Ninja - Foodi Cold & Hot Blender - Stainless Steel/Black

I am new to the Ninja brand of appliances, with my first experience being their coffee station I got a couple months ago, and now this Foodi blender. And I am impressed. This Ninja Foodi blender is a night and day difference from my old 800w blender and food processor combo unit. After experiencing the Ninja brand with these two units I'm sold. I thought my old blender did well, but it struggled with a full pitcher of ice and frozen fruit for smoothies. Often, I would have to knock it around or stop to mix it up a bit to keep it going. The 1400w motor on the Foodi has crunched through anything I have put in it so far, and it mixes it well enough that I have not yet had to stir it up or shift the contents around. Amazingly, it does it while being quieter than my old unit. If I do need to stir things around, though, it comes with a tamper to help you do so. It also comes with a cleaning brush for when you're done, but more on that later. What's great about this blender is that it’s not just for smoothies and cold mixes. It features an 800w heating element and pre-sets for cooking as well, so you can mix up soups, sauces, dips, etc... I have a protein smoothie that we make up regularly with a mix of dry, wet, and frozen ingredients. With my old blender I had to add them in a specific order, so it didn't cause the blade to choke. It also used to involve using the crush and pulse buttons to get it going before I could blend it up smooth. With this new Foodi Blender I have found I can just throw all my stuff in, press the "Smoothie" button, and let it go. This works because of the Auto-iQ feature, and while it does still have manual buttons, I have yet to really use or need them. The Auto-iQ feature of this blender uses pre-programmed settings to blend, pause, and pulse in specific patterns for specific amounts of time for each setting. It also includes settings for soups, sauces, and sautéing that use that 800w heating element to quickly heat up the contents at the right time depending on what your making. It works impressively well too. I have used the included recipe book to try out some of the hot recipes, and while some of them are hit or miss based on your flavour preference, the blender does a great job making them. The soups I have made take about 30 minutes, but the effort you put in is next to none. One of my favorite features, though, is the clean button. It seems silly, but it's important because the pitcher for this blender doesn't just pull apart to put in the dishwasher. That and the bulk of this unit might be the two biggest negatives I have for it. My old blender had a base you unscrewed to remove the seal and blade, and everything could go in the dishwasher for cleaning. Because of the heater, and the locking lid on this, you just can't do that. However, with the clean button, you just drop in a little dish soap, fill it to a specific point with water, lock the lid, and press "Clean". The blender heats up and mixes up in a specific pattern to clean the pitcher in less than 7 minutes with no interaction from you. If anything sticks to the blade, a cleaning brush is included for you to easily clean it up after the clean cycle finishes. From a fit, feel, and finish perspective, this blender nails it. The pitcher feels thick, and solid, and never once makes you think it can't handle the task. The handle is chunky but comfortable, and the locking lid seals well and feels secure. Also, because the lid is a locking lid, when you unlock it, the blender pauses anything it's doing, and indicates the lid is off with a message on the LCD display. The base is quite large compared to many blenders, but it's understandable given the features and power it provides. It's finished in black with nice brushed stainless looking accents, and while there is a decent amount of plastic, none of it feels cheap or thin. The top of the base where the pitcher meets the motor is coated with a slightly rubbery feel, which makes it feel more durable and resistant to wear. I don't know if it makes a different, but it does give it a more premium feel. The buttons are easy to read and understand, with a good enough amount of feedback to let you know when you push one. The LED to indicate which button was pressed is very bright, and the display is easy to read. The display provides times for different tasks based on your selected program, or appropriate messages based on activity, such as removing the lid, jar, or when cleaning it. Aside from the bulk and inability to just toss in the dishwasher, the only other negative I found was the size of the plug. Because this blender has a heating element, it has a large safety plug that reminds me of the kind on a portable air conditioner. It's much larger than anything else in the kitchen, and it doesn't store as well against the back of the unit, even though the base does have a cord wrap. But that hasn't made me regret switching over to this machine. Overall, this blender looks good, feels good, and works great. I will miss my little old blender, but not for long with this in the kitchen. If you're looking for a great blender that does more than just mix, definitely check this thing out.

Pros Can blend ice very smooth Makes ice cream without fuss Can make smooth and hearty soups Has a keep warm function after cooking Has built in heating element Cleans up quick and easily Easy to use after you get the hang of it Beeps to warn you before blending Automatically mixes soups while cooking Cons Heavy Manually cooking options don’t include periodic mixing Cleaning doesn’t get all areas clean Base of picture cannot get wet Design The Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Blender has the distinct styling that is instantly recognizable if you have used other Ninja Kitchen products. The controls are use the same membrane style buttons to make cleanup easy and include a status display to let you know what mode, or time, you have the blender set. You would be forgiven for thinking this is a run of the mill blender as it looks pretty much like any blender until you realize the base of the glass pitcher is much thicker than normal. The reason for this is inside the base of the pitcher is a heating element. In the past, blenders that cooked with use the friction of the blade to heat up the ingredients quickly but always leave you with a smooth soup. The Foodi instead slows the process down a bit to allow the option of cooking hearty soups. The pitcher is not dishwasher safe and even shouldn’t get the base wet due to the heating elements. This is possibly why included in the feature set is a clean function. Usage and Performance Initially it can seem a bit confusing how you use it. It helps you use a couple of the recipes in the included book first to get a better hang of it. Once you understand how the process works, operation is simple and straightforward. If you are making a soup that has aromatic ingredients, like diced onions, you can put them in first and use a 5-minute sauté option. This heats up the ingredients and blends them slightly. Once you are ready to start the actual soup, you just dump in your ingredients and press either hearty or smooth. The main difference is smooth blends the soup while mixing and the hearty option mostly only stirs the soup. Hearty also skips the final blend at the end of cooking. In both cases, it will beep a few times just before the stirring occurs to warn you. This is particularly helpful when you have your face down near the picture to check on the results as sometimes it can push out steam when the mixing occurs. In most cases, the soup takes a maximum of 35 minutes. You can continue to let it cook if the soup isn’t done but that is rarely the case. Even with raw meats, like cubed chicken, they are fully cooked in the 35 minutes. Once you understand how to adapt your recipes it becomes very convenient. You don’t have to watch over this and watch for burning or even worry about stirring. There is also a manual cook option where you can set your own temperature to low, medium, or high but this option is completely manual. Ideally it would have been nice if you the manual options could be set so that once you enter them, you don’t have to check back and it would stir for you, end the cook at the set time, and switch to warm automatically. Unfortunately, in manual mode it is fully manual in every way. This means even stirring requires you to manual pulse the blades for a brief time. It’s still convenient but seems like a bit of a missed opportunity. Besides making smoothies and crushed ice, which is does quite well, you can also make ice cream. The bonus is just how quickly it makes homemade ice cream. Of course, the kids will still find it hard to wait but you would be hard pressed to make it from scratch any faster and kids really seem to enjoy watching the process happen. There is an extra step of letting some ingredients cool in your freezing first as well as a post blend freeze but the whole process is still quick. There is no need for salt ice or stir for hours. If there was anything to consider a downsize in the process, it would be the small batch sizes. Even this isn’t much of a downside as you can quickly follow up with another batch or even use the opportunity to make more than one flavor. The one elusive part of making ice cream so far is obtaining the buttery smooth. Using the included recipes, the ice cream is smoother than regular homemade ice cream but still not quite the buttery smooth of some brands you can buy at the grocery store. Hopefully this is just a matter of finding the right recipe but regardless, making ice cream from scratch this quick and easy makes it worth it. Cleanup is easier than you first might think. The pitcher cannot get wet the clean function is like having a build in dishwasher. The key is to run the cleaning cycle right after you are done and before food hardens. You put water up the to the specified line and add a few drops of soup. It will start with an initial mix to get the soup bubbled up and then it heats up the water just like a dishwasher. You can walk away and six minutes later the process is done. The process isn’t flawless and sometimes doesn’t clean the lid and hardened foods will require using the included cleaning brush but overall, it’s much easier than other options. This convenience and versatility do come at a cost. By including a built-in heating element into the pitcher, it had to be made of glass. The glass picture by itself is already heavy but including the heating element makes it even heavier. For some, this can present a problem because when you are dealing with a hot soup the only acceptable place to grab is on the handle. Your instinct is to support it picture with two hands to pour but that is asking to get burned. The manual even warns against holder anywhere except on the handle. If you have weak arms or wrists, it might be best to test weight in the store to see if you can use it one handed. Hopefully Ninja will come up with a solution to this in future versions. Final Thoughts The Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Blender is one of those kitchen items that might make you wonder if is even worth it in the beginning. It wouldn’t be a surprise was to wonder why a blender is making soups and cheese dips. If you are the type who loves soups, cheese dips, or homemade ice cream you will find this blender is surprisingly useful and convenient.

The Ninja - Foodi Cold & Hot Blender - Stainless Steel/Black is very sophisticated and good looking. If you have a nice kitchen and leaving out appliances is not your thing, have no worry that this is not a cheap, plastic machine, but rather one that would enhance a kitchen's appearance. One of the first things that I noticed is the non-skid base that is part of this blender. Obviously with such a high rpm motor, the blender could scoot or be unstable and there is no worries there. I also noticed that this machine is quite weighty and will not be subject to tipping over as it blends either cold or hot foods. I also want to point out that this blender may very will fit under the upper cabinets if that upper cabinet height is greater than or about 18 inches. Clearly, being able to leave this out from either an aesthetic or practical ease of use is important. The design is very thoughtful whether it is a lid that essentially locks into place by rotating it to a position that assures its security or the fact that the container is essentially a pitcher and large to blend/cook in and then serve from-1 stop usefulness that allows for easy clean up. The lid also has a center hole that you can use the manufacture-provided tamper to add ingredients as you go along with your concoctions. They even thought about clean up and the addition of a long-handled cleaning brush that fits into the nooks and crannies of the inside pitcher. Shark/Ninja has also added a nice recipe book that assists the user with both cold and hot courses. This machine has a powerful 1400- watt, 800-watt precision heating element motor that allows the machine to run at the higher speeds over many minutes, 6 minutes to create the hot soups, without issue. I have included a picture of the control panel on the base that has buttons in each of the Crush-smoothie, frozen drink, extract, ice cream or Cook-sauté, hearty, sauce/dip, and smooth soup, or Infuse-mixer, water, cocktail with preset . There is even a clean button and a low, med, or high manual pulse button. This is a well-priced machine, one at a much lower cost, than some of the brands out on the market that virtually do the exact same thing.

This blender works great, it works like The Vitamix blender. And the price is Excellent!!! It makes the best smoothies and ice cream. I haven’t made soup in this yet, but I will.

So I just got my blender recently and generally, I wait to write about how I feel about my kitchen stuff because I've used items in the past and at first it's great but the item doesn't live up to the glory! Ninja might have just figured out how to cut out a mini crockpot and melded food processing, blending, cooking and pouring it into bowls directly. Living in Texas I depend on chili, queso and tomato bisque. All of those will easily work in this Ninja. I had a Ninja that had the cleaning function before and I've really missed that. You won't regret taking this little appliance on and sparking conversations around it in your kitchen. Recently I've taken on having my guests be a part of the process of cooking since it makes it engaging for everyone with a cocktail or wine! The only pitfall for me is that a vessel that carries food cannot be submerged in water. So if food splashes or leaks onto the bottom of the pitcher you pretty much have to be super careful cleaning it. The instructions stress do not submerge the glass pitcher in water. The pitcher itself is very nice and hearty and reminds me of industrial barn home chic! Storing it was easy after the self cleaning function which I loved. The brush attachment for cleaning and the attachments are easy to store and use. With fall and winter coming I can't wait to have family gatherings to incorporate the Foodie with all my guests. Queso recipes this winter are going to be smashing!

The Ninja Foodi Cold and Hot Blender is a delight. I’m surprised someone didn’t think of combining a blender with heat years ago. Maybe someone did, and I just never heard about it. Anyway, I’m always in favor of any food-preparation device where all I have to do is throw everything in, push a button, walk away, and so many minutes later, a meal is ready to eat. We tried the cauliflower curry soup recipe as the first dish to prepare, and it was easy, fast, and delicious. Unpacking and setting up the unit is simple. There is only the base, the blender/pitcher itself, the lid, and the cap on the lid. Also included is a “tamper” for tamping down food inside the blender if needed during the cooking process and a brush to aid in cleaning. Both of these devices exist at least partially to prevent you from needing to stick your hand or fingers down into the blender for any reason as the blades are sharp. This issue arises during cleaning as well, and more about that later. To make the soup required two steps, a “saute” step, where the onion, olive oil, and spices were cooked for about five minutes with occasional, short “bumps” (momentary spins) of the blender to mix the food. Then the remaining ingredients were added (cauliflower, broth, a few other things), and the “smooth soup” button was pressed. Thirty minutes later, after the mixture had been bumped several times while being heated to a low boil followed by a final, 60-second puree step, the soup was ready. So it was about 40 minutes all-told from beginning the process to sitting down to eat. Some freshly-baked bread, and we were good to go! There are other programmed settings for sauces, hearty soups, smoothies, ice cream, plus several “infusion” settings. There are also, of course, traditional settings to blend foods at different speeds as we have always done with blenders. Cleanup is simple. Only the lid and the cap on the lid are dishwasher safe, but along with all of its other features, the blender also has a “clean” function. This is to make cleaning of the deep recesses down near the blade easier than trying to get down there with a sponge or a rag and possibly injure yourself on the blade. With the clean function, you add a certain amount of water, a few drops of dish soap, and press the “clean” button. The blender goes through a seven-minute process of heating and bumping, and the end result is a clean blender. I was quite impressed, actually. Just rinse it and let it dry. As I said earlier, this blender is fun to use, and we’re looking forward to trying the many other dessert, sauce, and meal recipes in the included recipe book. We might even make a milkshake once in a while, too!

As a smoothie enthusiast I enjoy making adventurous healthy smoothies with raw ingredients. I want a smooth and finely blended drink as my end result. I was impressed with this Ninja blender’s ability to help me obtain a liquefied smoothie without grit and small chunks. The blender is a solid appliance that looks bold and stands out on your counter space. This is one heavy unit as well. The glass pitcher should be handled with care as you’ll need a strong wrist to hold it steady even when empty. The blades on this particular blender are placed only at the bottom, which is different than my previous experience with Ninja blenders and the spiral of blades that stand vertical inside the pitcher. So the catch with this Ninja blender is that it’s so much more than just a cold drink blender. This blender has an internal heating element built in which can heat up foods and liquids within the pitcher. The jar states the heating element should not be submerged under water or dishwasher use, so be mindful of properly caring for the unit. This can be a set it and forget it like appliance which should make my life easier in the future. With auto program buttons that can help with smooth soups or hearty soups I felt this blender was a multi-use appliance. It helped to chop and sauté some of my veggies and heats them up. I added some broth and seasonings and a short while later with the smooth soup setting I had a creamy sweet potato soup loaded with veggies and ingredients that are meant to help my longevity and well-being. I am impressed for sure with this unit making my heart healthy smoothies in the mornings, and warm comfort food soup for my family in the evenings. You can even make ice cream and frozen desserts within this. I’m still experimenting with formulating that correctly as my first attempt was attributed to improper ingredient measurement. Overall, it’s a great value for the blender / appliance because it does have the auto IQ program buttons that make it more convenient for the user operating it to be able to set it and forget it. Walk away and come back to a countdown timer that helps you plan on when you’ll be enjoying your food. This comes with a base unit, glass pitcher and locking lid, a tamper, and cleaning tool. This also can clean itself with the use of the heating element and soap/water. Rinse it out and it’s good to go for another use in the future. The blades are extremely sharp inside and I found out the hard way. My previous ultra-premium branded blender had a mixing unit at the bottom but was dull and therefore couldn’t cut your finger. Ninja has a good product in the lineup with this and it’s very versatile. PRO: Hot and cold food Premium style CON: Razor sharp blades to handle with caution Long auto IQ times for programmed settings

My family own a few blenders that are considered high quality. This review was a bit tough for me to write up because I have the background of using other blenders. Let's just go with pros and cons. Pros: Great variety of presets Unique heating function Comes with quick recipe book Solid material construction Cons: Super heavy glass pitcher Blender bottom does not detach which causes difficulty in cleaning Cannot submerge the glass pitcher or heating function will get destroyed Short electric cord Now that the pros and cons are listed. We tried a few of the recipes and really like them. The one my kids really liked was the Alfredo sauce. Blades are strong and sharp. Glass jar is solid. Base is solid. Blender motor is medium to high noise output and has enough strength to blend without amping out. Just make sure you use a 20 amp circuit if you use the heating function because this thing gets hot. If it draws too much power it will trip your circuit breaker. I am leaning more towards recommending than not because the only Crux I dinged it on was the glass pitcher issue. The other functions are great. Happy blending/cooking.