But my husband got me this Cuisinart for Christmas because he thought the concept was awesome. So I smiled and said Thanks and had him put it on the counter. A couple of weeks later I felt like I should use cuisinart pots and pans set it. None of the soups in the book it came with appealed to me. I followed the instructions and it felt like there were a lot of steps. But I really think it would have been easier to cook it on the stove.
Ease of Cleaning The blender comes a part easily and can be washed by hand in minutes. Ease of Use There are a lot of functions so reading the owners manual was extremely helpful in order to get the most out of the machine. Design Excellent design and can be stored easily.
There are three heating levels to choose from – simmer , low and high , which is used to bring soup to the boil. Heat decreases and increases throughout each level. We wished we’d chopped our ingredients for carrot & coriander soup more finely to reduce cooking time and create a finer result.
It still allows you to cook, simmer, then stir or blend, and is quick and convenient with no messy transferring from pan to blender. But the heavy-duty glass jar now features an easy-clean, non-stick cooking plate so you can sauté your chopped ingredients before adding liquid to bring your soup mix to the boil then blending. Cuisinart’s automatic soup makers take the hard work out of creating healthy homemade soups from scratch. These ingenious kitchen companions sauté, cook, simmer and blend your favorite soup ingredients into tempting hot soups in a matter of minutes. Whether you like your soup smooth or chunky, Cuisinart’s cook-and-blend soup makers will create warming soups in just the right consistency to suit your preferences. Cuisinart’s soup makers are like regular blenders – with a heating function!
It’s a great idea but will only stir the lower portion of the ingredients while chunks are still relatively uncooked, and so it needed some assistance to thoroughly mix the contents. The stir feature is of more use once the stock was introduced and the solid ingredients able to float. Turning the heat up to high and sealing the lid with the measuring cup, we left the mixture to cook. We started by sautéing onions on low for a Scotch broth, with the heating plate helping to release the aroma and taste of the onions. As you can’t blend while heating like many soup makers which offer a smooth setting, it does mean you need to chop vegetables well to ensure you end up with a smooth consistency. Its great 2 make smoothies, heating soups.
After my initial enthusiastic experiments I have used it about twice. It does make good soup but no better than I can make in other ways. I especially agree with Mamta about the dangers of getting the jug off the base. I also had a problem frying the onions in the first stage.
Portion sizes in the USA tends to be bigger and hearty soups are more preferred. It is very good value for money, even more so if you pick it up during a sale like we did. If you have small children, its perfect for fast lunches or for pureed baby food. It takes just 20 minutes to produce amazing homemade soup. When you first start weaning your baby off the breast milk, you can puree all their first fruit and vegetables and it can be a real time saver.