Are there any perfect soup makers here?

[margarito]

Hello all,

I'm a big lover of soups and would love spending my whole day drinking soups. They give me a best time and best time-pass as well. But unfortunately I'm not good in making soups. I almost try my best to make out a delicious one at the end of all my effort in making it, but I don't succeed in it. So I prefer having soup in any good restaurant.

Are there any good soup makers here who could help me out in this regard mentioning few factors that should be taken care while preparing a soup? Any tips in making it perfectly are accepted with a great pleasure.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I frequently have soup as the meal, either lunch or eveing meal depending on how hungry I am and how much there is left or what we have planned for the week. Usually we have a soup or stew for at least 2 evening meals every week.

The biggest trick to making soup is your stock. A good stock will make or break the meal. I prefer to use Marigold Vegetable bouillon powder which comes in a variety of options from normal, to vegan, to reduced salt and an organic one.

 

[margarito]

I personally prefer to be a non-vegetarian. Is there any such instant powder to prepare chicken soup or so? I just started cooking very recently and my knowledge in it is almost miserable. So I would like to know such powder for chicken soup, if any.
I also have a question about the taste of a soup prepared by such powders. Will they give the original taste as the stock prepared from natural vegetables, meat, etc? I feel stock prepared naturally gives out a best taste on a personal note.

 

[crimsonghost747]

I actually haven't had soup in ages. Maybe I should give it a try... usually they are both good, fast and cheap to make.

 

[Christina C]

If I had my way I would drink soup all the time. I love soup. When I was in college my head chef would say that I make the nicest soup of the day. I love my soups.

 

[margarito]

If I had my way I would drink soup all the time. I love soup. When I was in college my head chef would say that I make the nicest soup of the day. I love my soups.

Do you mind mentioning few of your soup's preparation in brief?
I just love to have different kinds of soups while I pay least interest towards the items prepared using mushrooms. It is because I'm not comfortable with its flavor and taste. Any kinds other than mushroom soups are thankfully accepted and tried.

 

[OhioTom76]

There is a brand of soup base called Better Than Bouillon, which sells for about $3.99 a jar at WalMart in my neck of the woods. It makes about 9 quarts of stock per jar, which is a huge savings over the boxed varieties. Plus it contains no MSG (yet it does have yeast extracts, which are similar) and the first ingredients on the label are meat and vegetables, not salt and MSG. The flavor is good. Much better than your standard salty processed bouillon cubes and powders. It's still not exactly as good as the boxed varieties, but still good enough especially when considering the price difference. Personally I think they are a bit strong when made to package directions, and if you add a little extra water it mellows it out a bit and makes it taste more like the carton versions.

If you love soups, I would strongly encourage you to get a pressure cooker - they are ideal for making them. There are many good electric models on the market today too, which have the added benefit of being safer since the temperatures are more consistent and they shut off automatically. You can cook and tenderize meat in them in just minutes, as well as make full bodied stocks in less than an hour. The pressure cooking really extracts the flavors from the bones as well.