Pacojet Competitor? The Ninja Creami

[JoNorvelleWalker]

3 hours ago, jedovaty said:

What @andrewk512 wrote.  As a mix-in, no issue.  For blending straight up, won't guess the reasons why, however, FWIW, I made a peanut butter version of the modernist cuisine pistachio gelato.  The recipe uses a nut butter, and has it at about 0.75:1 ratio to sugar (not quite praline numbers, but close), then that mix about 1:1.75 to water.  It works great!

 

As I think I mentioned above in the thread I too have made this in the Ninja.

 

[DianaB]

Despite the temptations of our new NC we have both struggled today thanks to Covid.  We should probably have left our frozen pots in the freezer in hope that tomorrow will be a better day but in the end temptation was too strong and we decided to have a first spin of the crème anglaise based vanilla mix without the complication of even the simplest mix-in.  What a revelation!  I have used this same recipe in our basic freeze the bowl and churn machine for years and it was always delicious.  Improvements have come through switching to invert sugar and addition of a readymade stabiliser and we have been happy with the outcome as a basic vanilla ice cream and as a base for variations.

 

Having studied the little booklet that came with the NC the closest to our recipe was the gelato.  We mounted the blade into the machine, dropped in the “pint” (odd to us, we have grown up with metric measures and I struggle to visualise a pint), pressed the “Gelato” button and a very short while later we discovered our usual ice cream transformed to the smoothest, creamiest concoction imaginable.  I have never had better vanilla ice cream anywhere.

 

The grapefruit and Campari pot remains in the freezer.  Hopefully we will both feel better tomorrow and more able to appreciate the  machine.  That said, we are both delighted with the purchase and through somewhat scrambled senses we look forward to experimenting further.

[Shelby]

Finally made watermelon sorbet.  It was good.....not as good as the cantaloupe.....a little icy.  I only did pureed melon and simple syrup....maybe add some cream next time?

 

 

 

[blue_dolphin]

That looks very refreshing, @Shelby!  
 

I made a second batch of the James Hoffmann non-dairy coffee concoction, this time using 3 g of salt rather than 5.5, and it is much more to my taste.  There’s still a savory note from the salt but it’s not overwhelming. Nice coffee flavor.  Creamy texture but much lighter than ice cream.

I’ll add that my version, using Avacream instead of locust bean gum and carrageenan, is quite soft and scoopable at my freezer temp -4 to 0 deg F.  I was thinking an Irish coffee version might be nice but I think the addition of alcohol would make it too soft. Guess I’ll just pour a shot of Irish whiskey over the top instead 🙃

[andrewk512]

Sour rhubarb sorbet from modernist cuisine

 

I agree with @sverreef it's a bit too sour for me, I didn't add any of the balsamic vinegar either. Great texture though! I'm gonna melt it and try sweetening with some sugar syrup then reprocess

[cdh]

I just did some rhubarb today as well... cup of sugar, 1.25 lb of rhubarb water to cover, brought to the boil then cooled.  Squeeze of lemon. Pinch of xanthan. Produced about 1.5 pints, so I topped up the second with frozen strawberries. Will post results tomorrow evening.   

[andrewk512]

1 minute ago, cdh said:

I just did some rhubarb today as well... cup of sugar, 1.25 lb of rhubarb water to cover, brought to the boil then cooled.  Squeeze of lemon. Pinch of xanthan. Produced about 1.5 pints, so I topped up the second with frozen strawberries. Will post results tomorrow evening.   

Nice, I did one similar to that earlier in the spring and was very happy with it!

[cdh]

Me too.  This is a rerun of my rhubarb strawberry elderflower thing I did when the elderflowers were in bloom. 

[DianaB]

Our experiments with the NC continue if slowly.  Husband and I are each very happy with results so far, summarised as follows:

1. Creme anglaise based plain vanilla - as reported up thread this is our usual ice cream mix and the NC certainly gave a result smoother than any previously achieved, smoother in fact than any ice-cream we have bought.  After a night in the freezer (-18c) the mix was as hard as a very hard thing, just as though it had never been transformed.  I ran the remains on ‘gelato’ again and, once again, we had perfect vanilla ice-cream.  Same hardening happened overnight for the second time, very little left in the pot so I ran a respin and that did the job.  First tub of NC ice-cream therefore considered a success.

 

2. Tin of grapefruit segments in light syrup with the addition of 2 teaspoons of Aperol.  Used the sorbet button for this experiment and it created a sorbet unlike any I have tasted before.  I had no idea that sorbet could taste so creamy.  Neither of us could taste any hint of the Aperol, we need either to add more or to switch to an alternative with flavour better able to sit alongside the grapefruit.  Value for money, if we forget the “invisible” Aperol, this is an amazing dessert.  A few pennies for the cheapest tin of fruit the supermarket had on offer and nothing else (beyond the purchase of the NC of course).

 

3. Chocolate.  There was a small amount of the vanilla mix left over after filling pint 1 giving opportunity to play.  Anything complicated will have to wait until we are better recovered from Covid but husband loves chocolate ice-cream and had requested that for the future.  I just made a basic ganache with some Callebaut 811 that was sitting in the cupboard.  A stabiliser had already been added to the crème anglaise mix so I just combined that with the ganache, let the mix cool and then froze overnight in the usual way.  Processed this as gelato, the outcome was sheer bliss, once again the best ice-cream we have ever eaten.

 

We have mountains of huge blackberries this year so some of those have been blitzed with sorbet syrup and strained ready to freeze.  I am already regretting that we only bought the basic 3 pint pots with the machine.  I know that others have frozen mix in the NC pints and then transferred the eventual ice block into alternate storage.  I think that we need to start doing this.

[cdh]

Rhubarb sorbet  report- this is just as great as the last time.  Wonderfully creamy texture from just rhubarb, sugar and water.  Makes rhubarb nicer to eat as all the stringy fibers that get caught in the teeth have been pulverized.     

[cdh]

The strawberry rhubarb version with a pinch of xanthan also came out great.  I think the textural help the rhubarb gives the final product might make it worth exploring using some fraction of rhubarb in a lot of different sorbet recipes... The ratio with the strawberries was about 1:1, maybe a little heavier on the rhubarb.  I wonder if 2:1 something else to rhubarb would benefit from the effect.  May have to go get some more rhubarb and see how peach rhubarb sorbet comes out. 

[tikidoc]

Piña colada: Juice of a couple limes. A few heaping spoonfuls of Philippine coconut jam. Pinch of xantham gum. Fill the rest of the way with almond milk. Mix up in the smoothie maker to break up the jam. Oops, edified to add, a spoon of powdered pineapple juice (source: King Arthur). Freeze, then spin on sorbet.

 

So. Good.  

Edited August 25, 2022 by tikidoc
Add ingredient (log)

[Shelby]

On 8/21/2022 at 8:21 AM, cdh said:

Rhubarb sorbet  report- this is just as great as the last time.  Wonderfully creamy texture from just rhubarb, sugar and water.  Makes rhubarb nicer to eat as all the stringy fibers that get caught in the teeth have been pulverized.     

I have frozen rhubarb.....need to try this.

[DianaB]

Interested to know of any techniques to remove a frozen block from a NC jar in order to keep frozen for later use.  We are regretting not buying more than the 3 jars that are included with the NC.  I had a pint of blackberry sorbet frozen overnight that I wanted to set aside so that a similar mix could be frozen ready for the NC at a later date.  Immersion of the frozen jar in a bowl of hot water eventually freed the block but I’m not convinced that this is the best approach.  For now the block is wrapped in cling film and a decent freezer bag, yet to discover if it will slide back into the jar successfully.  There was certainly some loss in the process.

 

Does anyone have a perfected method to reuse jars in this way?

 

Tonight we finished the sorbet that began life as a tin of grapefruit segments in light syrup.  Another spin on ‘sorbet’ to soften then addition of a tablespoon of Irish cream on ‘mix in’,  delicious, a great value dessert.

[blue_dolphin]

@DianaB, after I had my machine for a while, I decided to order 2 extra containers so I have 5 and haven’t needed to try this but a fellow on one of the Facebook groups posted about lining the container with a plastic bag and storing the frozen contents that way. He ran a bit of warm water over the bag to release and popped it into a cold container before spinning. 
The bags he used came in a roll and looked thin so they conformed nicely to the container without deep folds. He said the were the type grocery stores have available in the produce section. 

[Shelby]

A few weeks ago I found the containers on Amazon.  $20 for 2 so I bought 4....probably too much money, but like you, I needed more.  They weren't supposed to get here until like the end of September, but they got here a few days ago.  I was going to post the link here so you could get some if you wanted, but they are no longer available for that price and the prices listed now are crazy  . 

[sverreef]

On 8/20/2022 at 2:35 AM, andrewk512 said:

Sour rhubarb sorbet from modernist cuisine

 

I agree with @sverreef it's a bit too sour for me, I didn't add any of the balsamic vinegar either. Great texture though! I'm gonna melt it and try sweetening with some sugar syrup then reprocess

 

The flavour is pretty much spot on to my taste. On its own, the sourness is nearly too much, but I found that caramelized white chocolate balanced it nicely. I used citric acid instead of malic acid though, and also added 2,4 grams of salt in a recipe scaled to 56% of the original MC recipe, which almost reached the maximum fill line in the Creami pints.

[DianaB]

Many thanks @blue_dolphin and @Shelby for advice with regards making better use of the NC ‘pints’.  I will try the plastic bag inside my clean jar this afternoon, I can’t see why that won’t work…..  

 

I am in the UK at the moment where Amazon doesn’t own up to having any ‘pints’ to sell me, this was not the case a week ago when I bought the machine so I imagine that they will reappear soon.  If I can get away with bags I will do that until I work out how much we will use the NC once the novelty wanes.  Frankly it is so quick and the results are so delicious that I don’t imagine it collecting dust anytime soon.

 

Last night we had our first go at adding praline to my basic vanilla gelato as a mix in.  Stunningly good result, 1 tablespoon of hazelnut praline paste transformed the already excellent vanilla to another level.  Highly recommended, guess a pistachio paste would also be excellent.  I seem to recall promising a neighbour pistachio ice-cream a while back but she is yet to provide me with any pistachios and given their cost I’m being mean about donating the nuts.  Might just give in, easy enough to make pistachio paste in the Magimix.

 

I made mint and chocolate chip sorbet a while back in our freeze the bucket and churn machine.  It tastes delicious but the texture is extremely hard so what is left of that is in the fridge just now so that I can decant it once melted into a ‘pint’ and then let the NC do it’s thing.  Guessing that we will lose the texture of the chocolate chips but the taste should still be good.

 

Since Amazon didn’t have any pots for me I have ordered an ice-cream scoop that should arrive this afternoon.  Perhaps I might get servings worthy of photos in due course!  

[weinoo]

2 hours ago, DianaB said:

Perhaps I might get servings worthy of photos in due course!

 

Or. like me, just don't worry about that!

[andrewk512]

Three new recipes for the Ninja Creami

 

Apricot Sorbet
500g lightly cooked* apricot flesh (I didn't bother to remove the skins)
25g atomized glucose 
100g sucrose
citric and malic acid to taste

 

Blend, strain and process.

 

Peach Sorbet
500g lightly cooked* peach flesh (skins removed)
25g atomized glucose 
100g sucrose
citric and malic acid to taste

 

Blend, strain and process.

 

*Lightly cooking the fruit to 90C for 2 minutes will dramatically reduce the polyphenol oxidase enzymes which create browning and lead to off flavors. This can be done by bringing to boil in a pot, or sous vide (but make sure the ingredients inside have reached temperature before starting the timer)

*This recipe will probably work for nectarines, but will not work for cherries

 

Apricot kernel ice cream, adapted from HMNIIC

**Consume at your own risk. consumption of apricot kernels in large amounts can lead to poisoning. I cannot confirm the safety of this recipe**

 

Use the Blank Slate Philadelphia Ice Cream recipe at 66% of original weight. Use 50% of the recommended glucose or omit. After bringing the cream mixture up to temperature, add 25 roasted apricot kernels and allow to infuse for 30 minutes before straining out.

 

---

Apricot and peach sorbets were perfect. The apricot kernel I would probably not do again, not worth it when almond would get a similar flavor with less effort and safety concerns. All 3 together were a bit too sweet, if I served them together again I'd cut back the sweetness or add an acidic component

 

Edited August 25, 2022 by andrewk512 (log)

[blue_dolphin]

Two spins yesterday.  

Mint-Basil Chip Ice Cream

It was not my original intent but I added a little food color to this because the deeply colored yolks from my farmers market eggs made the mix noticeably yellow.  White mint ice cream, I can get behind.  Yellow?  Not so appealing to me.  I prepped the mix-in chocolate (a dark chocolate mint bar from Aldi) per the instructions in Hello, My Name is Ice Cream: melt with a bit of coconut oil & salt, pour out into a sheet, freeze, chop and keep frozen 'til use. Nice melting mouthfeel to the chocolate and the basil adds complexity to the flavor of the ice cream. I want to compare this to the fresh mint ice cream from HMNIIC but I'm not sure if there will be any of this left by the time I get around to it. 

 

Pink grapefruit & Campari sorbet with a slice of candied pink grapefruit rind:

I used fresh grapefruit from the farmers market and used a pestle to bash the grated zest in with the sugar to release more flavor. This seems to be a popular sorbet combo here and for good reason.  Kinda like a dessert and after dinner cocktail in one!

[blue_dolphin]

Just above, I shared a mint-basil chip ice cream and said I wanted to compare it to the Fresh Mint Ice Cream from Hello, My Name Is Ice Cream so here it is:

I added the same dark mint chocolate as a mix-in. This one is a Philly-style base which I kinda prefer with the mint because it avoids the yellow color from the egg yolks and I didn't have to turn it green to cover that up.  Without the added chips, the flavor is clean and simple.  It doesn't scream MINT, but it's there. I do like the chocolate in there but if going without them, I'd pair this with a scoop of David Lebovitz's dark chocolate sorbet, which is really a sherbet as it does have some dairy in it. I think that would be an elegant dessert. 

The flavor of the mint-basil chip ice cream is way more complex and interesting and would certainly be my choice if serving it alone. Definitely a synergy between those two herbs in combination. 

 

As a preview of coming attractions, I just prepped a container of the mix for the Sichuan peppercorn with cherry compote ice cream from Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream.  There's a version of this recipe with a brown sugar-sesame swirl over on the Mala Market website where they recommend using their Sichuan Tribute pepper which I do not have so I used their regular stuff instead. The VL book doesn't specify a pepper type but does say it should be cracked, which I forgot to do. The MM recipe doesn't mention cracking the pepper but uses a longer steep time, which I did.  A comment on the MM recipe says they used the pepper I used and the flavor was very faint. Going into the freezer, mine doesn't taste particularly strong either.  I don't have sour cherries to make the compote and I'd only need 1/8 cup so I'm going to chop up some TJ's Amarena cherries, perhaps with a bit of their syrup as the mix-in. We'll see.  I ordered some of the proper pepper so I can try that later. 

 

[cdh]

Amazon has the ebook version of Rose's Ice Cream Bliss on sale for $1.99... might be of interest to those playing with ice cream recipes.. Rose's Ice Cream Bliss (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

[blue_dolphin]

On 8/30/2022 at 12:28 PM, blue_dolphin said:

As a preview of coming attractions, I just prepped a container of the mix for the Sichuan peppercorn with cherry compote ice cream from Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream.  There's a version of this recipe with a brown sugar-sesame swirl over on the Mala Market website where they recommend using their Sichuan Tribute pepper which I do not have so I used their regular stuff instead. The VL book doesn't specify a pepper type but does say it should be cracked, which I forgot to do. The MM recipe doesn't mention cracking the pepper but uses a longer steep time, which I did.  A comment on the MM recipe says they used the pepper I used and the flavor was very faint. Going into the freezer, mine doesn't taste particularly strong either.  I don't have sour cherries to make the compote and I'd only need 1/8 cup so I'm going to chop up some TJ's Amarena cherries, perhaps with a bit of their syrup as the mix-in. We'll see.  I ordered some of the proper pepper so I can try that later. 

 

And, here it is:

As mentioned above, the flavor from the Sichuan pepper is fairly subtle.  I get some warm, earthy notes that contrast nicely with the chopped Amarena cherries.  Very pleasant but not sure I'd be able to place it as Sichuan pepper if I didn't know. 

 

[tikidoc]

I joined a group on Facebook for fans of the Creami. There appears to be a fairly large number of people who follow low carb diets (including quite a few who have had bariatric surgery), and a favorite base for ice creams is the Fairlife brand protein shakes. My store was out of Fairlife initially, so I tried the Premier vanilla flavor - my husband likes it as ice cream when I add other flavoring (like enough some black raspberry and peach preserves that we made earlier in the summer), but I think it’s kinda nasty. Then I stumbled on some Fairlife, and they are quite good. None of the strange aftertaste that most protein drinks have. The vanilla is quite neutral, so makes a good base for fruit ice creams, coffee, etc.

 

My current favorite is a bottle of the chocolate Fairlife, a couple big spoonfuls of good cocoa, 1/4 tsp of xanthan gum, and about a TB of instant espresso powder. It’s not overly sweet, and the flavor is very much dark chocolate. I usually have to do a re-spin, and I generally add a few TB of almond milk. Is it as luxurious as a lot of the ice creams I see posted here? No, but it’s still pretty darn yummy, and I can have a bowl of it several nights a week without any guilt. The whole pint has 26-30 grams of protein, no sugar and under 200 calories.