In T3’s Ninja Creami review, I tried the Ninja Creami Ice Cream & Frozen Dessert Maker to see how it compares to other ice cream makers… and it’s safe to say that it beats the competition completely.
The Ninja Creami may have been released in mid 2021, but this summer has seen an uplift in its popularity, mainly due to everyone’s favourite app, TikTok. While the best ice cream makers stand out as making deliciously churned homemade ice cream, the Ninja Creami promises to do one step better… or seven to be exact.
Like all Ninja products, the Ninja Creami has multiple functions and can make seven different desserts, including ice cream, light ice cream, sorbet, gelato, milkshakes, smoothie bowls and mix-ins. For people who love frozen desserts, the Ninja Creami might be the summer’s must-have appliance… here’s my full review for all the details.
Ninja Creami review: Unboxing & set-up
The Ninja Creami arrived with the Ninja Creami device, the 800W motor base, 3 dessert tubs with storage lids, an outerbowl and lid, paddle, instructions and a recipe guide.
I was surprised by the sheer size of the ice cream maker and the amount of things that came with it. Weighing in at 6.4kg and sitting at 40.5cm height x 16.5cm width, the Ninja Creami is definitely not small! Having said that, it can sit comfortably in most kitchens with a good amount of countertop space and the rest of the machine's innerworkings are easy to store. I also liked that the Ninja Creami came with 3 tubs as you can make up to 3 ice creams or desserts at a time.
Setting up the Ninja Creami is extremely easy. All you have to do is plug the machine in and it’s good to go. It acts like most ice cream makers in that you make the ice cream or sorbet mix in one of the tubs and freeze it for 24 hours before using the machine. To start making ice cream, you insert the tub in the outerbowl, put the paddle in the outerbowl’s lid, secure this to the entire bowl and attach this to the machine. Once attached, you can twist it up to the head of the device to start making your desserts. This whole process is pretty painless and everything slots together seamlessly.
Ninja Creami review: Design & features
As expected with most Ninja devices, the Ninja Creami has seven pre-set programmes: ice cream, light ice cream, gelato, sorbet, milkshake, smoothie bowl and mix-ins. These functions are displayed clearly on the Ninja Creami screen with words and cartoon pictures. When you press the ice cream button, the machine will start up and a progress gauge will appear on the top of the screen in bright white lights.
The Ninja Creami uses Creamify technology to transform your frozen base into ice cream, sorbet or whatever dessert you’ve picked. The paddle in the lid is what does all the hard work and it spins pretty quickly to make your ice cream in minutes. This is markedly different from traditional ice cream makers which typically take 20-45 minutes to churn.
One of the most exciting features of the Ninja Creami is its mix-in programme. Once you’ve made your ice cream, select the mix-in programme to distribute any extras you want in it, like chocolate chips, nuts, fruit, biscuits and sweets. Every function has been well thought out, displayed clearly and takes hardly any time at all.
Ninja Creami review: Performance
As I mentioned above, you need to make your ice cream, gelato and sorbet mixture beforehand and freeze it for 24 hours. This step is crucial for using the Ninja Creami (unless you’re making a milkshake) and this is the case with most ice cream makers, too. The tubs can hold 500ml so you can make batches at a time and they easily fit into most freezers.
Putting everything together is simple and the instructions are very clear so you can’t really go wrong with the Ninja Creami. Once you’ve selected your programme and pressed the button, it takes care of all the churning, speed and timings for you. I mainly tested out the ice cream, sorbet and mix-in functions and they all took between 1-3 minutes to complete… insanely speedy!
The first recipe I tried is the lemon sorbet from the Ninja recipe book. As instructed, I put the mix together and froze it overnight before placing the tub in the outerbowl and attaching to the Ninja Creami. The sorbet was ready in about a minutes’ time and it came out in the perfect sorbet consistency.
Next, I made dairy free vanilla chocolate chip ice cream (it was meant to be mint choc chip but I couldn’t find any peppermint extract). As I’m lactose intolerant, I can’t have dairy but the dairy free recipes in the Ninja book were really helpful and I like that they thought of that so more people can use the Ninja Creami. I followed the same steps as before, pressed the ice cream mode and it churned for slightly longer than a sorbet, but still took only a couple of minutes. After this was done, I made a well in the ice cream, poured in chocolate chips and selected the mix-in programme.
With the mix-in programme, I found that you really need to make a proper well all the way down to the bottom of the tub. The book says to do this but my ice cream was overflowing from its tub so I only made a small dent. This meant that although the chips were evenly dispersed (which I was very impressed by), they didn’t make it all the way down the tub. Still, the ice cream was super creamy and the chocolate chips were dotted throughout, plus you can re-spin to distribute them further.
I’ve been really impressed with the Ninja Creami every time I’ve used it so I definitely can’t bash its performance. A few negatives I have is that it’s quite a bulky machine to move around. It’s not necessarily heavy but it’s not the most convenient thing to manoeuvre and I doubt many people will want it out all the time so you’ll also need good storage space. Another thing is that the Ninja Creami is quite noisy. Having said that, it churns ice cream in a matter of minutes rather than almost an hour so it’s bound to make a bit of noise!
A final thing I’d mention is that you need to stick to the Ninja recipes. Again, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it’s slightly tricky to get the right consistency of an ice cream using a recipe that isn’t from Ninja. I found this out the hard way by trying to make a coffee ice cream. After going through the ice cream programme, it came out with an ice shaving consistency. It wasn't unpleasant but it wasn’t what I wanted, although the re-spin feature did come in handy as it made it much smoother.
Ninja Creami review: Price
The Ninja Creami is £199.99 and is available to buy at Ninja and select retailers like Amazon, Currys, Argos and Very. If you buy the Ninja Creami on the Ninja website, you can choose the 3 tub version for £199.99, the 5 tub bundle for £216.98 or 7 tubs for £224.98. Ninja also offers a 2 year guarantee.
Compared to other ice cream makers, the Ninja Creami is pretty reasonable in price and not too dissimilar to other brands. It also regularly drops in price so keep an eye out for any deals.
Ninja Creami review: Verdict
The Ninja Creami is the best and most convenient ice cream maker to have in your kitchen. I was surprised by how easy it was to use considering its many features and functions and loved how many things you could use it for – I’ll definitely be using it throughout the year and not just during the summer. While it can be a little noisy and you need to choose ice cream recipes that are specifically designed for it, I have to say that the Ninja Creami is much quicker and far superior to other ice cream makers.
