Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This soup maker & blender was given to me as a birthday gift. I tried making a vegetable soup with it and the results were poor at best. The device does not boil at the rate a stove top pan would. The simmer is really a steep setting, like you would use to make tea. The soup tasted like boiled vegetables - not soup. The flavors did not meld even though it "simmered" for over an hour. The thinly sliced carrots were still "al dente." In addition, as others have said, the plastic parts immediately became imbedded with the onion and garlic smell. No amount of washing could remove it. That brings me to the final negative - washing. They tell you to add water and a drop of dish soap and whirl a few times. That may get the chunks off but will not wash it. If you try to wash the base, beware of the sharp blades which cannot be removed. There is no real way to clean it thoroughly. Sorry Cuisinart - great idea but poor execution into reality