The Cuisinart blend and cook soup maker really doesn't work, unless all you want is pureed soups it's good for that, but that's just about it. I make a lot of soups that have rustic chopped vegetables and chunks of meat in them as well, I make a vegetable soup, and I also make a chunky style potato soup and it didn't do well in this. The flavors of the soups do not blend together which is essential for a great soup and it takes forever for this soup maker to get to a boil and even then it's not a heavy boil that is needed with some soups. If you cut your vegetables with any bit of thickness, they don't cook through well at all I don't want a crunch in my soup and I don't know of anyone else that does either. It holds onto smells as well, so if you use any seasonings and spices, it will stay no matter how well you clean it. Blending Power This is the one thing it does well, it purees things to a pulp and that's all it will do, don't use it if you're only wanting it chopped it won't do that for you. Versatility Not very versatile at all, like I said before it's mainly for pureed soups and that's about it nothing with any thickness or rustic style soups sadly. Ease of Cleaning Not easy to clean at all, you can take it apart somewhat, but it's still so very hard to really get it cleaned. Ease of Use It's easy to use but you won't get the results you're looking for most of the time. Design Very poor design, you can't even clean it properly which is really gross. Durability Really it's hard to rate this because it hasn't gotten any more use out of me since it is so bad.

sarahertzberger

USA

My husband saw a similar gadget demonstrated at Costco. He thought it was the coolest thing EVER. "You can make soup right in the blender!" I wondered why you would want to do that. I mean, It is a very easy process for me to make soup in a pot on the stove. Dump some cans of stuff together and simmer. The price on that one was very high. I had no interest whatsoever. 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 it. None of the soups in the book it came with appealed to me. I found some on pinterest. I followed the instructions and it felt like there were a lot of steps. The soup was delicious. But I really think it would have been easier to cook it on the stove. This would be a very good thing to have if you don't have a stove. It was easy to clean. Put a little soapy water in, turn it on and rinse. I made smoothies a couple of days later. THAT was impressive. This thing pulverizes ice very quickly. We have made smoothies several times since. My husband actually snuck some spinach in a smoothie (a concept I have Strongly resisted) and I didn't notice any change to texture. Yup. Makes great smoothies. It will cook soup. Just like they said. Ease of Use A few buttons to push but nothing too complicated.

LisaWeil

USA

This blender is very easy to use and has many features. The owners manual is definitely worth taking a look through since some of the functions of this machine may not be obvious to a new user. The blender function works very well and easily blends ice, raw vegetables, fruits and mixes them appropriately. The soup function is also very helpful since it keeps all of your food in one container, rather than dirtying multiple dishes. Blending Power This blender can cut through chunks of ice and hard, raw vegetables such as carrots. Versatility It has many functions and if you know how to use the multiple functions you really will get a lot out of this machine. 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.

jessgirl87

USA

Have not had any problems over the last two years. In addition to blending it always makes hot soup. Very powerful and easy to use / clean. Blending Power Easily crushes just about everything I throw at it. May not come out with the perfect, smooth blend every time but most of the time it does. Versatility Makes hot soup as well, which is my favorite feature. Ease of Cleaning Very easy...just add detergent and using the blending power to wash =) Never had to use the dishwasher to clean it - great for singles like me since I never pile up enough dishes to warrant the use of a dishwasher. Ease of Use Very easy to use / understand. Never had to refer to the manual - not even once. Just turn the knob as high as you need. The heating function is a big button that you just cannot miss. Design Simple and elegant. Nothing bad to say about the design. Does not take up a whole lot of space either. Durability Haven't had any problem in two years and works just as well today as the first time I used it.

speedfrosh

USA