Moore Approved? Ninja 1500 Watt Mega Kitchen System
When considering new kitchen appliances, I am anything but quick when it comes to purchasing consumer grade equipment. In my experience, most things that are bought off of the shelf in your local store just don’t last very long under sustained or heavy use.
While working in the restaurant industry for over a decade has definitely proved that point, it’s also set my expectations for performance much higher than most, and I usually try to stick with foodservice industry brands. In my opinion, Ninja really does not fall into that category. Brands like Robot Coupe, Viking, Vollrath, VitaMix, and even Blendtec are the bar. They are way too pricey for our purposes, and let’s be realistic – I may use this machine heavily, but it won’t be pumping out mass quantities of product seven days a week / 365 days a year.
My original plan was to hold out for a $700 VitaMix blender, but tonight Jennifer and I were in Target for a completely unrelated reason when I spotted the Ninja on sale for $149.99. After talking it over for a few minutes, we figured – what the heck? If it can last a year or two, we could still buy another one and still not have spent nearly as much as on a VitaMix.
Besides having many positive online reviews, it also has a fantastic price point, excellent selection of included equipment and raw power: 1500 watts.
Here’s what comes included in the box:
Blender base with 1500 watts and 2 horsepower
72 oz. pitcher
8 cup food processing bowl/blade, and dough blade
Two single serve 16 oz. cups with lids for smoothies
First I tried out frozen fruit and some almond milk just to see what it was capable of.
Combining the two yielded a fresh fruit sorbet. In order to finish this, I did have to switch to the 72 oz. pitcher because the mixture was too thick for the single serve containers. Jennifer (who has the sweet tooth) offered to be the guinea pig to test out the sorbet.
Personally, I wanted to make a savory, yet healthy smoothie so I combined the vegetables seen above, along with a bit of H20, kosher salt, and fresh cracked pepper.
Initial tests were satisfactory. The blender itself seems to have more than efficient power, and the end results produced a smooth, consistent texture.
Compared to commercial blenders I’ve had the opportunity to use in the past, the Ninja performed adequately. The unit is on the louder side, so keep this in mind if you’re thinking about purchasing one.
As far as the manufacturing quality goes, it appears decent – but the lid for the 72 oz. pitcher seems to be slightly finicky or off-kilter. You have to really press down in order for the handle to clamp in place.
Before the Ninja blender can truly be Moore Approved, it will require a much more in-depth testing period, and we will continue to share our thoughts during this process.
See you next time!
– James