Aldi soupmaker

[meow...@care2.com]

£40 today. 1.2l soup, not 1.7l as advertised. By only adding the cooked/tinned items and liquids at the end it can make a fair bit more in one go.

Pros: no need to watch boiling things, no need to get multiple items dirty, set and forget. 3yr warranty. Does smooth, chunky, and mix of both.

Cons: not a single part is dishwashable, and of course the self clean routine was just a salesman's dream. A lot of unusually loud and entirely pointless beeping.


NT

[Dave Liquorice]

To go with their:

> NEW
> Try our new Tasty Ready Meals
> ______________________________________________________
>
> NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW
> ______________________________________________________
>
> Tender chicken pieces
> Made with 100% British Beef
> ______________________________________________________

Taken from their email today entitled "Try our NEW tasty ready meals"

--
Cheers
Dave.

[Phil L]

meow...@care2.com wrote:
> �40 today. 1.2l soup, not 1.7l as advertised. By only adding the

So it's a slow cooker then?

Oh, not really, because the insert that holds the food in mine, lifts out to
go in the dishwasher

[Chris J Dixon]

meow...@care2.com wrote:

>Ł40 today. 1.2l soup, not 1.7l as advertised. By only adding the cooked/tinned items and liquids at the end it can make a fair bit more in one go.

>
>Pros: no need to watch boiling things, no need to get multiple items dirty, set and forget. 3yr warranty. Does smooth, chunky, and mix of both.
>
>Cons: not a single part is dishwashable, and of course the self clean routine was just a salesman's dream. A lot of unusually loud and entirely pointless beeping.
>

I tend to go for large batches when making soup, and used to use
a Kenwood liquidiser attachment. It gave a good result, but was
messy and time consuming, its capacity being small compared to
the pan.

The answer was a Bamix hand-held blender - fast and easy. Also
great for non-lumpy sauces.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK
ch...@cdixon.me.uk

Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

[polygonum]

On 26/10/2012 07:10, Chris J Dixon wrote:
> meow...@care2.com wrote:
>
>> �40 today. 1.2l soup, not 1.7l as advertised. By only adding the cooked/tinned items and liquids at the end it can make a fair bit more in one go.

>>
>> Pros: no need to watch boiling things, no need to get multiple items dirty, set and forget. 3yr warranty. Does smooth, chunky, and mix of both.
>>
>> Cons: not a single part is dishwashable, and of course the self clean routine was just a salesman's dream. A lot of unusually loud and entirely pointless beeping.
>>
> I tend to go for large batches when making soup, and used to use
> a Kenwood liquidiser attachment. It gave a good result, but was
> messy and time consuming, its capacity being small compared to
> the pan.
>
> The answer was a Bamix hand-held blender - fast and easy. Also
> great for non-lumpy sauces.
>
> Chris
>

Not Bamix, but very definitely a stick blender.

We often make two different soups at the same time - which is no problem
with a quick rinse of the stick blender. But would be tedious with any
liquidiser-based approach.

Also much better if you want to end up with a semi-chunky/semi-smooth soup.

--
Rod

[Tim+]

Good grief. What a waste of space (and money)!

A fool and his money etc...

Tim

[The Natural Philosopher]

yerrss.

Its usually women who think that e.g. buying a bread maker will result
in them actually making bread etc.


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc’-ra-cy) – a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

[Owain]

On Oct 26, 9:04 am, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> Its usually women who think that e.g. buying a bread maker will result
> in them actually making bread etc.

but a fair few men think that spending £10000 in Axminster will turn
them into Chippendale.

Owain

[Broadback]

I cannot speak for the Aldi soup maker, however I have the Culishart
model, that is excellent. I make a lot of soup and that is the easiest
way I have found. Plus there is no serious washing up after!"

[fred]

In article
<35b8ed13-090c-4a4c...@j10g2000yqc.googlegroups.com>,
Owain <spuorg...@gowanhill.com> writes

Lifting that many tools might make them look like one though.
--
fred
it's a ba-na-na . . . .

[meow...@care2.com]

On Friday, October 26, 2012 7:11:33 AM UTC+1, Chris J Dixon wrote:
> meow...@care2.com wrote:

> >�40 today. 1.2l soup, not 1.7l as advertised. By only adding the cooked/tinned items and liquids at the end it can make a fair bit more in one go.

> >
> >Pros: no need to watch boiling things, no need to get multiple items dirty, set and forget. 3yr warranty. Does smooth, chunky, and mix of both.
> >
> >Cons: not a single part is dishwashable, and of course the self clean routine was just a salesman's dream. A lot of unusually loud and entirely pointless beeping.

> I tend to go for large batches when making soup, and used to use
> a Kenwood liquidiser attachment. It gave a good result, but was
> messy and time consuming, its capacity being small compared to
> the pan.
> The answer was a Bamix hand-held blender - fast and easy. Also
> great for non-lumpy sauces.
> Chris

That's what I was doing before. This thing frees up the cooking and processing time. If some folk want to work for half an hour every time for years for £40 I guess that's their choice.


NT

[meow...@care2.com]

On Friday, October 26, 2012 10:45:16 AM UTC+1, meow...@care2.com wrote:
> On Friday, October 26, 2012 7:11:33 AM UTC+1, Chris J Dixon wrote:
> > meow...@care2.com wrote:

> > >£40 today. 1.2l soup, not 1.7l as advertised. By only adding the cooked/tinned items and liquids at the end it can make a fair bit more in one go.

Compared to tinned soup it cuts the costs from 59 to 25p a portion. 5 servings a go = £1.70 less, so its paid its cost completely after 23 uses, and there's the labour saved too.


NT

[polygonum]

On 26/10/2012 09:53, Owain wrote:

Doesn't it?

Damn...

--
Rod

[stuart noble]

Just had a bowl of butternut squash and bacon soup. If I could only take
one item of food to my desert island, it would probably be this

[The Natural Philosopher]

One of the best ones we make is a bit of onion, garlic, chilli and
chorizo sizzled up in olive oil and then tinned chopped tomatoes added.

One saucepan, easily cleaned, is all it needs.

[polygonum]

Perhaps we are greedy gits, but partner and I can easily polish off 1.2
litres (or more!) of freshly made soup as a meal. And when we make any,
we almost invariably do enough for at least two portions each - and the
second (or third) simply get chilled until tomorrow, or frozen.

So we do not need to get pans out, watch it, etc., every soup day.
Whereas with that machine we would have to do whatever it needs every
soup day.

Indeed, with such a machine we would need to get out the chopping
boards, knives, etc., every day we wanted soup.

I cannot understand your price analysis. But I would be comparing
against non-machine made soup rather than cans. (I either make soup or
buy soup. It is almost never a case of substituting bought for for
home-made or vice versa.) So, for the equivalent bowlful, the ingredient
cost would be unchanged. Savings would have to be found in other costs -
electricity/gas, washing up, etc.

--
Rod

[polygonum]

<>
>
> Just had a bowl of butternut squash and bacon soup. If I could only take
> one item of food to my desert island, it would probably be this

We do butternut & apple (and onion) with a little curry powder. Truly
lovely. But I do rather fancy a bit of bacon in there...

--
Rod

[Tim+]

<meow...@care2.com> wrote:

> Compared to tinned soup it cuts the costs from 59 to 25p a portion. 5
> servings a go = £1.70 less, so its paid its cost completely after 23
> uses, and there's the labour saved too.
>
>
> NT

My money is on it being in the back of a kitchen cupboard within 2 months
(and with your 23 uses never reached) and off to a car boot sale in 5 years
when it's "rediscovered".

Tim

[Tim+]

How hard is washing up one pan, a knife and a spoon?

Tim

[stuart noble]

The washing up is the thing with the Kenwood Chef blender. So many bits
and all of them difficult to dry

[stuart noble]

Hmm, and I might try a bit of apple in there....
So few recipes are really special in the sense that they're more than
the sum of their parts

[polygonum]

On 26/10/2012 12:31, Tim+ wrote:

On another group, someone in the USA mentioned they had bought a Vitamix
soup machine. Wondering what they meant, I looked it up and found this:

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/p16900/Vitamix-Aspire

Four hundred quid for a bleeding liquidiser! (Even with a 1200W element,
it is at heart a liquidiser.) Maybe the Aldi one at least wastes less
money before ending up at the car boot sale...

--
Rod

[fred]

In article <ZFuis.90346$9W6....@fx08.am4>, stuart noble
<stuart...@ntlworld.com> writes

>On 26/10/2012 12:31, Tim+ wrote:
>>
>> How hard is washing up one pan, a knife and a spoon?
>>

>The washing up is the thing with the Kenwood Chef blender. So many bits
>and all of them difficult to dry

Stick blender washes itself in a pint glass with some water and a dab of
WU liquid.

[meow...@care2.com]

On Friday, October 26, 2012 11:36:53 AM UTC+1, polygonum wrote:
> On 26/10/2012 10:55, meow2222 wrote:

> > On Friday, October 26, 2012 10:45:16 AM UTC+1, meow2222 wrote:
> >> On Friday, October 26, 2012 7:11:33 AM UTC+1, Chris J Dixon wrote:

> >>> meow2222 wrote:

> >>>> £40 today. 1.2l soup, not 1.7l as advertised. By only adding the cooked/tinned items and liquids at the end it can make a fair bit more in one go.
> >>>>
> >>>> Pros: no need to watch boiling things, no need to get multiple items dirty, set and forget. 3yr warranty. Does smooth, chunky, and mix of both.
> >>>>
> >>>> Cons: not a single part is dishwashable, and of course the self clean routine was just a salesman's dream. A lot of unusually loud and entirely pointless beeping.

> >>> The answer was a Bamix hand-held blender - fast and easy. Also
> >>> great for non-lumpy sauces.

> >> That's what I was doing before. This thing frees up the cooking and processing time. If some folk want to work for half an hour every time for years for £40 I guess that's their choice.

> > Compared to tinned soup it cuts the costs from 59 to 25p a portion. 5 servings a go = £1.70 less, so its paid its cost completely after 23 uses, and there's the labour saved too.

> Perhaps we are greedy gits, but partner and I can easily polish off 1.2
> litres (or more!) of freshly made soup as a meal. And when we make any,
> we almost invariably do enough for at least two portions each - and the
> second (or third) simply get chilled until tomorrow, or frozen.
> So we do not need to get pans out, watch it, etc., every soup day.
> Whereas with that machine we would have to do whatever it needs every
> soup day.
> Indeed, with such a machine we would need to get out the chopping
> boards, knives, etc., every day we wanted soup.

Before getting the thing, soup making involved choppping stuff, half an hour at the stove, blending, and cleaning things up. I could use a food processor, but the hand blender is less cleaning.

Now most ingredients are just chucked in as is, and the machine left to it. Afterwards the cleanup's quicker because of the semieffective self clean.

> I cannot understand your price analysis. But I would be comparing
> against non-machine made soup rather than cans. (I either make soup or
> buy soup. It is almost never a case of substituting bought for for
> home-made or vice versa.) So, for the equivalent bowlful, the ingredient
> cost would be unchanged. Savings would have to be found in other costs -
> electricity/gas, washing up, etc.

Compared to tinned, the saving is in cost, not to mention quality.

Compared to making it in a pan, the saving is time. That 30 minutes cook & blend time I can do something else. How many half hours is £40 worth?

Its minestrone tomorrow.


NT

[Owain]

On Oct 26, 2:14 pm, fred wrote:
> Stick blender washes itself in a pint glass with some water and a dab of
> WU liquid.

washes the pint glass as well...

Owain

[fred]

In article
<2f46a2d4-47fe-49de...@b19g2000vbt.googlegroups.com>,
Owain <spuorg...@gowanhill.com> writes

fazakerley!

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

On Fri, 26 Oct 2012 07:10:47 +0100, Chris J Dixon <ch...@cdixon.me.uk>
wrote:

>I tend to go for large batches when making soup, and used to use
>a Kenwood liquidiser attachment. It gave a good result, but was
>messy and time consuming, its capacity being small compared to
>the pan.

True, dat. I recently bought a replacement slow-cooker, of 6.5L
capacity, so blending to mush will become a total pita, I can see.
The old s.c. was a mere 3L and much more managable. [1]

>The answer was a Bamix hand-held blender - fast and easy. Also
>great for non-lumpy sauces.

Excellent suggestion.

[1] In fact, the cooker itself is fine, just the crockpot has become
wildly cracked and in serious danger of falling apart.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

On Fri, 26 Oct 2012 12:31:36 +0100, Tim+
<timdow...@nospampleaseyahoo.co.uk> wrote:

>My money is on it being in the back of a kitchen cupboard within 2 months
>(and with your 23 uses never reached) and off to a car boot sale in 5 years
>when it's "rediscovered".

That was the fate of my original slow-cooker until I rediscovered it
last year and put it to hard use for several months. I'm now a total
convert to them (always was, but allowed it to lapse).

I also discovered that slow-cookers can be used as small bread ovens,
so that's a use for the old one with the broken crockpot.

[mogga]

On Fri, 26 Oct 2012 11:30:23 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
<t...@invalid.invalid> wrote:


>>
>> Just had a bowl of butternut squash and bacon soup. If I could only take
>> one item of food to my desert island, it would probably be this
>
>One of the best ones we make is a bit of onion, garlic, chilli and
>chorizo sizzled up in olive oil and then tinned chopped tomatoes added.
>
>One saucepan, easily cleaned, is all it needs.

Both sound good.

Onion, potato, leek, stock cube, water. Blitz. Mmm.
--
http://www.voucherfreebies.co.uk

[polygonum]

You forgot the lump of butter melted in before serving!

--
Rod

[mogga]

Is that the one they blend the chicken carcas in on the TV promos?
--
http://www.voucherfreebies.co.uk

[stuart noble]

Strange this chicken carcass lark. After a lot of faffing about you end
up with mostly pure gelatin, which actually has no flavour at all

[mogga]

On Sun, 28 Oct 2012 12:07:08 +0000, polygonum <rmoud...@vrod.co.uk>
wrote:

>>> One of the best ones we make is a bit of onion, garlic, chilli and
>>> chorizo sizzled up in olive oil and then tinned chopped tomatoes added.
>>>
>>> One saucepan, easily cleaned, is all it needs.
>>
>>
>> Both sound good.
>>
>> Onion, potato, leek, stock cube, water. Blitz. Mmm.
>>
>You forgot the lump of butter melted in before serving!

You put the butter on bits of french bread and dip that in :)
--
http://www.voucherfreebies.co.uk

[polygonum]

As well...

--
Rod

[mogga]

On Tue, 30 Oct 2012 12:40:43 +0000, polygonum <rmoud...@vrod.co.uk>
wrote:

Well I shall try the lump of butter dropped in before serving next
time I make it.

I planted 60 leeks on my allotment a few months ago. At the time I
thought 'that's a lot' but suspect it isn't.
:)
--
http://www.voucherfreebies.co.uk

[Man at B&Q]

What's your problem with simmering? I never find the need to stand
over then pan for that length of time.

E.g. potato, onion, leek, butter, sherry, seasoning left over a low
light to sweat for 10 mins, stirring occasionally. Add stock, bring to
boil, simmer until done. Total time at the stove less than 5 mins.
Easily time to do something else in between.

MBQ