The 24-Hour Rule You Can't Break When Using A Ninja CREAMi

If you are no stranger to sweet treats, you may have considered purchasing an ice cream machine to churn out your favorite flavors at home. Luckily for us, Ninja has made waves with its simple-to-use, at-home ice cream machine: the Ninja CREAMi. I had a chance to try this machine and have learned all of the tricks for making the most out of the machine. I also spoke with Rachel Buck, Ninja's test kitchen manager, who only confirmed one of my biggest gripes with it.  

The Ninja CREAMi doesn't make ice cream as instantaneously as its marketing may make it seem. As Buck explained, the ice cream pints have to be frozen for at least 24 hours before they can be spun into ice cream. So, if you have a craving for ice cream at 5 p.m., you can't have a bowl ready until around 5:10 p.m. the next day. This is because the settings on the ice cream machine are calibrated based on the composition of the dessert, whether ice cream, sorbet, gelato, or light ice cream. 

Rather than churning ice cream like a standard machine does, the Ninja CREAMi pushes a Creamerizer paddle into the block to shave it based on the settings. If the block isn't frozen hard enough, the block won't shave properly, resulting in a poorly textured ice cream.

Not freezing your pint completely is one of the mistakes to avoid when using your Ninja CREAMi, but it is far from the only one. Rachel Buck also mentioned that, if you don't freeze your pint flat, it will also affect how well the paddle is able to spin. Since the blade descends down into the block, it can be knocked off-kilter if the liquid is frozen at an angle. 

I recommend clearing out a space for your pint containers in your freezer so that they freeze flat  for the full 24-hour period. Be sure to use only Ninja-branded plastic pint containers, too, as they have the appropriate fill lines on the side and the grooves on the bottom to anchor them into the spinning receptacle.

Unfortunately for the impatient ice cream lovers among us, most of the frozen desserts you can make in the Ninja CREAMi require a 24-hour freeze — the only notable exception being for milkshakes. For these treats, you can use pre-made ice cream, milk, and flavorful mix-ins, and blend. But at that point, wouldn't a standard blender be easier?