Pacojet Competitor? The Ninja Creami

[blue_dolphin]

I did hesitate a while before jumping on the Creami bandwagon but finally caved and I'm quite delighted with it.  I've always wanted to play around with making ice cream but since it's just me here, large batches aren't a good idea.  I want to play around with different recipes, not make a lot of any one thing. 

 

For my first 2 batches, I followed in the footsteps of @ElsieD with the limoncello ice cream from the included recipe book and a variation of the David Lebovitz peach ice cream that she linked to above.  Both are delicious if a bit soft to scoop immediately post-spin.  I used perfectly ripe farmers market peaches and the flavor of that one is especially delicious.  Here's my modification of that recipe:

Roasted Peach & Bourbon Ice Cream
~ 400g ripe peaches [a 1/2 recipe would call for 300g but I went with 1 large and 1 small]
3 oz vanilla infused 1:1 simple syrup [recipe calls for separate sugar and water, I had this on hand]
1/4 cup yogurt [recipe calls for sour cream - I got none}
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 T bourbon  [I omitted the ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
A  few drops freshly squeezed lemon juice

I cut the unpeeled peaches in half, removed the pits and roasted them in the CSO for 20 min @ 350°F on steam-bake.  Let them cool briefly, then threw them in the Blendtec with all the other ingredients.  I let the mixture stand a bit so I could stir out the bubbles before pouring into the Creami container.  

 

Due to the extra amount of peaches, I had enough extra mix to make 2 popsicles and will pay more attention to measurements next time. 

 

My freezer fluctuates between -2 to -8°F and I usually have to let purchased ice cream warm up before serving and I suspect that will be the case with these but we'll see. 

 

 

Edited October 3, 2021 by blue_dolphin
to fix measurements (log)

[ElsieD]

@blue_dolphin  good idea to use a simple syrup.   I never thought to roast the peaches in the CSO, another good idea!   Neither of the two ice creams I had were too soft, in fact they were quite firm.  I wonder if 2T of bourbon had anything to do with it? 

[blue_dolphin]

2 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

@blue_dolphin  good idea to use a simple syrup.   I never thought to roast the peaches in the CSO, another good idea!   Neither of the two ice creams I had were too soft, in fact they were quite firm.  I wonder if 2T of bourbon had anything to do with it? 

 

Yes, it could have been the bourbon.  The limoncello recipe calls for the same 2T but the bourbon is higher proof so more alcohol.  

Neither of them were unacceptably soft, just enough that the little button on my scooper that pushes the ice cream out of the scoop left a little dent in the top of the scoop that I felt I needed to smooth over for the photo 🙃  I'll just have to work on my scooping skills!

 

I like using simple syrup to sweeten my popsicles as I can chill down my mix and taste/tweak the sweetness when it's cold.  I was pleased that it worked OK here.  

[andrewk512]

46 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

The recipe on page 112 is actually called strawberry sherbert.  It was the only strawberry recipe I could find that called for buttermilk.

 

Her strawberry sherbet is a fantastic recipe!

 

 

 

I processed the Ad Hoc Vanilla Custard base with the Gelato button today. It might have been my freezer but there were actually a lot of ice crystals in the container pre-processing and a fair amount of them post-process. Perhaps I should've cooled in the fridge prior to freezing, or maybe it was the lack of stabilizer.

 

 

I also tried a rambutan sorbet recipe today, it only got to -16C despite freezing for over 24hrs and came out too soft to scoop after processing. I have a bit of puree left so I am going to try the Migoya Frozen Desserts lychee recipe next instead, subbing rambutan

 

[Shelby]

I'm so dying to try mine!  It's still in the box  

 

Life has been extra crazy and I haven't made time.

 

I have a jar of peaches that I canned with a lot of juice --would that be an easy place to start?

[Kerry Beal]

1 minute ago, Shelby said:

I'm so dying to try mine!  It's still in the box  

 

Life has been extra crazy and I haven't made time.

 

I have a jar of peaches that I canned with a lot of juice --would that be an easy place to start?

Yup!

[rotuts]

@Shelby 

 

start when you have the time to enjoy it.

 

my canned pear ' medley '

 

w a splash of granM

 

is comfortable in my freezer

 

I did a semi-thaw in the lower Kelvinator

 

a it was not level

 

but now it is.

 

Soon , Im sure :

 

local results.

 

 

[KAD]

7 hours ago, ElsieD said:

 

Is that the recipe from page 112 of her book "Hello, my Name is Ice Cream"?

Yes although I modified it a little bit, She asks for Buttermilk but my strawberry puree already had too much lemon and I wasn't sure I needed any more tang.

 

I made the recipe for 1kg of which I used half for the ninja.

 

Strawberry Puree 300 gm

Sugar 100 gm

Lemon Juice 40 gm ( This is absurdly high I don't know what I was thinking. Should drop it to 10gm at the most)

----Mixed and chilled

 

Milk 375gm

Cream 75gm

Glucose (Corn Sugar) 150gm

Cremodan 30 2.5gm

 

----

Milk + Cream + Glucose + Sugar to 85C for 2 min

Chill
Add strawberry puree mix

 

-----

Half in ninja container in the freezer/ Other half in regular takeout container to cure overnight in the fridge

 

 

 

[KAD]

Anybody notice that the Ninja spun ice cream doesn't seem to get as solidly frozen as a regular churned ice cream in the freezer. I am not sure why this might be.

Maybe the stabilizer? 

 

Today's strawberry scoops were still very very scoop-able and closer to a soft serve texture.

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

58 minutes ago, KAD said:

Anybody notice that the Ninja spun ice cream doesn't seem to get as solidly frozen as a regular churned ice cream in the freezer. I am not sure why this might be.

Maybe the stabilizer? 

 

Today's strawberry scoops were still very very scoop-able and closer to a soft serve texture.

 

 

My chocolate ice cream was pretty darn solid!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Is there consensus whether a dairy based mix for the Ninja improves from ripening at refrigerator temperature before freezing?  I made up a batch this evening and I currently have it chilling.  I plan to leave it overnight.  I figure chilling prior to  freezing wouldn't hurt.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I notice there exists a Pacojet recipe for pesto:

https://pacojet.com/en/category/recipe/4-seasons/?sc=337&id=3301

 

Has anyone tried preparing pesto in the Ninja?  In addition I couldn't help but notice PacoJet is now offering cost effective plastic beakers!

 

Still another half sober circle of the sun* before my Ninja mix is ready.  I am getting desperate.

 

 

*Yes, I know it's really "rotation of the third planet from our star" but how romantic is that?

 

[chromedome]

7 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I notice there exists a Pacojet recipe for pesto:

https://pacojet.com/en/category/recipe/4-seasons/?sc=337&id=3301

 

Has anyone tried preparing pesto in the Ninja?  In addition I couldn't help but notice PacoJet is now offering cost effective plastic beakers!

 

Still another half sober circle of the sun* before my Ninja mix is ready.  I am getting desperate.

 

 

*Yes, I know it's really "rotation of the third planet from our star" but how romantic is that?

 

I, for one, will always make allowances in the interest of alliteration.

[blue_dolphin]

White peach sorbet from Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook using the sorbet button on the Ninja Creami

 

400 g white peaches (that was 2 and a half peaches)

1 gelatin sheet (I subbed 1/2 t powdered gelatin)

100 g glucose

2 g kosher salt

0.5 g citric acid

 

This recipe was supposed to make 1 pint.  The volume was below the fill line and I should have thrown in the other half a peach but I'd already rinsed the blender and sieve.. A tiny bit too salty but in all, very nice. 

[IcieCream]

I called Ninja support regarding the offer of extra pints and they sent me a link to video-chat with them, had me show the packing materials that listed the offer and then sent me two extra pints which are en route. 
 

I’ve only tried it once so far: I made a watermelon pomegranate sorbet with using 1.5 cups of watermelon chunks, a half cup of pomegranate juice and a tablespoon of corn syrup.

After the first run on the sorbet setting, the mixture had a snow-like, icy consistency and there was a small still-frozen margin on the side.

 

After running it through the machine on the re-spin setting, I was very pleased with the result which was much silkier and more uniform. I plan on making ice cream and savory purees in the coming days but just wanted to test it out with some ingredients I already had on hand. I freeze a lot of fruit during the summer months so the ability to make a sorbet with little effort makes this machine a keeper for me.
 

[andrewk512]

On 10/4/2021 at 10:20 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Is there consensus whether a dairy based mix for the Ninja improves from ripening at refrigerator temperature before freezing?  I made up a batch this evening and I currently have it chilling.  I plan to leave it overnight.  I figure chilling prior to  freezing wouldn't hurt.

 

 

I am doing a chocolate non custard ice cream right now, chilling at fridge temp before freezing. Will report back if it's better than my vanilla custard that I directly froze although I dunno how good that comparison will be

 

 

I went out and bought a deep freezer today so that I can store my finished ice creams at a more consistent temperature, or at least that's the excuse I'm using

[JoNorvelleWalker]

After perusing various strawberry ice cream recipes, none appealed to me for one fault or another.  Possibly the worst being the strawberry recipe in the Ninja recipe book that I suffered previously.

 

Therefore I set about coming up with a strawberry recipe based on my own ice cream experience.  First of all, texture had to be perfect.  For me ice cream is all about texture.  Next, I wanted a bright strawberry flavor that was not too sweet.

 

Some strawberry ice cream recipes add vanilla or lemon juice.  As fond as I am of vanilla and lemon juice, they are not flavors I want in strawberry ice cream.  Another objective was to keep the strawberry flavor bright, which meant not cooking the puree.  Rose Levy Beranbaum cooks down her strawberry juice, and it is there we parted company.

 

Both Cree and Beranbaum had the suggestion to freeze and thaw the berries to help break down cell walls.  So I followed their advice.

 

Herewith is my recipe:

 

strawberries 400g

ascorbic acid 2 g

heavy cream (ultra pasteurized) 300g

whole milk 132g

sugar 100g

dextrose 60g

salt pinch

egg yolks 8

glucose powder 40g

locust bean gum 1g

polysorbate 80 1 drop.

 

 

Thoroughly blend frozen and then partially thawed strawberries with ascorbic acid and set aside.  Having a big Blendtec helps.

 

Combine sugar, dextrose, glucose powder, locust bean gum, and salt.  Beat in egg yolks.  Add polysorbate 80.  Stir in milk and cream and heat at 77C* for 45 minutes, whisking constantly.  This hydrates the locust bean gum and evaporates moisture.  Remove from heat, stir in blended strawberries, and homogenize.  Pour into two Ninja containers and ripen** overnight just above freezing.  Then freeze to -22C for at least one day.

 

Process once on the Ninja Gelato cycle.

 

This was as good as any ice cream I have made.  Texture was perfect.  What might I try differently?  I would increase the proportion of strawberry and of heavy cream.  And use less dextrose and more sugar.  Maybe omit the dextrose entirely.  Though it is hard to quarrel with success.

 

 

*if using a Paragon induction unit, having the mat set to 190F works well to maintain the proper temperature.

 

**It remains to be seen if ripening is necessary with the Ninja.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[palo]

I don't think your recipe left out anything!

 

Obviously a lot of thought went into its creation!

 

Oh and btw 400g of strawberries...how many cups is that?

 

p

[JoNorvelleWalker]

One pint down, one to go.

 

[andrewk512]

Dark chocolate ice cream from the Lickerland book. 

 

I chilled for a few hrs then froze overnight then processed on Lite. This was my first time using the Lite setting and it feels like the most intensive cycle of all of them - not only longer but higher speed, with a very high speed cycle as the rotor returns to the top at the end. My container was actually shaking in place which was a bit concerning. 

 

The texture was amazing, perfect and no ice crystals. 100 percent happy with this one. I am serving it with white chocolate matcha tarts also from the book

[rotuts]

@andrewk512 

 

nice

 

very nice

 

would please

 

point to that

 

Lickerland book

 

I missed it.

thanks.

[andrewk512]

2 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@andrewk512 

 

nice

 

very nice

 

would please

 

point to that

 

Lickerland book

 

I missed it.

thanks.

 

https://www.amazon.ca/Lickerland-Asian-Accented-Desserts-Jason-Licker/dp/0692797718/ - 13$ in Canada right now, just got it this week and this is the first dish I'm making from it, has some really beautiful entremets, cakes, tarts though  - there are about 5 or so ice cream recipes in it to accompany some of the dishes

[rotuts]

thanks

[ElsieD]

56 minutes ago, andrewk512 said:

Dark chocolate ice cream from the Lickerland book. 

 

I chilled for a few hrs then froze overnight then processed on Lite. This was my first time using the Lite setting and it feels like the most intensive cycle of all of them - not only longer but higher speed, with a very high speed cycle as the rotor returns to the top at the end. My container was actually shaking in place which was a bit concerning. 

 

The texture was amazing, perfect and no ice crystals. 100 percent happy with this one. I am serving it with white chocolate matcha tarts also from the book

 

Wow!  That looks amazing.

[Kerry Beal]

On 10/7/2021 at 2:23 PM, andrewk512 said:

Dark chocolate ice cream from the Lickerland book. 

 

I chilled for a few hrs then froze overnight then processed on Lite. This was my first time using the Lite setting and it feels like the most intensive cycle of all of them - not only longer but higher speed, with a very high speed cycle as the rotor returns to the top at the end. My container was actually shaking in place which was a bit concerning. 

 

The texture was amazing, perfect and no ice crystals. 100 percent happy with this one. I am serving it with white chocolate matcha tarts also from the book

Out of curiosity - what stabilizer did you use for this?