Drew And Cole SoupChef Pro From Highstreettv.com Review

Reviewed by Claire Giles

As a lover of ready made fresh soups, not tinned, I can be quite the soup snob. The fresh soups from the fridges in the supermarket can be quite expensive so I do occasionally make my own soup but find it quite time consuming. Between cooking everything in pans and blending it, it can be quite messy and bothersome. I do own a couple of soup cookbooks that I keep meaning to cook more recipes from but knowing how long it’s going to take and the mess it’s going to create I never seem to get round to making them. I have thought about buying a soup maker before but wasn’t sure if I would use it enough to justify the cost.

The Drew & Cole SoupChef Pro arrived quickly and was well packaged. The box it arrived in and most of the packaging were recyclable.

On taking it out of the box I was pleasantly surprised by how sleek and sophisticated it looked, especially the fact that it was charcoal (most of the ones I have seen before are silver). It has a large 1.6L capacity making up to 5 bowls of soup so is ideal for families or batch cooking and freezing for a later date.

To remove the lid you simply pull up on the handle on the lid and just push it down back into place to replace the lid. The non-stick heating element base allows you to saute some of your ingredients, like onion, carrots, celery, prior to starting the soup program for tastier flavoured soup. There is a saute button on the jug handle which illuminates red when the SoupChef Pro is turned on. Once pressed the light on the saute button turns green and starts the saute program. The saute program remains on for 5 minutes once pressed unless you press the button again to cancel. If after the 5 minutes are finished you want to saute your ingredients more, simply press the saute button again.

The control panel is on the lid of the SoupChef Pro. It is simple and easy to use. The three main option are:
Smooth – makes smooth soups. This program is 19 minutes long.
Chunky – makes chunky soups. This program is 25 minutes long.
Smooth+ – works like a pulse blender and can be used to further blend your soup to your preferred consistency.

Once you have chosen the type of soup you want to make you simply put all your ingredients in the jug (after using the saute program if needed) and replace the lid. The soup maker defaults to the smooth program on the control panel. To change the program you just press the mode button to change it to chunky and press it again for smooth+. Once the program is selected, press the select button and the program will start. The LED display on the lid will show the cooking time and will countdown to show the time remaining, The LED display also shows the programs progress. When it is heating red LED bars will scroll vertically up the display. When it is blending red LED icons will switch from left to right. When it is resting six LEDs will be permanently on showing the heating element is off.

You can turn the soup maker off at any point by pressing the select button. The SoupChef Pro has a clever memory function that means during the program you can remove the lid to add any seasoning, to taste or add more ingredients and when you replace the lid it will continue the remainder of the programme, rather than reset. After cooking is complete it automatically goes to keep warm function which will keep your soup warm for up to 2 hours.

There is a timer function that you can use to delay the start of the cooking program for up to 12 hours so you can have fresh hot soup ready for when you want it.

The user manual included is thorough and clear though does not include any recipes. Recipes can be found on the Drew & Cole website or by downloading the Drew & Cole app. I downloaded the Drew & Cole app and filtered it to show recipes for SoupChef Pro. I selected a couple of recipes to try from the app and a couple from my own soup cookbook.

I chose two kid friendly smooth soup recipes Yummy Tomato and Easy Cheesy from my own cookbook to try first. For both recipes firsty I saute any ingredients like carrots, onion, celery in butter for 5 minutes. I then added the rest of the ingredients and liquid (in this case vegetable stock and milk), replaced the lid, selected the smooth program and pressed select to start the program. Then I left it to cook. In 19 minutes the soup was ready to serve. It really was that simple. Both soups were deliciously smooth and had plenty of hidden vegetables in them that my kids wouldn’t have eaten in chunky soup. It easily served 2 adults and 2 children with some spare that I cooled and put in the freezer for another day.

From the app I tried the chunky vegetable soup recipe which was unbelievably easy. Just add frozen mixed vegetables with vegetable stock in the jug, replace the lid, choose the chunky program and press select to start and leave to cook. After 25 minutes it was cooked. I used the smooth+ function, which works like a pulse blender by holding the select button down, to make the soup slightly smoother (personal preference). I’m not really a massive fan of chunky soup but this was actually very nice.

Finally I made my favourite soup, mushroom soup which I buy regularly fresh in cartons from the supermarket. I wasn’t sure whether homemade mushroom soup would taste as nice as a shop bought but it tasted as nice, if not better. I used the smooth program like detailed above and it took just 19 minutes to be ready. I made 5 portions of soup for nearly the same cost as I normally pay for just one carton. I definitely will be making it myself from now on.

The smooth+ function can also be used to make smoothies, chilled soups, cold drinks and milk shakes as it does not heat the contents when using the smooth+ function.

You can use the SoupChef Pro to make other things such as bolognese sauce, gravy, italian pasta soup, bhal, chocolate soup and much more.

There is an auto clean function. Add water to the max level and add a small amount of detergent. Use the mode button to select the auto clean program on the control panel and press select to start. Auto clean takes 3 mins and then you discard the water and then wipe any remaining food remnants away with a damp sponge and dry with a soft towel.

The power cord is removable from the jug making it easy to pour and serve.

The SoupChef Pro is straightforward to use and makes soups quickly and effortlessly in minutes. I really liked the fact that you saute vegetables / meat in the jug before starting the soup program so no other pots or pans where needed. Usually to make soup I would use pots, pans and a blender. By making my own soup I could see exactly what ingredients were being used and add plenty of hidden veg to the kids soups. There was no standing around constantly stirring and checking the soup. You literally switched the SoupChef Pro on and walked away. Ideal for a cooking novice or more experienced chef alike it is genuinely so easy to use you simply can’t go wrong. I have seen plenty more soup recipes on the app I would like to try so it will be getting used a lot. Retailing at £79.99 from Highstreettv.com is it more than some of the cheaper end soup makers but the SoupChef Pro does so much more than just make soup and honestly is worth paying that little bit extra for.

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £79.99

This product can be purchased from Highstreettv.com here.