Pacojet Competitor? The Ninja Creami

[Smithy]

On 10/16/2022 at 12:25 PM, ElsieD said:

@Smithy. For the mango sorbet, did you use only the canned mango sugar?  How sweet were they?

 

I didn't add anything. It was just the mango chunks from the can, with enough of the syrup to come up to the fill line. (I think that was all of it, but can't find my notes to be sure.) I thought they were appropriately sweet, like mangoes: sweet enough, without setting my teeth on edge.

 

I thought there was a faint tinny taste from the can, but nobody else commented on it.

[dtremit]

On 10/16/2022 at 1:08 PM, Smithy said:

No pictures, but I wowed the family last weekend with the non-dairy Coffee ice cream, a mango sorbet and a blend of the remnant chocolate and vanilla ice creams we hadn't finished before. In that last batch, I had two roughly half-sized containers, so allowed them to melt, then mixed them.

 

@Smithy — I'm curious how the melt and refreeze experiment worked — did you notice any difference in texture from the originals? And what kind of base were the original chocolate and vanilla (custard or non-custard)?

[Smithy]

3 hours ago, dtremit said:

 

@Smithy — I'm curious how the melt and refreeze experiment worked — did you notice any difference in texture from the originals? And what kind of base were the original chocolate and vanilla (custard or non-custard)?

 

I don't remember a difference in the texture between the original and the melted/refrozen concoctions, but there wasn't a side-by-side real-time test. (That woud be a useful experiment, wouldn't it?) When i haven't been satisfied with the texture, so far I've just respun and been pleased.

 

The original chocolate and vanilla recipes did not involve custard, but they did involve a small amount of cream (Neufchatel, in my case) cheese. I was essentially following the recipes in the CREAMi manual, although wasn't very strict aboutt milk vs. cream vs. half-and-half.

[tikidoc]

Continuing the “healthy ice cream hack” part of the thread, the addition of a couple ounces of cottage cheese adds amazing texture to the protein drink ice creams.

 

My current recipe:

 

11.5 oz bottle of Fairlife chocolate protein nutrition shake

2-3 TB good quality cocoa

1 TB powdered espresso

1/4 tsp guar gum

1/4 c full fat cottage cheese

A little almond milk if needed to get 16 oz

 

About 225 calories per pint, almost 40 grams of protein (the cocoa adds a gram per TB, and the cottage cheese adds about 6 grams to the 30 grams in the shake). 2 grams sugar, about 6 grams of fat. The cottage cheese adds a little salt that rounds out the flavors, and it makes the texture and mouthfeel much creamier, more like a high end ice cream. Breakfast!!!

 

I also recently discovered that Wegmans has cans of mango in juice and apricots in juice (no sugar added), so I have a batch of each blended and in the freezer. Based on a taste before freezing, I anticipate they will both be really good. 

[randomwalk]

On 10/10/2022 at 7:44 PM, randomwalk said:

#2 Macadamia Brittle Ice cream.  .......  As has been noted before, the mix-in function is extremely even, so if I had it to do over again, I think I would still use the mix-in function, but then to stir in some by hand so hopefully you could get some bites with a lot and some with less, rather than the perfectly even distribution.  Right after spinning when the ice cream is soft, this might be easy enough.

 

With one of our remaining vanilla pints, I used this approach -- use the mix-in function, but then also hand-stir in some brittle for a less even distribution.  It worked really well!  An excellent rendition of a favorite yet discontinued ice cream flavor. 

[DianaB]

On 10/18/2022 at 3:03 PM, dtremit said:

 

@Smithy — I'm curious how the melt and refreeze experiment worked — did you notice any difference in texture from the originals? And what kind of base were the original chocolate and vanilla (custard or non-custard)?

I have done as Smithy described with ‘custard’ based ice-cream and while I didn’t progress this in any scientific way I am confident that there was no difference in texture when the re-frozen dessert was finished with the NC when compared with the original batch. Defrosted overnight in the refrigerator and then refrozen during the following day combining vanilla with chocolate.

[DianaB]

On 10/18/2022 at 12:01 AM, Raamo said:

So we started simple... just a jar of canned peaches.  Should I add some guar gum to this?  I'd have to order some since we have lots of modernist powders but not this.

 

 

This is day 2.  We seem to have to respin to get this good consistency. 

I find that a respin is almost always necessary when preparing a dessert based on tinned fruit.  Yesterday we had pineapple that came in its juice from a can, I didn’t open the contraption before setting it going for a respin, it was perfect in the end and the respin is quite fast.

 

I’m wondering if the newest NCs have slightly longer spin cycles because people reported doing this regularly.  Not seen many reviews as yet but pictures seem to show timings of 4 or 5 minutes, significantly longer than my older (bought not very long ago) machine.   

[randomwalk]

Hmm, I was just hand-drying a pint container, and I noticed some lines on the inside.  They feel like etches/scratches in the plastic on the inside.  It kinda seems like the blade may have run up against the inside of the jar...

 

Anyone else seen this happen in their jars?  I am kind of perplexed.  The placement makes me wonder if we used it once with the jars not quite properly in, so that the pint was not perfectly centered on the blade, but that seems really hard to believe! 

Edited October 23, 2022 by randomwalk
to add pic! (log)

[mgaretz]

24 minutes ago, randomwalk said:

Hmm, I was just hand-drying a pint container, and I noticed some lines on the inside.  They feel like etches/scratches in the plastic on the inside.  It kinda seems like the blade may have run up against the inside of the jar...

 

Anyone else seen this happen in their jars?  I am kind of perplexed.  The placement makes me wonder if we used it once with the jars not quite properly in, so that the pint was not perfectly centered on the blade, but that seems really hard to believe! 

 

I've probably done at least 50 pints and have never seen this.

[tikidoc]

1 hour ago, randomwalk said:

Hmm, I was just hand-drying a pint container, and I noticed some lines on the inside.  They feel like etches/scratches in the plastic on the inside.  It kinda seems like the blade may have run up against the inside of the jar...

 

Anyone else seen this happen in their jars?  I am kind of perplexed.  The placement makes me wonder if we used it once with the jars not quite properly in, so that the pint was not perfectly centered on the blade, but that seems really hard to believe! 

 

I have not had it happen to me but I have heard a few people say they have had the same issue on a FB group for the Creami. I think people have gotten a replacement when they call Ninja.

[randomwalk]

1 hour ago, tikidoc said:

 

I have not had it happen to me but I have heard a few people say they have had the same issue on a FB group for the Creami. I think people have gotten a replacement when they call Ninja.

 

Oh wow -- thank you so much!  I had no idea.  I'll try to find time to call them later this week to see what they say.

[DianaB]

On 10/23/2022 at 11:10 PM, tikidoc said:

 

I have not had it happen to me but I have heard a few people say they have had the same issue on a FB group for the Creami. I think people have gotten a replacement when they call Ninja.

Interesting.  On one occasion I discovered tiny shavings of plastic in my ice-cream, husband said nothing but I did notice more (very small) shavings in the mixture clinging to the lid.  Hasn’t happened since so hoping that this was an isolated incident because I had positioned the “pint” badly.  More recently, no problems and still amazed at the finished dessert coming out of the NC.  

[randomwalk]

Well, I called Ninja today, and they confirmed I need my machine replaced...but they said the charge would be $21 to send it back.  That was a little frustrating, since I have been pretty darned diligent about following the instructions, etc, so I don't feel this issue is a result of the way we have been using the machine.  (seems like a defect to me....)  Nonetheless, I had initially ordered it from Costco, so I declined & will just do an exchange.  (Thank goodness for Costco's return/exchange policy.)  Hopefully things fare better with machine #2!

 

But, this leaves me temporarily without a way to spin the frozen desserts to which I have become accustomed....!

[tikidoc]

Quote

Well, I called Ninja today, and they confirmed I need my machine replaced...but they said the charge would be $21 to send it back.  That was a little frustrating, since I have been pretty darned diligent about following the instructions, etc, so I don't feel this issue is a result of the way we have been using the machine.  (seems like a defect to me....)  Nonetheless, I had initially ordered it from Costco, so I declined & will just do an exchange.  (Thank goodness for Costco's return/exchange policy.)  Hopefully things fare better with machine #2!

 

I had a problem with mine (the lid kept sticking and it was very hard to remove the pint after spinning - I kinda had to force it to remove, even when I let it sit for 10 minutes as instructed in the troubleshooting), and they sent me a new one for $21. I got the original on Woot, so did not have the option of an easy return to Costco. Ninja had me cut the power cord to the old machine on a video call, then sent me a complete new set (not just the machine), so at least for the $21 and the hassle, I got an extra pint, spinning container, lid, and blade. So now I can have one lid/blade soaking while the other is in use. One design flaw is that the ice cream tends to seep inside the lid mechanism, and it’s a pain to clean, so I like to soak it to make sure nothing is dried in there. 

[palo]

Not that you would, but you can put a new plug on your old machine.

 

p

[tikidoc]

12 hours ago, palo said:

Not that you would, but you can put a new plug on your old machine.

 

p

 

Splicing a cord is super simple, don’t need a new plug. And now I have a backup machine. But the fact that the lid sticks every time I use it has not changed, so I pretty much kept it to use short term in the event that the current machine dies, while a new one is on order. The Creami has pretty quickly become among the most used items in our kitchen. It has also helped get my husband to eat better. Other than the occasional apple, he rarely eats fruit, but now, instead of snacking on chips at night, he has a bowl of 100% fruit sorbet, and actually looks forward to it.

[cdh]

Thinking of sorbets and such as a fruit vector- has anybody done applesauce frozen in the pint and spun? I recall somebody someplace talking about pie filling as a thing to do in the Creami... applesauce and pie filling can't be too far apart. 

[blue_dolphin]

53 minutes ago, cdh said:

Thinking of sorbets and such as a fruit vector- has anybody done applesauce frozen in the pint and spun? I recall somebody someplace talking about pie filling as a thing to do in the Creami... applesauce and pie filling can't be too far apart. 

I haven’t done it but I’ve made apple popsicles where the first step was basically to make applesauce and that worked fine. Apple cranberry, spiced apple, and apple with salted caramel were more interesting than plain apple. Definitely add a bit more lemon than a straight applesauce. 

Edited to add: Same goes for pears. Pear and ginger is amazing! Pears with a little almond extract or pears with cognac are also very nice combos. 
 

Edited October 29, 2022 by blue_dolphin (log)

[ElsieD]

A little while ago I had some apriums that were getting soft so I pureed them, added a bit of sugar and stuck it in the freezer and promptly forgot about it until today.  I spun it on sorbet and it only needed the one spin.  It is a bit soft but we ate it anyway.  It was very tasty.

Edited October 29, 2022 by ElsieD
Fixed a typo (log)

[curls]

Froze some of my homemade peach pie filling and spun it on the sorbet setting. It turned out great and much more creamy and tasty than I was expecting. May not make any more pies with the remaining quarts of filling… they might all become peach sorbet.

[mgaretz]

Tried something new today.  Vanilla with a touch of caramel.  Came out quite nice.

 

 

 

(Yes, there's a brownie hiding under the ice cream.)

 

 

[dtremit]

On 10/12/2022 at 9:04 AM, tikidoc said:

Amazon Prime Early Access sale has the 7 function Creami with 1 pint container for $129.99 (new - not refurbished). Today is the last day.

 

This deal (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) appears to be back for Cyber Monday, in case anyone regretted missing it last time. Also appears to be $120 at Kohls after the site-wide 20% off code is applied.

[gilbertlevine]

Some costcos have it for $ 99.00 if you are a member

[andrewk512]

Tonic Sorbet

 

500g Canada Dry Tonic Water (other brands probably work fine)
20g inulin
95g sucrose
20g glucose powder 30DE

 

Blend, strain, freeze and process on lite

 

 

 

Interesting, but not as good as my fruit sorbets as it didn't have as much body. I might try to add more sugar although this was the attempt with extra sugar added. Might be better as a popsicle or freezie. Still I could see it being a nice summer companion to some fruit/herbal elements

[tikidoc]

On 11/27/2022 at 11:06 AM, dtremit said:

 

This deal (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) appears to be back for Cyber Monday, in case anyone regretted missing it last time. Also appears to be $120 at Kohls after the site-wide 20% off code is applied.

Costco is now at $99 for the 7 function with 3 containers.