Best method for getting a silky smooth soup?

I use the immersion blender first, the finest grate of the food mill second, and if I want something sublime, I use the chinois. I know, I know -- lots of equipment to wash, but we're in the kitchen anyway.

1. The absolute best is a real Cuisinart food processor. 2. regular blender but you have to do it in batches becuse it may not not be big enough and finally and immersion blender - kind of messy.
Unless you're hosting a formal dinner for royalty I think you can skip the sieve.

immersion blenders allow you to determine smoothness, compared to stand blender. I like some soups smooth and others with texture.

Vitamixes are great! I often use an immersion blender and put the puree through a sieve.

I invested in a VitaMix Blender and I use this for all of my soups!