Ninja Master Prep Professional system.
I recently went to Japan and while I was away my sister commandeered my Breville Optiva blender. She had just purchased the Ninja Master Prep Professional system (which I will henceforce refer to as 'Ninja') for the purpose of creating smoothies, but had found that some of the ingredients were not liquifying. Since the smoothies that I make usually don't require such thorough blending I agreed to leave the Optiva with her and test out the Ninja to see if I could live with it. As such, I don't have a price for the Ninja.
If you've watched any telemall/homeshoppingnetwork style commercials then you've no doubt seen the Ninja ads and the overly enthusiastic hosts. For those who haven't, the ads have the hosts running through all the main types of uses of the Ninja, and also comparing the Master Prep system to other food processing/blending/juicing systems.
After using the Ninja for a few weeks now, I can honestly say that the device works as advertised. Sure, the editing doesn't show every little quirk of the Ninja, but the main claims are all true.
It chops, blends, or purees based on how long you hold the button down and how many pulses you give it.
The actual design of the system involves a container portion with blade stalk, a lid portion, and the 'power pod'. There are 3 container sizes, 16 ounce (2 cups), 40 ounce (5 cups), and 48 ounce (6 cups) respectively. Each container has it's own blade set, either 2, 4, or 6 blades with the 2 blade stalk in the smallest container able to accept an additional pair to bring it up to 4 blades if needed.
When the blending lid is on a container, a hole in the lid allows the stalk holding the blades to protrude from the top of the lid and the power pod spins this to actuate the blades. When not in active use, the blade stalk can be removed from the container and a flat, sealed lid can be attached and the container stored in the fridge or freezer.
The fact the pod must be pressed down to spin the blades means the system is extremely safe in that you don't ever get in a situation where the blades can spin without the lid on the container and without downward pressure on the power pod. This ensures there is never the situation where you turn on the blender and have a mess everwhere or more importantly, something that can take your fingers off.
In terms of performance, the motor in the pod is a 450W motor, a lot less powerful than the 750W motor in the Optiva. The Optiva however only has 2 small blades at the very bottom of the glass container, so most of the power is being used to create the vortex to circulate the contents of the container. The Ninja has multiple blades at differing heights within the container so it doesn't need to swirl the contents so much, which makes even chopping of things like vegetables possible with a quick push or two on the pod. Longer pulses or holding down the button for extended periods will start liquifying the contents and allow them to settle and fall down to the two lowest blades.
All the parts other than the power pod, obviously, are dishwasher safe and can be stored in the fridge or freezer, and also microwaved once the blades are removed. The containers are plastic and despite being light and thin walled feel extremely sturdy. They also have rubberised rings on the bottom so it won't destroy your counter and is quieter than just bare plastic or units with the motor on the bottom closer to the countertop. The blades are extremely sharp and you need to be careful when handling them. The stalks which hold them feel very sturdy, and are most likely metal cores coated in plastic. The large active lid has a spout cover so you can go straight from blending to pouring immediately. This lid is interchangeable between the 48ounce and 40ounce container, but the 16ounce container has it's own lid without a spout.
Thus far, I've chopped garlic, onions, cabbage, carrots, and made countless banana smoothies and apart from a bit of trouble the small container had with the cabbage the system worked fast and the results were great.
The Good:
- Fast. The act of chopping takes no time at all. The multi height blades make short work of most things.
- Tidy. Using the Ninja is a lot less messy than a chopping board and also lets you dice onions and garlic without crying or getting smelly fingers.
- Safe. It's impossible to process your hand, even though you can cut yourself on the blade when extracting the blade stalks. Treat it as you would a sharp knife and you won't have any problems.
- Storage. The physical dimensions of all the pieces combined is fairly small. You can remove the blades and change to the sealed lids and store the containers and contents in the fridge/freezer.
- Versatile. Having a single activation button which allows pulsing or blending depending on how long you hold the button down means you can get variable results from a single, simple design.
- Fun. One thing the Ninja has that I haven't found with other blenders or food processors is the 'wow' factor. Everytime I press the large button I feel more involved in the chopping or blending than with a standard food processor or blender. I suppose it can be compared to driving a manual or automatic car. They both get the job done but one is more involved and rewarding than the other.
The Bad:
- Small. The 16 ounce container is just a tad too small. If it was just a bit deeper with the optional blade pair slightly higher, it would be perfect for chopping cabbage. As it is, it doesn't fit large leaves and sometimes leaves behind unchopped parts of the cabbage floating on the top. The sides of the container rise up quite high, but as the lid dips down in the centre, the actual space inside when the active lid is on not very large.
- Leftovers. There are ridges on the inside of the containers which give the structure strength and potentially also aid in the mixing of the contents, but when extracting the contents out of the containers, they can sometimes get in the way and trap food.
- Slippery. The power pod has textured sides which are supposed to help you grip it, however the angle of the flat cutaways cause it to slip if your fingers are covered in oil or other liquid. Either the cutaways should be wider at the top, or there should be some kind of wide lip on the current design so you don't slip right off the end.
Overall:
Without knowing how much was paid for the Ninja, I can't make a comment on value for money. What I can say is that it does everything it says it does on the ad. It can cater to almost all of my chopping and blending needs in a way that doesn't require a high power motor. It also sometimes puts a smile on my face when I get the number of pulses just right.
Score: 9/10.
