A BLENDER THAT COOKS
A Blender that makes ice cream but also cooks soups, sauces, and more?
This I had to see. A blender that cooks? When I first saw that phrase, I wondered why on earth would you want a cooking blender. That isn’t what most people use a blender for. However, it was time to upgrade to a more powerful blender anyway. My old blender just did not have the power to make super smooth smoothies. This one does. After realizing how much more this blender would do, I immediately got the Ninja Foodi Cold and Hot Blender and put it to the test.
This Ninja Foodi Blender Review is an update from our previous post on affordable alternatives to the Vitamix blender. Since that time some new products have come out that we think may be even better than the Vitamix. Yes, this blender will do things that the Vitamix can not do yet is much more affordable.
In a hurry? You can find this amazing blender here. Remember that this site like most will receive a small commission fee should you make a purchase. Legal pages here.
The coronavirus has made us aware that we need to do more to protect our health and immunity. Fruit and vegetable smoothies enable us to get more nutrition into our diet. Fresh hot homemade soups also make it easy to get in lots of veggies that we might not otherwise eat. But that takes up a lot of time, right? wrong! With this blender that cooks you can have hot homemade soup ready in 30 minutes.
Here we have a single appliance blender that will make both cold and hot recipes quickly and easily.
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| Cook either creamy or chunky soups | Make your favorite dips or sauces in a jiffy | Make frozen drinks or ice cream |
Ninja Foodi Blender Vs Vitamix
Both the Ninja Blenders and the Vitamix blenders have been built to quality. The lower cost earlier models of Ninja are not as durable as the Vitamix. However, the newer models are far more powerful and durable. They also include functions that the Vitamix does not have. All of that and at a much lower cost than the Vitamix.
For instance, the Vitamix can only make hot soups by the friction and speed of the blades. It does not have a heating element. That means that it can only make creamy smooth soups. However, it cannot make hot, hearty chunky soups. Sometimes we like chunks of meat, veggies, or noodles in our soup, don’t you?
The Ninja Foodie Cold and Hot Blender has a heating element in the base of the jar. It quite literally can cook from scratch. The first thing I made in mine was a hot chunky chicken and veggie soup. It was easy peasy. Set it up and 30 minutes later I had hot chunky soup with veggies and chicken.
Of course, the Vitamix is famous for making extra smooth smoothies and dips. How well does the Ninja Foodi blender do with that? Very smooth indeed. After using my Ninja Foodi Cold and Hot Blender a friend put it on her wedding registry. She wanted one just like mine. In fact, it will do pretty much everything that the Vitamix will do and then some.
It can make creamy smooth soups, sauces, dips, smoothies, as well as hot hearty and chunky soups. You can also make soft serve ice cream, frozen drinks, mixers, cocktails and more. So, you have lots of choices. But… if you are like me, you may have thought that it was just a gimmick. Well, gimmick or not I am very happy to have this convenience. It makes it very easy for me to have a hot healthy meal on my busiest days. Soups and sauces come together quickly and easily.
Putting the Cooking Blender to the test
I was not sure if I could use raw chicken so my first chunky soup was made using canned chicken. I later learned though that I could have used raw chicken as long as it was cut into smaller chunks. The 30 minute cooking cycle would have been enough. But if you want quick… open up a can of chicken.
The instructions I followed had me sautéing the butter and spices to bring out their flavor before adding anything else. Yes! The blender does have a saute function.
Then I added my chicken broth, vegetables and chicken. I set the machine for cooking a Hearty Soup and sat back to watch its magic. Then it began to cook. The blender started up the blades very slowly after reaching the boiling point so as to simply stir the ingredients together.
The hearty soup setting cooks and stirs for 30 minutes. I could have simply gone about my other chores as I did not need to watch it. (That is what I have done since then… It really is a time saver) That is kind of like a crock pot but quicker or an Instant Pot but with no pressure cooking. After 30 minutes, I was delighted to enjoy a delicious homemade chunky soup with only one thing to clean up. It would even automatically keep it warm for me up to an hour if I was not ready to eat. I have fallen in love with this cooking blender.
Ninja Blender Cookbook: Fast, Healthy Recipes including nut milks and almond flour
Ninja Hot & Cold Blender Cookbook 2020: Create 100+ recipes,includes a 30-day meal planThe Complete Cold & Hot Blender Cookbook for Health, Lifestyle, Amazing Feel, and Weight LossNinja Blender Cookbook Breakthrough Blending! 150 Delicious Recipe Cookbook
What can you make with the Ninja Foodi cold and hot blender?
You can make all kinds of things like smoothies, soups, sauces, dips, infused water, frozen drinks, cocktails, ice cream, chocolate or cheese fondue and more. The cookbooks above reveal a good sampling of what you can do.
Here are the auto IQ functions that allow you to do this:
- SMOOTHIE
- FROZEN DRINK
- EXTRACT
- ICE CREAM
- SAUTE
- SAUCE/DIP
- HEARTY SOUP
- SMOOTH SOUP
- MIXER
- WATER
- COCKTAIL
Then there are the manual functions that allow you to blend or cook on low, medium or high. There is also a handy pulse function.
A Cooking Blender helps with Special Diets
I have found that this blender is very useful in following a special diet. I am doing Keto and can make special sauces that do not contain sugar. I adapted a Chinese Plum sauce recipe to Keto friendly and used this blender to cook it. The original recipe would have had me cooking in a saucepot, taking off the stove, blending and then putting the sauce back in the pot to finish cooking. I would have had to stand over the stove to watch it and stir frequently to keep it from sticking.
With my Ninja Foodie blender that cooks, all I had to do was place the ingredients in the blender, push the sauce button, walk away and come back when it was done. Wow! That freed me up to do other things that needed to be done. This type of blender is not a gimmick!
I am still experimenting with all the things that can be made with this blender. It has been in my home now for several months. It continues to amaze me with how handy it is.
The Ninja Foodie Cold and Hot Blender – What You Need to Know
Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Cooking Blender
However, there are a few things that you need to know if you are considering purchasing this for yourself.
(1) It is heavy. It does not bother me but it might bother some who have less muscle strength. On my digital scale it weighs 93.02 ounces. That is 5.81 pounds. So be prepared for that. The reason for the extra weight is because of the heating element in the bottom of the blender pitcher.
(2) You cannot submerse the pitcher in water or that will damage the heating element.
(3) You cannot remove the blade from the pitcher. You must clean it with the blade attached.
These are the only 3 drawbacks that I can see. These are the things that I do to overcome those challenges:
Number 1 is not a challenge for me. I am prepared for that as illustrated below at *. Number 2 and Number 3 are also not an issue, since I can take care of it with a little rinsing from my sink sprayer and then using the clean cycle. Occasionally, I will need to use the included cleaning brush along with the sink sprayer to ensure the stuck spots are cleaned out… but not usually.
Easy Cleaning Method
My easy cleaning method *includes resting the side of the pitcher on the edge of the sink and pointing the opening downward. Then I aim the sink sprayer up into the pitcher to spray away any debris that is in there. I also do this when rinsing after using the clean cycle. At first, I was not sure how to clean it properly but this simple method works well for me every time.
The auto clean program heats water to the boiling point. That is very useful to sanitize the blender after use. That program takes about 7 minutes and you may not need to use it every time. For most uses all you have to do is rinse out, add water and a couple drops of dish liquid, pulse, then rinse again. Still, a sanitizing clean function is a good idea every few uses.
In Summary
This blender gives you lots of choices. No matter whether you are into silky smooth smoothies, instant soft serve ice cream, or hot soups and sauces, this is a good investment to make. It has the power and the functionality for great results. This is the one you should get. Yes, I highly recommend it… Because you’ll love it… I do 