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Pacojet Competitor? The Ninja Creami


andrewk512

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56 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

I've been doing quite a bit of that 'scientific research' myself. A spoonful at a time, where's the harm? 😁

 

I call it  "quality control ".

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I bought these items a while back at a Mexican store with the idea of turning them into ice cream.  I know what the blackberry and mango ones are, but I don't know what the other two are.  Can someone tell me?  I think I have another kind in one of the freezer but I couldn't immediately find it.:$

 

Given how happy I was with the peach sorbet, I decided to make sorbet with these.  For the two mystery ones, how will I know how much sugar to use?  Do I go by taste?  Does freezing reduce the sweetness such that I need to add a little extra?  More lemon juice?  Less?

 

Thanks for any help you can give me.

20220723_211251.jpg

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17 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Given how happy I was with the peach sorbet, I decided to make sorbet with these.  For the two mystery ones, how will I know how much sugar to use?  Do I go by taste?  Does freezing reduce the sweetness such that I need to add a little extra?  More lemon juice?  Less?

In my opinion, yes, you should go by taste and that should be done with the mix as cold as possible so it’s as close as you can get to the temp that you’ll be enjoying the finished product at. I almost always want a bit more sweetness and more tartness at freezer temp than at room temp or warmer. I always chill down my mix in the coldest part of my fridge before that final tweak, generally using 2X simple syrup and lemon or lime juice to adjust.

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@ElsieD 

 

I was curious so did some googling :

 

Canoa seems to be a brand :

 

https://canoa.us    can't read anything else on the packet 

 

zapotec seems to be this ;

 

zaaa.thumb.jpg.21d9615b0a5622c399de2e189d0716ef.jpg

 

I have no idea what this tastes like 

 

good luck w your experiments 

 

getting those packets is a great idea !

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The Bestia cookbook has a number of sherbet recipes and suggests layering them together for a "rainbow sherbet."  I made Blackberry buttermilk, orange and lime kept them separate.

9EE5732F-983A-4C15-A853-829192B96FAB_1_201_a.thumb.jpeg.cc7d4a063dedc398bd16e80329ea18f8.jpeg

Blackberry buttermilk (with 1T cassis) - Pre-spin: -5°F, post-spin: 10°F.  Sorbet cycle, spin time = 2:24

Lime (with 1T Falernum) - Pre-spin: -0.5°F, post-spin: 9°F.  Ice Cream cycle, spin time = 1:38

Orange (with 1T Cointreau) - Pre-spin: -0.5°F, post-spin: 15°F.  Lite Ice Cream cycle, spin time = 2:28

 

My intent was to use the Lite Ice Cream cycle for both the blueberry blackberry buttermilk and orange as they don't have as much cream in them but I accidentally pushed sorbet when I went to spin the blackberry one last night.  I spun the lime and orange today and it seems my freezer must not have been as cold.   

 

Edited by blue_dolphin
To correct my fruit-o (log)
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51 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

The Bestia cookbook has a number of sherbet recipes and suggests layering them together for a "rainbow sherbet."  I made Blackberry buttermilk, orange and lime kept them separate.

9EE5732F-983A-4C15-A853-829192B96FAB_1_201_a.thumb.jpeg.cc7d4a063dedc398bd16e80329ea18f8.jpeg

Blackberry buttermilk (with 1T cassis) - Pre-spin: -5°F, post-spin: 10°F.  Sorbet cycle, spin time = 2:24

Lime (with 1T Falernum) - Pre-spin: -0.5°F, post-spin: 9°F.  Ice Cream cycle, spin time = 1:38

Orange (with 1T Cointreau) - Pre-spin: -0.5°F, post-spin: 15°F.  Lite Ice Cream cycle, spin time = 2:28

 

My intent was to use the Lite Ice Cream cycle for both the blueberry buttermilk and orange as they don't have as much cream in them but I accidentally pushed sorbet when I went to spin the blackberry one last night.  I spun the lime and orange today and it seems my freezer must not have been as cold.   

 

 

I am curious.  You say you meant to spin the blackberry (not blueberry?) On the Lite Ice Cream cycle and pushed Sorbet instead.  There is 4 seconds difference in the spin cycle time.  Does it make that much difference?  Or do the different spin cycles operate at different speeds?  The faster the speed the "warmer" the result?  Sorry to sound like such a bozo.

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9 hours ago, rotuts said:

@ElsieD 

 

I was curious so did some googling :

 

Canoa seems to be a brand :

 

https://canoa.us    can't read anything else on the packet 

 

zapotec seems to be this ;

 

zaaa.thumb.jpg.21d9615b0a5622c399de2e189d0716ef.jpg

 

I have no idea what this tastes like 

 

good luck w your experiments 

 

getting those packets is a great idea !

 

When I bought them I asked for a translation which the young man in the store was unable to provide.  I went back in a few weeks later and the same chap was there so I came out none the wiser.  It sure looks like the picture on the one package is zapote.  The other one says Tree Tomato.  As near as I could find out from by googling was that it was tamarind.  But you can't make ice cream or sorbet with that, can you?

Edited by ElsieD
Corrected Tree Fruit to Tree Tomato (log)
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11 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

When I bought them I asked for a translation which the young man in the store was unable to provide.  I went back in a few weeks later and the same chap was there so I came out none the wiser.  It sure looks like the picture on the one package is zapote.  The other one says Tree Fruit.  As near as I could find out from by googling was that it was tamarind.  But you can't make ice cream or sorbet with that, can you?

Tamarind is a fabulous flavor. Sweet and sour. 

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14 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

I am curious.  You say you meant to spin the blackberry (not blueberry?) On the Lite Ice Cream cycle and pushed Sorbet instead.  There is 4 seconds difference in the spin cycle time.  Does it make that much difference?  Or do the different spin cycles operate at different speeds?  The faster the speed the "warmer" the result?  Sorry to sound like such a bozo.

Thanks for catching my fruit confusion!  Yes, it's blackberry, not blueberry. 

I intended to use the lite ice cream cycle for those because they fit the criteria in the manual of an ice cream low in fat.  At that point, I'd never used that cycle before so I had no idea what the time would be. I'm just a newbie at this stuff!  From my limited data set, I'd say the longer the cycle, the more warming but I know nothing about the speed. 

I wish the Ninja people would be more forthcoming about what the different cycles do but I haven't seen any description. 

 

17 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

The other one says Tree Fruit.  As near as I could find out from by googling was that it was tamarind.  But you can't make ice cream or sorbet with that, can you?

I'd say that looks like a tamarillo, not a tamarind. I can find recipes online for tamarillo sorbet, sherbet and ice cream so I'd think it would work.

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1 minute ago, blue_dolphin said:

Thanks for catching my fruit confusion!  Yes, it's blackberry, not blueberry. 

I intended to use the lite ice cream cycle for those because they fit the criteria in the manual of an ice cream low in fat.  At that point, I'd never used that cycle before so I had no idea what the time would be. I'm just a newbie at this stuff!  From my limited data set, I'd say the longer the cycle, the more warming but I know nothing about the speed. 

I wish the Ninja people would be more forthcoming about what the different cycles do but I haven't seen any description. 

 

I'd say that looks like a tamarillo, not a tamarind. I can find recipes online for tamarillo sorbet, sherbet and ice cream so I'd think it would work.

I am probably misremembering but looking at the photograph of the fruit I seem to recall something very similar shown by @liuzhou    

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6 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Thanks for catching my fruit confusion!  Yes, it's blackberry, not blueberry. 

I intended to use the lite ice cream cycle for those because they fit the criteria in the manual of an ice cream low in fat.  At that point, I'd never used that cycle before so I had no idea what the time would be. I'm just a newbie at this stuff!  From my limited data set, I'd say the longer the cycle, the more warming but I know nothing about the speed. 

I wish the Ninja people would be more forthcoming about what the different cycles do but I haven't seen any description. 

 

I'd say that looks like a tamarillo, not a tamarind. I can find recipes online for tamarillo sorbet, sherbet and ice cream so I'd think it would work.

 

Well, the Tree Tomato one (not Tree Fruit) I've discovered, is a blend of the following:  strawberries, guava, naranjilla (lulo), papaya, pineapple, tamarillo and tamarind.  The one missing from the above picture is passion fruit.  L

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"Tree Tomato," is also the original name of the Tamarillo so that's curious that the name is also used for such a mixture. 

 

Recently, at a Peruvian restaurant, I had an ice cream made from the lucuma fruit, which is in the same family as mamey and it was quite nice. '

 

Edited to add that this article (which has an annoying amount of ads) about a shop making Peruvian ice creams mentions mamey:

Quote

Mamey, which has a flavor similar to pumpkin, almond and sweet potato.

 

Edited by blue_dolphin (log)
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2 hours ago, Anna N said:

I am probably misremembering but looking at the photograph of the fruit I seem to recall something very similar shown by @liuzhou    

 

Not me, I think. But many fruits look similar.

I have eaten zapote in Vietnam, though. It's known there as sapôchê.

 

Fresh tamarind is a thing of great joy! I've never had it, but I'd imagine tamarind ice cream would be great.

 

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I made the passionfruit sorbet and spun it this afternoon on the sorbet cycle.  The temperature before spinning was 0  F, after, 15 F.  Spinning time was 2:26.  As you can see, it was too gloopy to scoop.  It is back in the freezer.  I still have some raspberry sorbet and its temperature is -5 F.  They were in different spots in the freezer, I've put the passionfruit further back and lower.  I did test it for sweetness before freezing and added another tablespoon of sugar after which it tasted fine.  On tasting it this afternoon, it could have used more.

20220728_140310.jpg

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Peach jalapeño frozen yogurt from Dana Cree's Hello, My Name is Ice Cream

0A0E8BB6-EBA3-454C-87DC-1D7D31D5C7CE_1_201_a.thumb.jpeg.8ce28ab7416e2fb8c5bda642a82c3df4.jpeg

Peach & jalapeño is one of my favorite flavor combinations but I've never tried it in dairy base.  I'd up the amount of peach purée here but otherwise it's really good.  Pleasantly spicy. 

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So I've got 3 bases in the freezer:  

 

Coffee (Jeni's -using MP's Perfect Gelato and no cream cheese)

Peach (from cans, using MP's Perfect Sorbet)

Vanilla (Cree's - using MP's Perfect Ice Cream).

 

I should probably keep some notes. That remains to be seen.

 

Anyway, how long has anyone kept a base in the freezer before Creami-atizing, or whatever the heck it's called? This isn't going to be an experiment, as I plan on using them soon, but I am just wondering.

 

 

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1 hour ago, weinoo said:

So I've got 3 bases in the freezer:  

 

Coffee (Jeni's -using MP's Perfect Gelato and no cream cheese)

Peach (from cans, using MP's Perfect Sorbet)

Vanilla (Cree's - using MP's Perfect Ice Cream).

 

I should probably keep some notes. That remains to be seen.

 

Anyway, how long has anyone kept a base in the freezer before Creami-atizing, or whatever the heck it's called? This isn't going to be an experiment, as I plan on using them soon, but I am just wondering.

 

 

 

A long time.

 

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I made dairy-free cookies and cream this weekend and it had good taste and sweetness, but no body.  I used mostly oat milk with a spoon of vegan cream chesee (trader joe's brand has the most neutral taste of them).  I used sugar, dextrose, and corn syrup in a 3-2-1 ratio, and also added a tablespoon of inulin.  Sine I've no idea what I'm doing and it was late, I didn't track exact measurements.  Suspect there wasn't enough fat?  I made another similar batch adding coconut creme, great body but the coconut was too strong and overpowered the oreos.  Egg allergy, so cannot add eggs.

 

Any suggestions?  Pour some oil into it, more inulin or?

cnc.jpg

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1 hour ago, jedovaty said:

Any suggestions?  Pour some oil into it, more inulin or?

 

Get some coconut oil powder.  I use this: https://amzn.to/3BBcIyQ  Has no discernable coconut flavor and doesn't add any liquid to the base.  I use 22 grams per creami pint (I use 12 ozs of plain oat milk and along with flavoring and sugars it makes 16 ozs).

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Catching up with the topic, I see some new (to me) discussion of sorbets. One of my Creami adventures was a blueberry sorbet, inspired by some beautiful blueberries at the farmers market. I used Paul Raphaelson's example recipe subbing blueberries for the strawberries.

 

It turned out great. One of his stated goals in his recipe development is to tone down the sweetness (fine by me), and I didn't know if the blueberries would prove too sweet for the recipe. Turns out it was just right. He calls for some less-sweet sugars like dextrose to supply body without taking the sweetness too high. His stabilizer mix is something he was excited about because it doesn't require heat to dissolve. The fruit is just puréed and strained - no cooking required.

 

I also tried Dana Cree's recipe for strawberry sherbet. I modified it slightly by subbing some dextrose for part of the sugar. She calls for three grams of (unspecified) stabilizer, so since I had the ingredients for Raphaelson's recipe I used them for the sherbet. 

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2 hours ago, mgaretz said:

 

Get some coconut oil powder.  I use this: https://amzn.to/3BBcIyQ  Has no discernable coconut flavor and doesn't add any liquid to the base.  I use 22 grams per creami pint (I use 12 ozs of plain oat milk and along with flavoring and sugars it makes 16 ozs).

Powdered oil?  That is so bizarre wow!  Very interesting reading up on the topic, too, wasn't aware it was a thing, thanks for that :)

Unfortunately, the intended recipient is allergic to casein (hence no dairy) and this product has sodium caseinate which after some research looks like the specific product would be a problem.  Drat.  I'll try finding similar products now that I know what to look for, or maybe I'll try adding a neutral oil, or maybe an avocado and see what happens.  Or maybe I can get my hands on some ice cream bean fruits somewhere, hmmm.

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18 hours ago, weinoo said:

So I've got 3 bases in the freezer:  

 

Coffee (Jeni's -using MP's Perfect Gelato and no cream cheese)

Peach (from cans, using MP's Perfect Sorbet)

Vanilla (Cree's - using MP's Perfect Ice Cream).

 

I should probably keep some notes. That remains to be seen.

 

Anyway, how long has anyone kept a base in the freezer before Creami-atizing, or whatever the heck it's called? This isn't going to be an experiment, as I plan on using them soon, but I am just wondering.

 

I Creami-atized all 3 yesterday...why wait?

 

First thing Significant Eater says after tasting the vanilla and coffee - hmmm, these are a little...gummy. LOL. Always been my contention that using the "modernist" stabilizers I used for the first time, changes the texture of the ice cream, and in our case not necessarily for the better.  I look forward to trying stuff either using the tapioca starch method, or with no stabilizers at all. This is as scientific as I plan on getting with homemade ice cream.

 

Anyhoo...

 

image.thumb.jpeg.808995bfa3cf9fa2e83aaa1c03b255f8.jpeg

 

 

image.thumb.jpeg.36a053597d0e00e2e91fca14254f76f9.jpeg

 

The sorbet was super-smooth (actually, they're all pretty darn smooth) and quite good (canned peached in heavy syrup, a little light corn syrup and sugar, a splash of bourbon, and 1.5 grams of MP Perfect Sorbet, if my memory serves me correctly). I did run it through the Blendtec before freezing.

 

The vanilla ice cream, using Dana Cree's Philly base, was also quite good - but with that slightly gummy texture we don't love. Made 1/2 the recipe, with 1.5 grams of the MP Perfect Ice Cream stuff. 

 

The coffee gelato was pretty intense as well. Maybe because  I turned around for a second, and in that second, the cream/milk boiled over and my full pint became like 2/3 of a pint, before steeping the coffee in it! This was Jeni's recipe (sans cream cheese) with 1.5 grams of MP Perfect Gelato, spun on Gelato setting. Also chewy.

 

I look forward to more attempts.  Sorbets not from a can should be fun.

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