Pacojet Competitor? The Ninja Creami

[OlyveOyl]

And another chart that just popped up. This info is from ninja creami Facebook, of which I’m not a member, so my access is limited.

[EnriqueB]

11 hours ago, OlyveOyl said:

If this chart of rotation speeds has been made available previously, apologies. I found it to be useful information in being able to chose what speed is most likely to produce your desired outcome.

 

I found the rotation & times chart time ago and it is really useful. It shows that ice cream & gelato modes are actually equal, and that the other table from the Creami manual is just marketing nonsense.

 

In my experience the critical variable here is PAC / Serving temperature vs final base temperature, and most other variables are quite secondary. Each Creami function increases the temperature of your mix depending on how long & fast it works. The longer & faster, the more the temp increases. Ice Cream & Gelato functions increase on average around +8ºC, Sorbet around +9-10ºC, and Light Ice Cream around 10-11ºC.  If you formulate your mix to have a serving temperature around these values, taking into account the initial temp of your mix which depends on your freezer temperature, you get perfect smooth results with just one cycle of the target function. 

 

On the contrary, if your serving temperature is quite below the final temp after processing, you get the usual crumbly result, and need and extra cycle or respin. If your serving temp is quite above the final temp, you get soft ice cream.

 

This logic has worked for me (for conventional ice cream recipes) irrespective of whether I'm using american-style ice cream, custard-based or not, gelatos, or sorbets.

[OlyveOyl]

Eggnog ice cream with the assistance of Ronnybrook Farm Dairy (NYS).  Some extra vanilla and nutmeg was added, along with a few small splashes of Pennsylvania Dutch spirited eggnog. Spun on light(lite) ice cream, it’s  smooth and creamy. My freezer is at -2f , so it’s colder than desirable but I managed to consume it!

Edited November 27, 2023 by OlyveOyl (log)

[EnriqueB]

Yesterday's dessert was a coconut gelato with streusel and redcurrants. I used a technique I had seen on a website (but couln't locate again) of cold steeping roasted dry coconut in the recipe liquids, and it worked amazingly well.

Recipe, makes 1 kg

• 100 g dried shredded coconut
• 584 g whole milk
• 50 g whipping cream (35% fat)
• 130 g coconut cream (24 % fat)
• 40 g skimmed milk powder
• 150 g sugar
• 40 g atomized glucose 21DE
• 4 g neutro Cremodan SE30
• 2 g salt

Roast the shredded coconut in the oven at 180ºC until it starts to take colour. Cold infuse the roasted coconut in the milk, whipping cream, plus around 100 g milk (which will be absorbed by the coconut) in the fridge for 24 hours. Strain, pressing well to extract all liquid. Weight and ensure you have the 584+50=634 g from the recipe, otherwise remove or add milk. This cold infuse technique gets an amazing coconut flavor.

 

Heat the infused liquid plus the coconut cream, at around 40ºC add the skimmed milk, and around 50ºC all the other premixed dry powders. Heat to 85ºC, and blend at hight speed for 1 minute. Chill to 4ºC in less than 2 hours and refrigerate/mature for at least 4 hours, until 24 hours. Freeze for 24 hours if using the Ninja Creami, or churn. For the NC, process on Ice Cream mode (just one cycle, assuming a freezer at -20ºC. No respin needed).
 

Serving temp: -10ºC
POD: 16.8%
TS: 32.2%
Fat: 7%

 

NOTE: I formulated this recipe because I had exactly 130 g coconut cream left from preparing a Thai curry dish. That's one advange of formulating your own ice creams using a program like IceCreamCalc, that you can adapt to what you have in your pantry.

Edited December 7, 2023 by EnriqueB
Improve recipe explanation (log)

[EnriqueB]

A modern take on Christmas flavours with the Creami: "Turrón de Jijona" gelato, chestnuts cream, dark chocolate ganache, streusel and cocoa cookie.

 

"Turrón" is a typical Christmas sweet in Spain, and this "Jijona" variety is made from 70% almonds and honey. Chestnuts are also in season so I thought they fit well. Dark chocolate gives a nice touch that complements flavours and the brown color palette.

 

For the ice cream I used this recipe, slightly modified to increase the PAC, as I needed easier piping into the mold, and serve at a lower temp (from the freezer and just a little wait of the dish).

 

[EnriqueB]

Today I reused the components I had from yesterday’s dessert and tried an alternate plating: Almond nougat ice cream, chestnuts cream, dark chocolate ganache, and 2 crumbles (“standard” and cocoa)

[ElsieD]

@EnriqueB. Your plating is beautiful.

[Shelby]

5 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

@EnriqueB. Your plating is beautiful.

I was about to post the same thing.

 

I just take the lid off the Creami container and dig in lol.

[ElsieD]

11 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I was about to post the same thing.

 

I just take the lid off the Creami container and dig in lol.

 

A girl after my own heart!

[sverreef]

I love the artistic flair of your plating, @EnriqueB. Lots of inspiration there, and your flavour combinations sounds intriguing too 🙂

 

On 12/7/2023 at 12:16 PM, EnriqueB said:

Serving temp: -10ºC

POD: 16.8%
TS: 32.2%
Fat: 7%

 

NOTE: I formulated this recipe because I had exactly 130 g coconut cream left from preparing a Thai curry dish. That's one advange of formulating your own ice creams using a program like IceCreamCalc, that you can adapt to what you have in your pantry.

 

I REALLY need to figure out a way to run ICC on one of my Linux computers soon. If not, I guess I'll have to invest in a cheap Windows tablet just for ICC...

 

Here are a couple of my latest experiments by the way:

 

Pineapple sorbet

Adapted from the MC sour rhubarb sorbet recipe.

 

407g Boiron Pineapple puree

56g Glucose powder DE42

16g Sugar/sucrose

1,5g Salt

3g Citric acid (to taste)

 

Everything added to blender for a quick blend before filling the Creami pint and freezing.

 

 

The texture and flavour of the sorbet were both spot on. The toasted coconut milk curds (latik?) and pineapple caramel needs tweaking however. I should also have used a flavourful liquid when I compressed the fresh pineapple, but I didn't have anything available at the time.

 

Today, I did a test of our Christmas Eve ice cream, which I prepared a triple batch of earlier this week.

 

Thyme infused Creme Fraiche ice cream

 

 

Served with vanilla panna cotta, cloudberry granita (will be replaced with cloudberry fluid gel on Christmas Eve for better flavour release) and honeycomb tuile. The ice cream base is as usual the Chefsteps creme fraiche ice cream, which has been infused (sous vide) with fresh thyme for 20 minutes at 80 degrees Celsius. A big thanks to @paulraphael for the inspiration and ratios for the infusion. Unlike the pineapple sorbet, the thyme ice cream was not a hit with my nephew and niece, but it's one of my absolute favourites, and as a bonus, the flavour pairs really well with cloudberries 😀

 

[ElsieD]

Where do you get the cloud berries and cloud berry gel?

[Kerry Beal]

 

The posh new one at the Costco near me. I'm sure it will go on sale. 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Kerry Beal (log)

[sverreef]

16 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Where do you get the cloud berries and cloud berry gel?

 

I pick them and make it myself:

 

 

My cloudberry fluid gel is a mix between a cloudberry sauce/coulis I've made and improved upon for years and the Chefsteps fresh orange fluid gel recipe:

 

https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/fresh-orange-fluid-gel

 

 

The ingredients of the granita I made yesterday was identical to this, with the exception that gellan and xhantan gum was substituted with 2.5g gelatin, and I also omitted the salt. The granita was OK, but unlike the fluid gel, it needs more work, or maybe I just served it too cold?

[ElsieD]

Lucky you having access to them.  I'm guessing you are in one of the Scandinavain counties?  Norway?   They don't grow where I live but on trips I've made to Newfoundland when they were in season, I used to bring them home with me, basket cradled on my lap for the plane ride home.  They are so good, but it's too bad they are so seedy.  BTW, in Newdoundland they are called bakeapples.

[sverreef]

Norway is correct 🙂

 

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

They are so good, but it's too bad they are so seedy.

 

I don't mind the seeds when I pick them straight into my mouth (or if I don't have enough left for a reasonably sized vacuum pouch), but in a dessert, they should definitely be removed.

Edited December 17, 2023 by sverreef (log)

[EnriqueB]

On 12/17/2023 at 12:18 AM, sverreef said:

I love the artistic flair of your plating, @EnriqueB. Lots of inspiration there, and your flavour combinations sounds intriguing too 🙂

 

Thanks! Those two in your post look great too, I want to try them!

[DianaB]

So many amazing desserts here!  It is years since I last made nougat glacé and I don’t think that my recipe is NC friendly, nuts and cherries would end up just chopped into the base.  @EnriqueB is it possible to know more about your recipe?  
 

i have never seen cloudberries before and need to find some to try as I wonder whether they might grow in England.  Something to explore for next year perhaps.

 

@EnriqueBs post on times and temperatures is useful.  I have no problem with our everyday vanilla, based on crème anglaise.  Often I mix a pot containing 50% vanilla and 50% fruit ganache (Opalys choc with either blackcurrants, blackberries or similar) and these need more spins.  I have blackberry at the moment and find that this needs 1 gelato spin followed by 3 or 4 respins; with the information now provided I think that I will be able to work out a more time efficient way to achieve cream rather than granules.  Many thanks. 

[Kerry Beal]

27 minutes ago, DianaB said:

So many amazing desserts here!  It is years since I last made nougat glacé and I don’t think that my recipe is NC friendly, nuts and cherries would end up just chopped into the base.  @EnriqueB is it possible to know more about your recipe?  
 

i have never seen cloudberries before and need to find some to try as I wonder whether they might grow in England.  Something to explore for next year perhaps.

 

@EnriqueBs post on times and temperatures is useful.  I have no problem with our everyday vanilla, based on crème anglaise.  Often I mix a pot containing 50% vanilla and 50% fruit ganache (Opalys choc with either blackcurrants, blackberries or similar) and these need more spins.  I have blackberry at the moment and find that this needs 1 gelato spin followed by 3 or 4 respins; with the information now provided I think that I will be able to work out a more time efficient way to achieve cream rather than granules.  Many thanks. 

When I lived in the Queen Charlotte Islands, we knew them as salmon berries. Apparently in England, they are known as knot berries 

[Kerry Beal]

Looks like there is a Boxing Day sale on the bigger Creami for Canadians - creami

[Dave W]

Hey esteemed egulleteers, it’s been a while! I recently bought a creami deluxe and have been putting it through its paces.

 

My first few attempts suffered from some gritty small ice crystals. So I picked up some modernist pantry “perfect ice cream” and “perfect sorbet” stabilizer blends to address the iciness given that you all rave about the texture and it couldn’t be icy given the discerning mouths of this forum. They’ve been successful for that purpose in early testing.

 

my question is: the “perfect ice cream” product states a hydration temp of 180F on the label. But it also says it’s guar gum and not xantham gum. I understood that guar can hydrate at room temperature, while xantham needs heat. In your experience can you use the MP perfect ice cream with an immersion blender and no heat?

[Kerry Beal]

All about stabilizers by our own @paulraphael

[Dave W]

16 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

All about stabilizers by our own @paulraphael

Thank you Kerry. It seems the heat is needed for the carrageenan in this particular product even if not for the guar gum.

 

My first experiment with the “perfect ice cream” additive was successful, I made a basic milk and cream base with vanilla and peppermint extract and green food coloring. Quantities based on the Ninja recipe but I skipped the cream cheese.

 

last night I microwaved, used hot water, spun the top half with some milk on top, one spin on “ice cream”. Hand folded some crushed Oreos. Consistency was pleasing but a bit loose like soft serve.

 

tonight I skipped the microwave and milk, and just ran about 15 seconds of hot water around the vessel and spun once on “ice cream.”

 

this was the texture I’m looking for and I’m pleased I didn’t have to respin. I am feeling emboldened because the first ~half dozen attempts were tasty but the iciness was not encouraging.

[Kerry Beal]

6 hours ago, Dave W said:

Thank you Kerry. It seems the heat is needed for the carrageenan in this particular product even if not for the guar gum.

 

My first experiment with the “perfect ice cream” additive was successful, I made a basic milk and cream base with vanilla and peppermint extract and green food coloring. Quantities based on the Ninja recipe but I skipped the cream cheese.

 

last night I microwaved, used hot water, spun the top half with some milk on top, one spin on “ice cream”. Hand folded some crushed Oreos. Consistency was pleasing but a bit loose like soft serve.

 

tonight I skipped the microwave and milk, and just ran about 15 seconds of hot water around the vessel and spun once on “ice cream.”

 

this was the texture I’m looking for and I’m pleased I didn’t have to respin. I am feeling emboldened because the first ~half dozen attempts were tasty but the iciness was not encouraging.

Interesting the microwaving/heating the vessel. I recall the iCreami had an issue with stuff staying on the outside of the vessel (Pacojet doesn't suffer from that) - is this something being discussed for the iCreami? I always did spin one - then ran around the outside with my big old bone handled knife before the second spin. 

[randomwalk]

On 3/17/2024 at 9:17 PM, Dave W said:

My first few attempts suffered from some gritty small ice crystals.

 

This is interesting. I haven't had any issues with ice crystals and I haven't used any stabilizers -- I have typically made a custard base for ice cream but have also done sorbets.  The only time I get any iciness is when I scoop the (unprocessed) sides.  The spun material in the middle is always near-perfect.  

[Dave W]

Kerry, the microwave and hot water serve the same purpose as scraping the sides, which is to heat the immediate exterior of the container and thus loosen any ice that would've adhered to the sides, allowing it to get spun and broken up.

 

Randomwalk, results seem to vary machine to machine based on my reading on reddit and facebook groups (and this thread). There's also differences from user to user on freezer temperature. This thread seems to indicate that running your freezer at the lowest temperature is desirable. Mine is currently at 0F/-17C which is the middle of the range recommended by Ninja Shark (a broad range of -7F to +9F).

 

I think some of the ice crystals might be user error and they're not bad enough to make the result unpalatable, but like most on this forum, for me, less than perfect food is well, not perfect.

 

Custard base shouldn't require any stabilizers to my understanding since the egg serves a similar purpose with lecithin and fats.

Edited March 19 by Dave W (log)