American “Turkey Day” has now come and passed, and the days are getting chilly. That must mean it is “Soup Season.” [Okay, to be fair “Soup Season” never really ends in my house, but for many it is this time of year when the broths and soups begin to grace the tables]. It being Foodie Friday, it seemed a suitable occasion to write my second gadget review.
I have mentioned my Morphy Richards soup maker before, but not as a thorough review. My machine is a Morphy Richards 48822, stainless steel model. It has a 1.6 litre capacity, and settings for chunky soup, smooth soup, and a blitzing function. The manufacturer’s manual said that the blitzer aspect could also be used to make smoothies, but I have never been so inclined in a device that a- heats up, and b- has been used to make multiple pots of soup [thereby have some burned on remnants].
As my wife prefers creamy and smooth soups, I experimented with the smooth setting. I found that some more dense or fibrous veg didn’t always soften fully in a single cycle, and once blitzed burned in the bottom corners if run again [thus the previous note about smoothies]. Now to be fully fair here, it made lovely soup in a single cycle if not dealing with Swede, or similar.
To meet my needs, however, I generally run my ingredients through the two cycles of the chunky cycle to make sure they are ultra soft, and then use the internal blades to make a perfectly smooth soup, blitzing it myself. Timing is usually comparable to the pot method [each chunky cycle being 28 minutes], but there is somewhat less slicing and dicing, and the final blitz is a “one stop” process.
While it is billed as a 1.6 litre appliance, I find that it runs better at 1.5, as the internal sensors sometimes cut off the process when it begins to boil with the full capacity is reached.
Cleaning is relatively easy, though it does require a bit of scrubbing and care [especially if it is allowed to fully cool]. The upper section, which has the controls, and blade arm attached requires a soapy cloth or sponge to clean. A careful stream of running water over the blades is helpful. But as it is an electrical device water needs to be kept away from parts further up. Similarly as the heating elements are in the base this too needs care. The jug can be filled with water for cleaning, but can’t be immersed. After cleaning a good towel dry is usually enough to have it ready to start again.
All in all, I do really like this machine, and think it is one of my “good” purchases. While I am a traditionalist in most things kitchen, this is one of my modern concessions, as it does allow me to put my focus on other things once it is up and running.
Padre
Padre's Ramblings 