Review | Philips SoupMaker: effortless decent soups

These soup makers have been on the market for a long time and are becoming more and more common in homes. With a price range that goes more or less between 70 and 120 thousand pesos, they are gradually beginning to be part of the electrical appliances of many chilean kitchens .

For this reason, it seemed to us worth knowing and using this Philips SoupMaker, which is not at all difficult to use although – it must be said – in some cases its results are far of what we could get by making creams and soups in the same traditional way.

There, everyone will see what suits them best or what they prefer to sacrifice: flavor or time and effort. Because this soup maker is quick and convenient, of course.

• Model : HR2203/80
• Power : 1000W
• Ability : 1.2 liters (4 servings)
• Programs : 5 (creamy soup, chunky soup, smoothies, compote and manual)
• Frequency : 50-60hz
• Engine power : 180 Watts
• Materials : stainless steel pitcher and blades
• Dimensions : 230 x 230 x 345cm.
• lester : 1.75 kg

Getting started with this device is very simple. Just take it out of its packaging, throw away some of the plastic and paper it brings -all recyclable-, then clean it inside and out with a damp cloth. Then you need to connect its power cable and plug it in.

Ideally place it on a flat surface and hopefully with enough space to have a board nearby to cut the various ingredients – the machine recommends 2cm pieces, always fresh and thawed – with which we want prepare our soups.

The rest? Pure intuition, since it involves pressing the power button and then selecting the type of preparation desired: soup, cream or milkshake. Also, if the SoupMaker isn’t covered properly, the machine simply won’t start, making it very safe when cooking. So now all that remains is to experiment with various combinations of ingredients and machine processing methods.

To start, I wanted to try this device by making a classic sweet potato squash cream. Following the instructions in the recipe book that came with the SoupMaker, I cut the ingredients – squash, onion, celery and garlic – into very small pieces and put them in the jar. I seasoned them with salt and pepper, to finish finally with cold water but without exceeding the maximum mark.

Finally, I pressed the button for “cream”, for a thicker result, then it only took 18 minutes for it to be ready. How was it? In the end, a cream with an excellent texture and a good temperature came out—neither boiling nor lukewarm—although with a little less flavor than when you prepare it the traditional way: brown the vegetables in oil before cooking them in water or, even tastier, by cooking them beforehand with olive oil in the oven for about 40 minutes.

Of course: with this system, things are not only quick but also much cheaper — less gas is used — and clean, since one container does everything. There are no excessive splashes or odors either, in addition to the fact that the machine is extremely quiet in operation.

To continue the tests, the next day I continued with a vegetarian soup. That is to say: chop the vegetables and process them in the program of the same name, supposed to deliver a lighter and more liquid texture than the cream, with pieces of the same vegetables.

The ingredients were Italian squash, green beans, carrots, and paprika, along with their matching dressing. I chopped it all up and put it in the SoupMaker, added the water and the job.

The result was precisely a lighter soup, without the texture of cream, with a more spoonable broth. The flavor was pretty good, although I missed that caramelized tone you get if you’re sautéing or frying the ingredients for the first time.

For the last I left the gazpacho test. For those who do not know this preparation, it is the famous Spanish cold tomato soup, which also contains cucumber, bread, onion, garlic and peppers, as well as their seasonings.

I used the smoothie mode – with which you can also prepare fruit and milk drinks -, and the truth is that the result was quite good, even better than if I had used a traditional blender. Soft, tasty and with a very fine texture.

In short, whether the machine makes soups, it does. In addition, it leaves very good creamy textures. Perhaps his only problem is that in the preparations you miss that flavor that comes from the browning of the stir-fry, or the caramelized vegetables in the oven. But of course you can’t have it all in life and you can’t have it all in the kitchen either: here time and effort are traded off for those more complex and deeper tastes.

When it comes to completing the tasks of preparing the various creams and soups, things are also very simple. All you have to do is remove the lid – which has the mechanism that grinds it – and wash it well, in addition to rinsing the jug with warm water and wiping it dry with a cloth, because the device cannot be submerged. All of this, of course, after unplugging the SoupMaker and removing the power cord. So, in a few minutes it is clean and ready to be used again.

The SoupMaker works quite well, not only saving time on prep, but also energy and other kitchen utensils. Indeed, in addition to the device itself, we will only need a board for cutting vegetables and a good knife. Nothing more. Goodbye pots, sausages, blenders and others.

Of course, there will always be a flatter flavor to using this type of device instead of going the traditional route. In any case, this device is very practical for those who want to make a cream or a soup quickly and it is also very useful to take on vacation or even camping: having a plug at hand, it can work without too much problem anywhere.

Pay attention to your recipe book which miraculously comes on paper and provides more than thirty alternatives to prepare. Yet getting started with combining ingredients in this SoupMaker is easy and even fun.

Note: ⭐⭐⭐⭐★

*Prices for products in this item are updated as of August 9, 2023. Values ​​and availability are subject to change.