your soup. Whether or not you need these functions depends on a few questions. For instance, do you like your soup chunky or completely smooth? Do you plan to make smoothies or plant-based nut milks? If you answered yes, then we recommend choosing a soup maker that can do far more than simply simmer your ingredients into a soup. Through various functions and settings, a multifunctional soup maker can cook your ingredients first and then blend them until the desired consistency is achieved. A soup maker can also be used as a jam maker, sous vide machine, sauce maker, and can even prepare mixes for frozen drinks.
Speed
Professional chefs make soup on low heat for an extended period of time to draw out complex, rich flavors. However, modern soup makers reduce this time from 6-7 hours to just 1 hour at most. If speedy cooking is essential, choosing a soup maker based on its speed and how quickly it can turn ingredients into a delicious, flavorful dish, should be considered above all else. What’s more, you can try dicing the ingredients into small pieces, about 1cm in size, which will cook them more quickly.
Cleaning
Thoroughly cleaning your soup maker is a must. Most of these products have a dedicated cleaning process to help remove food in an easy, effortless, and efficient way. When choosing a soup maker based on how easy it is to clean, we recommend checking its water tolerance, heat tolerance, whether it's dishwasher-safe, and what type of soap is suitable for cleaning it. Remember, you should always clean the inside with a brush or a cloth to protect your hands from getting cut by the blade.
What to Use Your Soup Maker for Beyond Making Soup
Although a soup maker's primary use is to efficiently make delicious soups, here are some additional functions that make this multipurpose gadget so much more than a soup maker.
Soup
First and foremost, a soup maker is ideal for making thick, smooth, creamy, or chunky soups. Soup makers allow you to make soup for your family without needing to plan hours ahead or be tied to the house watching a pot simmer for hours on the stove. If you have one with a large enough capacity, you can also bring your portable soup maker to your office or another professional setting and make quick, delicious, flavorful soups for colleagues or friends.
Jam
We all love jams and their different flavors and textures. You can transform your soup maker by placing fruit and sugar inside to make a yummy, homemade jam. Using the jam function, you can choose to make your jam chunky or smooth, depending on your preference.
Sauces
From steaks to brownies, everything's better with a sauce. You can easily make sweet and savory sauces with a soup maker while still retaining their complex flavor. A typical soup maker makes as much as 1.5 liters of sauce at once, which is more than enough for 30 dishes!
Desserts
Desserts like sorbet or ice cream require churning. However, if you have a soup maker, there is no need for an additional ice cream machine. Just add the ingredients and program the soup maker's setting to low and you’ll achieve the desired results.
Steam
Some soup makers also come with a steam setting and a specific bowl that fits in the body of the soup maker to steam some vegetables or other foods.
Sous vide
This feature allows you to heat water and maintain its temperature so different foods (such as meat or vegetables) can be slow-cooked without drying out. Because soup makers tend to be small, we don’t recommend a soup maker for this purpose if you want to sous vide in bulk.
Milkshake
A soup maker can easily blend your favorite fruits with milk and ice for a yummy milkshake. Plus, it can also crush ice for mixed drinks and cocktails.
How a Soup Maker Makes Your Life Easier
If you’re not sure a soup maker makes the most sense for you or your lifestyle, we’ve compiled the most important ways a soup maker makes your life easier below.
Less stress
Traditionally, making soup requires a lot of stirring, monitoring the heat, and checking your soup periodically. This can be stressful, as you always have to keep one eye on the stove. However, with a soup maker, all you need to do is mix your ingredients together, adjust the heat, and voilà, your soup cooks completely on its own!
Even cooking
When cooking large batches of soup on the stove, it can be difficult to cook all the different ingredients (hard carrots, soft onions) correctly, which often results in different flavor profiles throughout. This is because heat is not spread evenly throughout the soup. However, an electric soup maker expertly mixes all the ingredients and flavors together.
Quick cooking
Making soup usually involves hours of cooking until a particular consistency is achieved. This can be tiring, especially if you are making large quantities. However, with a modern soup maker, the cooking time is reduced to as little as 30 minutes, giving you no excuse to make a delicious soup.
Multi-purpose
Many soup makers have additional functions, allowing them to also work as milkshake makers, jam makers, sous vide, and even steamers. One multi-purpose soup-making machine will eliminate the need for multiple gadgets, saving you space in your kitchen.
Deciding Which Soup Maker Is Right for You
Soup makers come in all different types and styles. Finding the one that’s perfect for you will depend on how you plan to use it and your overall requirements.
Sauté soup makers
A sauté soup maker has a built-in hot plate so you can caramelize your vegetables or meat before mixing them with the rest of the soup ingredients. While this feature is a huge plus, keep in mind that sauté soup makers do not have multiple features and can also be quite large in size. On the plus side, because of their large capacity, you can make much larger batches of soup. And because of their built-in hot plate, they can keep your soup at an optimal temperature for hours after cooking.
Kettle soup makers
Kettle soup makers, which often look like milkshake machines, are very multifunctional, allowing them to make a variety of foods. However, there are a few downsides to these machines. For instance, kettle soup makers can only make a small amount of food at once, and overfilling them can destroy the machine. Also, they require more care than other soup makers and we recommend following the washing techniques as instructed.
