Ninja Blenders

[tolivac]

VM 5000 excellent choice-you will like it!

 

[mark40511]

I almost bought a Ninja

I have a Kitchenaid and the pitcher leaked.......It was slightly over a year old and the blade assembly went bad. I called CSR......First attempt. Nothing.......Second attempt, they sent me the polycarb pitcher which is AWESOME! I think the previous ones leaked but they have addressed this issue it does not leak and it's SOO easy to clean. I LOVE IT. My favorite blender!

 

[reactor]

ninja/ge

I have the cheap Ninja (I think it was about $39) where the motor sits on top of the plastc pitcher and drives the blades from above. It works fairly well, but if you freeze your fruit, like I do, to make smoothies it will allow chucks of the frozen fruit to fling around in there for a long time before it is able to liquify them.

And as Kelly said, unless you let it run for a LONG time, it does not puree as well like a regular blender.

But for the price, it is good, if you just make an occasional smoothie or want to do some chopping, its a nice little blending device. Easy to take apart and stick in the dishwasher

IF you don't do a lot of heavy duty blending, where you need a monster like a Vita-Mix, then I would recommend finding a vintage GE blender, one of the models which are belt driven with the motor in the back. General Electric made them from 1961 through 1971.

I have several in my collection, and they beat any other blender I have ever had, hands down. It purees very smoothly, things rarely jam up above the blades, like many foods do in the Osterizer and require you to cautiously assist with a spoon. Low speed is low enough to whip cream without turning it to butter. It also aerates drinks better than most blenders I've used. Shakes come out more like a milk shake mixer. Second runner up are the Hamilton Beach blenders from the late 70's. I place them performance wise in between the GE and the Oster.

For a smoothie snack, many nights I take two bananas frozen solid. Stick them in the GE with some (whole) milk and Nestle's Quick. It's almost like drinking a real banana-chocolate shake made with ice cream. Only there is much less fat. Sometimes I use Almond Milk instead of whole milk, even less calories and fat, and its almost (but not quite) as good. If you use half and half or mix a little heavy whipping cream in with your whole milk, then it does taste very much like a reak milkshake.

If you use less milk, then it comes out like Dairy Queen Soft Serve ice cream. Just scoop it out and put it in a bowl and eat it like ice cream.

I tried to do this in my mom's Osterizer and it was awful. Always stopping it and trying to break the bananas up with a spoon and push them down toward the blades.

Depending on how solidly the banans are frozen, the GE blends them up with little or no assistance. VERY quickly.

(For something really good, use freshly frozen strawberries or blueberries and blend with half and half. mmmmm)