Pacojet Competitor? The Ninja Creami

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

@Kerry Beal  I have never heard of Stanislaus tomatoes so I did a little digging.  Are they really better than, say, Aylmer or any of the other more familiar brands?  if it is, i'll hop over to The Wholesale Club and pick some up.

Yup - recommended by modernist bread for their pizza sauce. I had to buy them from a  wholesaler in North York and I bought  a case of the number 10 cans.  I’ll have to do a bit of research to find the place again 

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, palo said:

Not familiar with "sorbet stabilizer"

Hopefully something common and not too expensive 😁

 

p

Check out @paulraphael’s website - it’s a mixture of a couple of different gums. 

[ElsieD]

15 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Yup - recommended by modernist bread for their pizza sauce. I had to buy them from a  wholesaler in North York and I bought  a case of the number 10 cans.  I’ll have to do a bit of research to find the place again 

 

I'm almost afraid to ask - how many in a case?  Those are big cans.

[Kerry Beal]

6

[Kerry Beal]

3 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

6

But you can buy a single can - https://bulkmart.ca/products/stanislaus-alta-cucina-plum-tomato-6-x-100-oz

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, andrewk512 said:

 

Yes the Dana Cree, Migoya, Thomas Keller, Eleven Madison Park etc. recipes on their own all turn out excellent 

 

I think people are hoping to strike gold with a really simple recipe again - the fruits in syrup trick is actually quite wonderful; and the machine advertises to process just about anything into an ice cream. Unfortunately all the other quick fixes just aren't panning out.

 

My takeaways are that anything with uncooked dairy is at risk of turning to butter, higher fat the higher risk. And that you want your base to be ~ 6c colder than ideal serving temp, this means it should usually be frozen in a -18C freezer.

 

 

 

 

This is my minute maid pink lemonade experiment - 50% concentrate 50% water. I froze on Lite Ice Cream which I think is my new favourite button. It came out very smooth, no ice crystals again. However, as you might be able to see from the photo it isn't at all scoopable/doesn't pack nice/feels like parking lot snow after it has rained. Probably due to the low solids content.

 

 

 

I love your simile.

 

[dhardy123]

For us Canadians, I just ordered the extra containers from Bed Bath and Beyond. 2 containers for $25. I had my $50 Myfunds expiring tomorrow, so I bought 4 canisters for $7 after discount

 

https://www.bedbathandbeyond.ca/store/product/ninja-creami-pints-and-lids-2-pack/5650266

 

[palo]

I'm managing on the original 3 - solo plus not finishing 1/2 of a pint at a sitting - as well limited freezer space - I will  probably opt for more if I can sort out my freezer space

p

[andrewk512]

18 minutes ago, dhardy123 said:

For us Canadians, I just ordered the extra containers from Bed Bath and Beyond. 2 containers for $25. I had my $50 Myfunds expiring tomorrow, so I bought 4 canisters for $7 after discount

 

https://www.bedbathandbeyond.ca/store/product/ninja-creami-pints-and-lids-2-pack/5650266

 

Awesome! Not sure what else to buy to meet free shipping, might just wait for a promo. I don't think I need 4 extra containers just yet

[dhardy123]

12 minutes ago, andrewk512 said:

Awesome! Not sure what else to buy to meet free shipping, might just wait for a promo. I don't think I need 4 extra containers just yet

I didn't need 4 either but my $50 was expiring tomorrow so I didn't want to lose it. With the 4 containers I was able to get free shipping

[Kerry Beal]

22 minutes ago, dhardy123 said:

I didn't need 4 either but my $50 was expiring tomorrow so I didn't want to lose it. With the 4 containers I was able to get free shipping

Didn't see extra containers there before. 

 

Happy to buy two of them from you - I don't need 4 either!

Edited October 11, 2021 by Kerry Beal (log)

[ElsieD]

1 hour ago, dhardy123 said:

For us Canadians, I just ordered the extra containers from Bed Bath and Beyond. 2 containers for $25. I had my $50 Myfunds expiring tomorrow, so I bought 4 canisters for $7 after discount

 

https://www.bedbathandbeyond.ca/store/product/ninja-creami-pints-and-lids-2-pack/5650266

 

 

Thank you.  Ordered.

[chefmd]

1/4 cup of full fat yogurt, tablespoon of maple syrup, orange juice to fill till max line.  Processed on lite ice cream setting, re spin.  Not sweet enough for dessert which is fine with me.  Would make a lovely palate cleanser.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I took one for the team.  Last week I prepared orange sherbet that was waxy.

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/163060-new-pacojet-competitor-the-ninja-creami/?do=findComment&comment=2316100

 

Rather than flush it right away, I heated the leftovers, homogenized them, and refroze.  I resisted the urge to add anything extraneous.  I can report the flavor suffered and the texture was not much improved.  Besides, the sherbet is too salty.

 

So far I have only managed one acceptable batch from the Ninja:

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/163060-new-pacojet-competitor-the-ninja-creami/?do=findComment&comment=2315942

 

I am very sad.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Something to report:  I respun my long suffering sherbet on the "Lite Ice Cream" setting, and the texture was noticeably improved.  Not great, but improved.

 

[ElsieD]

The Maple ice cream I made was very soft right after I spun it, akin to soft-serve ice cream.  It was frozen solid when I spun it.  We ate half, I smoothed the top and put it back in the freezer.  It is now frozen solid.  To try to not get such soft ice cream when we go to finish it, is it best to simply process it on re-spin?  I have no idea why the rock hard ice cream turned so soft after one cycle on ice cream.  If it makes any difference, it is a custard based ice cream.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

The Maple ice cream I made was very soft right after I spun it, akin to soft-serve ice cream.  It was frozen solid when I spun it.  We ate half, I smoothed the top and put it back in the freezer.  It is now frozen solid.  To try to not get such soft ice cream when we go to finish it, is it best to simply process it on re-spin?  I have no idea why the rock hard ice cream turned so soft after one cycle on ice cream.  If it makes any difference, it is a custard based ice cream.

 

I don't think you are supposed to re-spin except right after spinning.  Try setting your freezer to a colder temperature if you can.

 

[mgaretz]

31 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I don't think you are supposed to re-spin except right after spinning.  Try setting your freezer to a colder temperature if you can.

 

 

You can respin (on the original setting) if it gets hard after re-freezing, according to the manual (look in the recipe guide, second page in the middle under "What to do about leftovers").  I have definitely done this on my low/zero sugar experiments.  Fine after the initial spin, then rock hard the next day.  After a second spin then it stays soft from that point on.  Note this is not the "re-spin" cycle which used if it's crumbly after the initial spin.  This is a second spin the next day on the  original cycle.

Edited October 15, 2021 by mgaretz (log)

[mgaretz]

Today I made an experimental version of my peanut butter salted caramel recipe with 50% sugar and 50% erythritol/monk fruit blend.  Freezing now, will report tomorrow on how it comes out.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 minutes ago, mgaretz said:

 

You can respin (on the original setting) if it gets hard after re-freezing, according to the manual (look in the recipe guide, second page in the middle under "What to do about leftovers").  I have definitely done this on my low/zero sugar experiments.  Fine after the initial spin, then rock hard the next day.  After a second spin then it stays soft from that point on.  Note this is not the "re-spin" cycle which used if it's crumbly after the initial spin.  This is a second spin the next day on the  original cycle.

 

I meant @ElsieD should not use the re-spin cycle when the ice cream is hard.

 

[andrewk512]

2 hours ago, ElsieD said:

The Maple ice cream I made was very soft right after I spun it, akin to soft-serve ice cream.  It was frozen solid when I spun it.  We ate half, I smoothed the top and put it back in the freezer.  It is now frozen solid.  To try to not get such soft ice cream when we go to finish it, is it best to simply process it on re-spin?  I have no idea why the rock hard ice cream turned so soft after one cycle on ice cream.  If it makes any difference, it is a custard based ice cream.

 

A quick solid to liquid transition could be a lot of factors - I agree that freezing to a colder temp is a good and easy start for troubleshooting. It could also be an indication of not enough solids content or not enough stabilization. Thinner mixes or mixes with alcohol will have a rapid transition as well

 

 

I am doing a Dana Cree plum sherbet right now. I also have some Cocoa nib water that I strained when attempting Cocoa nib koji that I then sweetened and froze up with plans to make Cocoa nib snow, just trying to figure out what I'd pair it with before I spin it

[mgaretz]

5 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I meant @ElsieD should not use the re-spin cycle when the ice cream is hard.

 

Ah.

[ElsieD]

I'm embarrassed.  I was looking through the manual last night when this little light bulb clicked on.  I suddenly remembered that I had used the ice-cream spin on what I thought was ice cream but was actually gelato.  It should have been spun on gelato given that it was Maple Gelato.   Could that have been why the end result was soft?  Is there anywhere where they explain what the various settings actually do?

[andrewk512]

3 hours ago, ElsieD said:

I'm embarrassed.  I was looking through the manual last night when this little light bulb clicked on.  I suddenly remembered that I had used the ice-cream spin on what I thought was ice cream but was actually gelato.  It should have been spun on gelato given that it was Maple Gelato.   Could that have been why the end result was soft?  Is there anywhere where they explain what the various settings actually do?

Sadly despite searching everywhere, messaging the manufacturers and FB posts I have yet to find an explanation of all the settings

 

 

 

Dana Cree plum sherbet turned out perfectly today, processed on the lite ice cream setting which is my current favorite setting (processes longer, appears to be smoother) 

 

 

[mgaretz]

Here is the report on peanut butter salted caramel with half sugar half erythritol/monk fruit blend.  Spun yesterday afternoon on Lite Ice Cream.  It was very smooth and soft-serve like consistency.  Later that night (shown, with a banana) it was harder but still soft.  This morning it was nice and solid but easily scoopable.  It seemed a bit icy, but I only had one spoonful so I will see tonight.  Now the taste was very sweet, which I did not expect.  So I may have to adjust the sugars.  The good news is that by blending real sugar with the erythritol I did not detect any artificial. "not quite right" sweetness.  It tasted like all sugar.

 

 

Edited October 17, 2021 by mgaretz (log)