I am testing the Ninja™ Master Prep™ Professional (their italics, not mine), the ultimate food and drink maker, model #QB1004 30. In this post, I am specifically using the 48-ounce pitcher, the largest unit of this 3-unit set. This is the 6-blade container the company claims can turn ice into snow, so I am going to try it on a frozen banana smoothie.
At first, I thought the 6-blade design would interfere with the frozen bananas, but the slipped between the blades just fine. The other ingredients include milk, cocoa powder, and ground almonds. To see the recipe, click this link.
I pulsed the machine and had an immediate problem. Liquid squirt out of the splash guard's covered pour spout. How can such a design flaw not have been noticed this long? What, did they design it just to make snow and not smoothies? Immediately disappointed with the machine, I pulsed a few more times to get the frozen bananas chopped up. I then ran the machine for about 15 seconds and then again for about 15 seconds. I noticed there was still some frozen banana floating in the mixture, so I ran it a third and fourth time. After this, there appeared to be no more banana floating in the shake.
The first thing I noticed looking through the clear plastic of the pitcher was that the mixture was not very frothy. It did not seem to have gained any volume, which the recipe does in my Oster Fusion smoothie machine. Well, that just means it won't deflate during transport, which I consider a benefit. On pouring out the smoothie, I noticed it had a thick lumpy texture. These weren't clumps of anything; it just poured lumpy. This is just an observation, not a complaint.
Drinking the smoothie through a straw produced two observations. The first was that the texture was more like a shake than a traditional smoothie. I like shakes, so I did not consider this a failure, only a difference. The second observation was that there were still chunks of almond remaining in the drink. With claims of making snow from ice, I consider the presence of almond chunks to be a failure on the part of the machine.
For clean up, it felt much easier than the Oster Fusion. There was nothing to unscrew, there was no gasket to deal with, and there were fewer overall parts. The hardest part to clean was the 6-blade stem. I think I will buy a brush to make it easier next time. I did notice another design flaw, however. For people using a dishwasher to clean the Ninja™, there are many nooks and crannies in the larger parts where water will accumulate. In fact, the entire bottom of the pitcher is recessed. This, and the splash guard, will fill with water during the washing process. You will have to wipe them out even after dishwashing.
Overall, the result of using a Ninja™ to make a smoothie are disappointing but not a real failure. The consistency of the final product is more like a shake than a smoothie. The two glaring problems are the remaining chunks of nut, which can possibly be fixed by running the machine more, and the leakage from the splash guard pour spout during operation. That, more than anything else, make me want to go back to using my Oster Fusion.
As always, I welcome your comments. Click on the Comment link below; it may say "No" or have a number in front of it.
At first, I thought the 6-blade design would interfere with the frozen bananas, but the slipped between the blades just fine. The other ingredients include milk, cocoa powder, and ground almonds. To see the recipe, click this link.
I pulsed the machine and had an immediate problem. Liquid squirt out of the splash guard's covered pour spout. How can such a design flaw not have been noticed this long? What, did they design it just to make snow and not smoothies? Immediately disappointed with the machine, I pulsed a few more times to get the frozen bananas chopped up. I then ran the machine for about 15 seconds and then again for about 15 seconds. I noticed there was still some frozen banana floating in the mixture, so I ran it a third and fourth time. After this, there appeared to be no more banana floating in the shake.
The first thing I noticed looking through the clear plastic of the pitcher was that the mixture was not very frothy. It did not seem to have gained any volume, which the recipe does in my Oster Fusion smoothie machine. Well, that just means it won't deflate during transport, which I consider a benefit. On pouring out the smoothie, I noticed it had a thick lumpy texture. These weren't clumps of anything; it just poured lumpy. This is just an observation, not a complaint.
Drinking the smoothie through a straw produced two observations. The first was that the texture was more like a shake than a traditional smoothie. I like shakes, so I did not consider this a failure, only a difference. The second observation was that there were still chunks of almond remaining in the drink. With claims of making snow from ice, I consider the presence of almond chunks to be a failure on the part of the machine.
For clean up, it felt much easier than the Oster Fusion. There was nothing to unscrew, there was no gasket to deal with, and there were fewer overall parts. The hardest part to clean was the 6-blade stem. I think I will buy a brush to make it easier next time. I did notice another design flaw, however. For people using a dishwasher to clean the Ninja™, there are many nooks and crannies in the larger parts where water will accumulate. In fact, the entire bottom of the pitcher is recessed. This, and the splash guard, will fill with water during the washing process. You will have to wipe them out even after dishwashing.
Overall, the result of using a Ninja™ to make a smoothie are disappointing but not a real failure. The consistency of the final product is more like a shake than a smoothie. The two glaring problems are the remaining chunks of nut, which can possibly be fixed by running the machine more, and the leakage from the splash guard pour spout during operation. That, more than anything else, make me want to go back to using my Oster Fusion.
As always, I welcome your comments. Click on the Comment link below; it may say "No" or have a number in front of it.
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