Ninja™ CREAMi®

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Wow, I love this thing! I love ice cream, but since a diagnosis of celiac disease a year ago, I have to be careful about what flavors I try. Many kinds of ice cream have add-ins that include gluten, so I can't have them. But the Ninja CREAMi makes it so easy to customize my ice cream with gluten-free add-ins. I can even make dairy-free frozen treats with dairy alternatives like soy or almond milk, or even fruit-based desserts. Pineapple sorbet is one of the easiest things to make, and the very first thing I tried. It was wonderful--smooth and creamy! I experimented a little by adding bananas and coconut to it, then using the Re-Spin feature to create an absolutely delicious 'tropical sorbet' that is exactly the sort of thing I would buy in the grocery store or ice cream parlor. In fact, I have a Zoku popsicle maker, and the sorbet my Ninja CREAMi makes works perfectly with my Zoku system, so I can have homemade tropical popsicles any time I want. That makes me so happy! Of course, it is a slight exaggeration to say I can have it 'any time I want'. That is one of the few Very Important Things to Note when using this machine. YOU HAVE TO PLAN AHEAD TO USE IT. Every recipe starts with a base, and that base must be frozen for at least 24 hours. There's no sudden burst of inspiration like "I think I'll whip up some coffee and chocolate chip ice cream!" unless you mean you'll get it started today so that you can enjoy it tomorrow. (Of course, you could always keep a simple base in the freezer for those 'on the fly' moments., but that is still planning ahead.) Also, the base MUST be frozen in one of the included pint jars and on a flat base so that the stuff inside the pint jar creates an even, flat top. Absolutely no tilting! That's because the mixing paddle will bore down through the frozen base from the top. If the base has frozen unevenly, it could seriously damage the mixing paddle, so the flat base thing is really important. That's the most difficult thing for me, actually. Our freezer is really small and is almost always crammed full. It can be hard to find a flat spot to freeze the base. Aside from the ingredients, this machine comes with everything you need to get started and to enjoy delicious frozen goodies! You can even keep your freezer stocked with your creations since this set comes with three pint jars with lids. And there's no need to go buy a bunch of exotic or difficult to find ingredients, either. You probably have what you need for several kinds of ice cream, sorbet, or milkshake in your kitchen right now--you can even start with a simple can of pineapple, just like I did! I couldn't be happier with my Ninja CREAMi! It really is the most delicious addition to my kitchen since...well, maybe ever!

Purchased 9/11/22, Received 9/16/22 - I generally like my CREAMi, but have made some observations. I got the Rose Gold version, and I've had mine for over a month and have had no operational issues. It is straight-forward to operate, but I do wish it had a beep to let me know when it's done. When processing my first Gelato the machine did rock about, so that I had to place my hand atop it to stabilize it. It did think it would hit my DualBrew or K-Mini. But, did not make the machine useless, it just needs a more stable base than the one it currently has. I have had mostly successful results with my desserts. My 1st was Strawberry, and it was awesome even without cream cheese. I did have one Hazelnut Coffee ice cream become crumbly, even after "Re-spin". But, this was user error, as the recipe I used was Vegan. I used the ICE CREAM program, when I should have used LITE ICE CREAM. I used ICE CREAM because I substituted the vegan ingredients for regular ones. Oh well, it still tastes amazing! My gelatos are my favorites! I have made two Butter Pecan varieties. The ice creams: Butterscotch & Rice Pudding, Chocolate Peanut butter Toffee Crunch, Chocolate Fudge Chunk, and Faery-Berry Vanilla; two sorbets: Tropical Fruit, and Pineapple Chunk. My freezer is full of ice cream now. Sadly today, when I was cleaning the bowl lid top, it fell in the sink and a small piece broke off. A small black piece that was under the light-grey LID LOCK button popped out. I thought I would have to buy a new bowl lid. But upon inspection I discovered that the "glue" weakened and the piece dislodged. I could put it back in place, but it wouldn't stay fastened, so I had to super-glue it. The engineering in the bowl lid's lock is bizaar & makes no sense to me why it was designed like this. I am hoping it will not affect future operatability of my CREAMi. See my pictures of the broken lid and my repair. I am also noticing small scratches on the inside of one of my pint containers. The manual clearly states this will happen eventually. I just hope I don't see pieces of plastic in my dessert, as others have mentioned. To address three complaints: 1) You do NOT have to use cream cheese, you can leave it out; it's not absolutely required. 2) Preparing the dessert 24 hours ahead of time is part of the process. Everyone knows with the CREAMi you have to freeze your dessert 24 hours ahead of time. This is not a secret; there is no place anywhere (blogs, videos, recipes, etc.) where this is NEVER mentioned. If you can't take the time to make your ice cream, then why are you doing it all? 3) The noise is no louder than a regular blender or food processor. Any machine with moving parts, especially a blade, is going to be loud. All in all I am happy with it, except for the previously mentioned issue with the bowl lid and containers.