Morphy Richards Total Control Soup Maker 501020

For a cook who wants soup and nothing else, the Total Control is the more sensible buy than the Ninja. It is purpose-built around a sealed 1kW, 1.6L non-stick jug and adds the one feature that most changes flavour: a true sauté step, so you can soften onions and garlic in the jug before cooking rather than blending everything raw. Three soup textures (smooth, medium and chunky) plus a smoothie preset cover most needs, and reheat-leftovers and keep-warm functions — which the cheaper machines below omit — make it easy to live with. An LED countdown, a self-clean cycle and a roughly 25-minute cook round it out. Against the Ninja you give up cold-blending and ice-crush you'd rarely use for a machine that is cheaper (£129.99 versus £159.99), lighter and shorter on the worktop; against the Clarity below you gain the sauté step but lose the see-through jug. Price is indicative and taken from the Morphy Richards UK store.