Pacojet Competitor? The Ninja Creami

[Kerry Beal]

29 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

I’ve made ginger paste in my little wet grinder and pressed it out flat inside a zip top freezer bag. Easy to break off as needed. 
 

 

To funny!  I wondered about the cleaning aspect WRT the Ninja. There’s only so much of that drive screw that you can access to clean. I’m wondering what may be on the rest of it after spinning the chicken liver 😝

I'll bet you could run a beaker with water in it. The screw would decend into the water. 

[blue_dolphin]

7 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

I'll bet you could run a beaker with water in it. The screw would decend into the water. 

Excellent idea.  Not sure why I was thinking it needed to be frozen as the liver certainly wasn’t!  
Just ran a beaker of water on the milkshake setting and the post-spin water looked crystal clear, no turbidity or visible particulates. Not exactly a stringent measure but I feel a lot better about my next run!  

[jedovaty]

On 5/22/2022 at 10:31 AM, Kerry Beal said:

Woot has refurbished CREAMis  on for $99 - 109 - here.

With all the respect in the world, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AADiEuvhCu0

😁

[cdh]

Unwrapped and broke in my Creami finally.  Freezer cycling between 0F and -10F. Can of pineapple chunks poured straight into the pint and a spoonful scooped off and eaten to get the level down to the line. Stellar results. Very very nice!  Do they always produce hot electric motor aromas while working?

[ElsieD]

21 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

I’ve made ginger paste in my little wet grinder and pressed it out flat inside a zip top freezer bag. Easy to break off as needed. 
 

 

What kind of wet grinder is this?  I use a lot of ginger and would like to do this.  I'm thinking ginger is too hard for a coffee grinder to pulverize.  A food processor maybe?

[blue_dolphin]

16 hours ago, ElsieD said:

 

What kind of wet grinder is this?  I use a lot of ginger and would like to do this.  I'm thinking ginger is too hard for a coffee grinder to pulverize.  A food processor maybe?

I generally store ginger in the freezer and microplane it as needed.  When I made that ginger paste, I was cooking a lot from Dishoom and that cookbook included a recipe for ginger paste and called for it in all recipes.  The book says to use a blender or mini food processor for the job.  It also adds some vegetable oil (25 ml/180g ginger root) to assist in mixing. 

I started out making just a half batch so I used the little wet grinder that you asked about.  I bought a small Revel grinder (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) to whizz up just a serving or 2 of mint or cilantro chutney but it handled the ginger (pre-sliced) just as well. It's basically like a whirly blade coffee grinder but the bowl is removable so it can handle wet stuff.  I paid ~ $35 for it 3 years ago but I can't find it available at present. 

I did take note of the caution described here by @loki in the thread about that grinder and have been careful to make sure that no liquid drips down outside the bowl.  For example, I would normally clean something like this by running it with water and a drop of dish soap.  That is basically a recipe for for liquid overflowing and dripping down into the motor chamber.  Glad I learned that before I destroyed it!

I use it a couple of times a week.  It's been great for making amounts of herb pastes or chutneys that are too small to properly engage the blades of my regular or immersion blender.  

 

Sorry for the long winded answer 🙃

 

Edited May 27, 2022 by blue_dolphin (log)

[palo]

25 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

I bought a small Revel grinder

Sorry link doesn't work for me but searching Amazon for "wet and dry grinder" brought up a few

 

p

[blue_dolphin]

4 minutes ago, palo said:

Sorry link doesn't work for me but searching Amazon for "wet and dry grinder" brought up a few

 

p

Sorry about that!

[sverreef]

Can't believe it's taken so long, but the Creami finally seems to have reached the Norwegian market too. Ordered mine a few minutes ago. Unfortunately, the web shop had sold the one they had in stock earlier today. but hopefully it will be delivered within 7-14 days.

[Smithy]

On 5/26/2022 at 5:54 PM, cdh said:

Unwrapped and broke in my Creami finally.  Freezer cycling between 0F and -10F. Can of pineapple chunks poured straight into the pint and a spoonful scooped off and eaten to get the level down to the line. Stellar results. Very very nice!  Do they always produce hot electric motor aromas while working?

 

I haven't noticed a hot electric motor aroma. I used mine last night for 2 batches of ice cream: chocolate, and vanilla with mini chocolate chips, both from the recipe booklet. Our dinner guests were horrified by the noise, amused at my love of kitchen toys, and very impressed with the ice cream. We all were impressed. None of us noticd a hot motor smell.

 

(Incidentally, I spun both batches twice to get the right texture. For the chocolate chip ice cream I didn't add the chips until the 2nd spin.)

 

cdh, if you continue getting that smell you should contact Ninja before your warranty runs out. They made return of my dead CREAMi and arrival of a new one painless and free. I'm quite impressed with their Customer Service.

[ElsieD]

43 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

I haven't noticed a hot electric motor aroma. I used mine last night for 2 batches of ice cream: chocolate, and vanilla with mini chocolate chips, both from the recipe booklet. Our dinner guests were horrified by the noise, amused at my love of kitchen toys, and very impressed with the ice cream. We all were impressed. None of us noticd a hot motor smell.

 

(Incidentally, I spun both batches twice to get the right texture. For the chocolate chip ice cream I didn't add the chips until the 2nd spin.)

 

cdh, if you continue getting that smell you should contact Ninja before your warranty runs out. They made return of my dead CREAMi and arrival of a new one painless and free. I'm quite impressed with their Customer Service.

 

Did you run it both times on the Ice Cream cycle?

[Smithy]

43 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

Did you run it both times on the Ice Cream cycle?

 

Yes, I think. I may have used Re-spin, but now I think I just had a brain fade and did Ice Cream.

[Smithy]

I just had a smackerel of last night's ice creams for an afternoon snack. Both were firm but not icy. Both melted quickly (as we and our guests noted last night) but not so quickly as to seem wrong. Both were as delicious today as they were last night.

 

I am very, very pleased that I started trying this gizmo and using the booklet's recipes. I'm so pleased, in fact, that I ordered 2 more Ninja pints so that I can have multiple choices hanging around. 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 minutes ago, Smithy said:

I just had a smackerel of last night's ice creams for an afternoon snack. Both were firm but not icy. Both melted quickly (as we and our guests noted last night) but not so quickly as to seem wrong. Both were as delicious today as they were last night.

 

I am very, very pleased that I started trying this gizmo and using the booklet's recipes. I'm so pleased, in fact, that I ordered 2 more Ninja pints so that I can have multiple choices hanging around. 

 

 

You know you need a Pacojet.

 

[lindag]

I finally sampled my coffee ice cream today and it was outstanding!

As close to the Starbucks coffee ice cream as I remember it.  I posted about it somewhere above but here is the recipe:

Coffee Ice Cream

This recipe is bigger than 1 pint but was so good I'm making two pints of it.

Also, I added some chopped cacao chocolate bits to and that was a very good thing.

 

[dtremit]

3 hours ago, lindag said:

I finally sampled my coffee ice cream today and it was outstanding!

As close to the Starbucks coffee ice cream as I remember it.  I posted about it somewhere above but here is the recipe:

Coffee Ice Cream

This recipe is bigger than 1 pint but was so good I'm making two pints of it.

Also, I added some chopped cacao chocolate bits to and that was a very good thing.

 

 

Did you use instant coffee, and if so, what brand? I am always wanting to buy some for dessert use but never know how to pick a good one.

[Kerry Beal]

 

The Pacojet has some blades for use with non frozen food - a 4 blade cutter, a two blade cutter and a whipping disc (that looks like it should be able to grate cheese). Here's what happens if you put about 500 ml of whipping cream in an ice cold container and run the whipping program (which takes about 1 minute). Perfect whipped cream. I suspect I might actually be able to whip lower fat cream as well - experiments will ensue. 

 

There was nothing in the house that called for whipped cream - but hey - heat some rice pudding - top with whipped cream - because you can!

Edited May 30, 2022 by Kerry Beal (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

8 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

I suspect I might actually be able to whip lower fat cream as well - experiments will ensue. 

 

What fun is that?

 

[jedovaty]

Costco has it for $160 through 5/30 (tomorrow).  I'm still tempted by the refurb on woot, but $60 more for a brand new units, hmmm.

For fun, I looked up some reviews before truly committing, so many influencer links on that thing holy cow.  I also found a youtube video comparing it to a vitamix.  I know the vitamix can blend frozen ice cubes but it's a pain with the tamping then removing everything, so much so that it was just a novelty for me the first time I tried it a few years ago.  I also have a Donvier with two containers from my childhood and.. well.. it's not very good, takes up so much room.  Only purpose I keep it around for the memories.

In the review, the dude indicated there were ice crystals in the creami one, especially after putting it in the freezer.  Hmmm.  But here I'm reading it's super smooth.. I trust you more, but.. before I spend more money, I'm just.. checking in first.

[jedovaty]

2 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

The Pacojet has some blades for use with non frozen food - a 4 blade cutter, a two blade cutter and a whipping disc (that looks like it should be able to grate cheese). Here's what happens if you put about 500 ml of whipping cream in an ice cold container and run the whipping program (which takes about 1 minute). Perfect whipped cream. I suspect I might actually be able to whip lower fat cream as well - experiments will ensue.

With its power, I'm surprised it didn't come out as butter?

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

18 minutes ago, jedovaty said:

Costco has it for $160 through 5/30 (tomorrow).  I'm still tempted by the refurb on woot, but $60 more for a brand new units, hmmm.

For fun, I looked up some reviews before truly committing, so many influencer links on that thing holy cow.  I also found a youtube video comparing it to a vitamix.  I know the vitamix can blend frozen ice cubes but it's a pain with the tamping then removing everything, so much so that it was just a novelty for me the first time I tried it a few years ago.  I also have a Donvier with two containers from my childhood and.. well.. it's not very good, takes up so much room.  Only purpose I keep it around for the memories.

In the review, the dude indicated there were ice crystals in the creami one, especially after putting it in the freezer.  Hmmm.  But here I'm reading it's super smooth.. I trust you more, but.. before I spend more money, I'm just.. checking in first.

 

The CREAMi is not a blender.  Eat the CREAMi product right after spinning.  Do not refreeze.  That is the whole idea.  At the price the CREAMi is a revelation.  Do not expect it to be something it is not.

 

Or do like Kerry and buy a Pacojet.

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

8 hours ago, jedovaty said:

Costco has it for $160 through 5/30 (tomorrow).  I'm still tempted by the refurb on woot, but $60 more for a brand new units, hmmm.

For fun, I looked up some reviews before truly committing, so many influencer links on that thing holy cow.  I also found a youtube video comparing it to a vitamix.  I know the vitamix can blend frozen ice cubes but it's a pain with the tamping then removing everything, so much so that it was just a novelty for me the first time I tried it a few years ago.  I also have a Donvier with two containers from my childhood and.. well.. it's not very good, takes up so much room.  Only purpose I keep it around for the memories.

In the review, the dude indicated there were ice crystals in the creami one, especially after putting it in the freezer.  Hmmm.  But here I'm reading it's super smooth.. I trust you more, but.. before I spend more money, I'm just.. checking in first.

No no - you keep your Donviers so when you want to transport a quart of ice cream from home to wherever - you pop the quart container in the frozen Donvier and Bob's your uncle. 

[Kerry Beal]

8 hours ago, jedovaty said:

With its power, I'm surprised it didn't come out as butter?

 

It was a tiny bit buttery - hence my thought that trying a lower fat cream might work. The recipe booklet suggests if the cream is too thick that you add a little milk. 

[lindag]

11 hours ago, dtremit said:

 

Did you use instant coffee, and if so, what brand? I am always wanting to buy some for dessert use but never know how to pick a good one.

Instant espresso.  One part was from KAF and the other part was this.

(I happened to have two containers so I mixed some of each.)

[ElsieD]

9 hours ago, jedovaty said:

Costco has it for $160.  

Costco Canada has it for $200.  They seem to be carrying a lot of Ninja products lately.