Late-night television infomercials would use these classic words “but there is more….”, well, in this case, there is more….The Ninja Foodi Power Pitcher System is a unique blender/food processor/smoothie maker/dough maker in one tiny 1400 watt device that every kitchen must-have.
I was skeptical since Ninja was one of those brands that I distinctly remember seeing on late-night TV with their infomercials. The product is so much more than the seedy late-night connotations that may have risen to the brand that it is today; Ninja is a house name that stands for quality.
That said, how does this device hold up to the competition. My existing was a 25+-year-old blender and food processor from a brand that was synonymous with the classic American kitchen gadget. The other was my daily use smoothie maker that I use every morning to make my shakes.
The Ninja Power Pitcher Systemblows both away in terms of versatility and power. It must be noted that the increased power, and increased technology in the blades do make a difference. Even automated computer-controlled options do a very good job of making a perfect blend.
In the Box: The Power Pitcher System comes with a 1400 watt motor base which allows one to use the 72 ounce Power Pitcher blender (with lid), that interfaces with two different blades - one of them is a stacked blade, meant for chopping, blending and crushing, and the other being a dough blade. The box also includes a 24-ounce power Nutri cup and a 14-ounce power Nutri bowl with some tamper paddles built-in. These two smaller containers have their own blades that allow one to make smoothies, make spreads like hummus.
Operation: The Ninja Foodi Power Pitcher system suggests the use of the “ Auto iQ” mode for most of your food processing needs. There are 6 modes that are available, and depending on which base is connected, certain options are unavailable to use. That said, the Auto IQ mode allows one to Extract, Smoothie, Spread, Bowl, Chop, and Dough.
After the initial setup and washing of all the containers, I peeled and sliced 4 large carrots into 2-inch long pieces and put them in the Power Pitcher with the Stacked Blades. I selected the “chop” mode and hit start. Within 5 seconds, my carrots were chopped into bite-sized pieces. Since I was making a stir fry dish, I needed a finer chop. Using the pulse button, I was able to finely chop the carrots into smaller chunks. Next up was my old favorite Cabbage. Notorious for the uneven chop, I was pleasantly surprised that the Auto IQ chopped it in perfection. Yes, there were a few leaves that did not get attention, but it was far better than the older kitchen equipment I have been using in the last few decades.
I tried the bowl and cup to make my morning breakfast. Loading it up with berries, milk, protein powder, and power-seeds, the Ninja Foodi in Smoothie mode, made a quick, homogeneous mixture out of the ingredients. The system will auto-pause between cycles, to let the food slide down towards the blades before running full speed. The power cup is my fav, I will need to buy more of them as one is not enough. The power bowl has this screw on tamper to help push food towards the blades. It is effective, and good to use when making hummus.
The Power Pitcher comes with a dough blade. You can use it to make cookies and cakes/dough. The recipe booklet has a few options to make bread, but I wanted to make pizza and a layered fillo dough for a layered chapati (Indian bread). The pizza dough, with raw ingredients, did a pretty good job of making fresh pizza dough. I let it mix, and ball up, before pulling it out and letting it rest for 20 minutes, before rolling it out. The layered Indian bread required more finesse, including pushing down the dough towards the blades to allow the blades to act on the dough. The results were not quite what I expected, perhaps more layering, and more rolling is required in the future. The dough mode does work, and if you are looking to make bread, bagels, pizzas from scratch, this is a nice option to have.
Pros:
Lots of power, Auto iQ works fabulously with varying food products
Sharp blades (be careful, I nicked myself and cut myself)
Quiet, easy to operate.
Cons:
Needs more power cups and covers
Base suction cups are difficult to remove at times if you need to move it. The suction cups are effective
Inserting the Power Cup or Power Bowl is not that easy, requires a bit more force than the Power Pitcher, which just slides out
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