The Noise
First, one of the most frequent observations about the Creami is how loud it is. Yes, the Ninja Creami is loud. Like, incredibly loud. Not only that, but the noises it makes can sound like it’s about to take off from the runway, or maybe even explode. This is normal. And it only lasts for a few minutes and, in fact, you can walk away while it’s doing its thing, if you like. This may feel scary, but trust us, it’s ok.

Why Not Just Use a Blender?
Second, a lot of people ask “why not just use your blender and make blender ice cream?” and so it’s important to understand how the Creami works. Yes, you can make things like the mint ice cream from spinach in the Vitamix, but the blender aspect has really nothing to do with how the Creami works. The Vitamix or other blender is extremely limited in the ice cream that it can make as it will pulverize whatever you put in it so you can’t add things like chocolate chips or what have you, and, more importantly, when you take something you have frozen and put it in the Vitamix and blend it the Vitamix causes heat (which is why you can make raw soup in the Vitamix and have it be warm), so its ability for you to make different types of ice cream is extremely limited.

Don’t get confused by the fact that you need to blend your ingredients before freezing them with the Creami (and of course that is only for solid ingredients such as fruit, not for liquid things like making your ice cream base). Blenders and the Creami are just two completely different machines that serve two different functions. It’s a bit like comparing a bicycle to a car, yes the bicycle can get you places but it is much more limited in range than the car.

How the Ninja Creami Actually Works
What makes the Creami different from other ice cream machines is that it doesn’t rely on having to freeze any component of the machine. Instead the only freezing that is done is of the ingredients themselves, which you freeze in the Creami containers (similar to a Rubbermaid or Tupperware container, only the Creami containers are uniquely shaped so that you have to use them). Then you put the container with the frozen ingredients into the Creami machine with the special processing lid and turn it on. That lid has a horizontal blade at the top that is shaped like an X, so the blade has four arms. When you turn the machine on it slowly lowers this horizontal blade down until it reaches the frozen ingredients, and then it drills down into the frozen ingredients, shaving them into tiny bits, and then it churns (“spins”) those bits into a smooth, creamy ice cream, sorbet, or frozen drink. We describe the Creami as a drill press for frozen concoctions. 🙂

Make Sure Your Ingredients are Flat and Level
Because of the way that the Creami works, your frozen ingredients must be flat and level. Sometimes you will find that your frozen ingredients have developed a hump in the middle (sometimes referred to as a ‘volcano’). If that happens, let the container sit on the counter for a short while, and then flatten the hump by scraping it with a spoon or bashing it with something. We often float an inverted lid from a jar on top of the mixture before putting it in the freezer and that usually avoids the hump. And never, never, NEVER process a container where the ingredients are not level in the container, it can damage the blade.

Finding the Freeze Fill, Max Fill, and Drinkable Pour-in Lines
There has been some confusion as to just where exactly are the ‘freeze fill’, ‘max fill’, and ‘pour-in’ lines. This is because there are no clearly marked, or even visible, lines. There are labels, such as “Freeze Fill”, but is the line at the label, or somewhere else? We talked directly with Ninja about this, so here’s the scoop (no pun intended)! The reason that there is some confusion over where the actual lines are is because, unlike the labels, the lines themselves are not only barely visible, but in one case the line is basically just part of (and so disappears into) the design. So, if you look at the Creami containers (called “pints” with all models even though with the newest models the “pint” is actually 24 ounces, so Ninja has taken the odd step of redefining what is a “pint”, calling the 24 ounce container a “deluxe pint”) you will see that the container is ringed along the lower part with vertical ridges. You may think that this is just a design; it is a design, but the top of the ridged area is also the freeze fill line. The label that says “Freeze Fill” is not the line, it is above the line. Again, the line is at the top of the ridges. Similarly, the Max Fill and Drinkable Pour-in line (they are one and the same) are not where it says “Max Fill” and “Drinkable Pour-In”, that line is molded into the container and is just below those labels.

How Hot Should the “Hot Water” be in Certain Recipes?
Some recipes call for “hot water” but with no guidance at all about how hot it should be. Should it be just barely hot? Boiling? So we called Ninja, and the Ninja rep said that the water should be “very hot, but not steaming and not boiling”. We guess that’s some help, even if not much. If you are using tap water then probably just as hot as your tap will provide; we use filtered water, however, so we let it come to a boil in our electric kettle (as that’s what the kettle automatically does) and then let it cool off a bit.

Spinning and Re-Spinning
Spinning is what Ninja calls the churning that the Creami does after shaving your frozen ingredient into little bits. So each of the options (ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet, frozen drinks, etc.) get “spun” during the initial processing. If you determine that the resulting product still needs more processing you can just repeat the whole process, or you can hit the “re-spin” option which basically does a shorter churn of 2 minutes, instead of the full cycle.

When Your Creation Looks Like Little Dry Flakes of Styrofoam After Processing Lower-fat and no-fat creations may (in fact likely will) look like tiny dry flakes rather than a smooth creamy ice cream after spinning. Don’t despair or freak out. This is because it’s low fat. Scrape everything down to the bottom and spin it again. And maybe even again. You can also add a little bit of liquid before you spin it again.

Why Does the Container Sometimes Overflow and Leak While Spinning Frozen Drinks or Slushies?
Actually, we don’t really know why this happens, but in our research we discovered that it does happen sometimes, and here’s how to have it not happen: Normally (i.e. with most recipes) when you are making a frozen drink or slushie, you first freeze your ingredients, and then when you process it you add more liquid to thin it out and make it drinkable (this is the ‘drinkable pour-in’). Instead of adding the drinkable pour-in before you process it, first spin it once without adding the extra liquid. This will cause a depression in the frozen ingredients. After processing it the first time, then add the extra liquid and spin it again. You can also slightly under-fill the container when you are making the recipe.

Yes You Should Blend the Ingredients Smooth Before Freezing
You will find recipes on the Internet that suggest you can make some recipes without blending the solid ingredients before freezing (dumping a can of pineapple chunks into the container and then just freezing it is a common one). Here’s the thing: your new best friend wasn’t designed to blend ingredients. You can damage it by doing so. And even when you tempt fate and don’t blend those ingredients first, they are going to end up blended and smooth anyways, so why tempt fate when it takes just a few seconds to blend your ingredients and then pour them into the Creami container?

Re-Freezing Your Creation
People wonder if they can re-freeze the ice cream after they are done making it. Yes, you can, but you will probably need to process it (spin it) again, so you need to be sure to flatten it before refreezing it.

What is the Difference Between Sorbet and Italian Ice?
Remember snow cones, like from the Snoopy SnoCone machine? Italian ice is similar to a snow cone, teensy tiny bits of flavored ice. Sorbet is smoother, like ice cream.

Do You Really Have to Freeze it for 24 Hours?
Yes. And maybe not. In part it depends on how cold your freezer is. But 24 hours is a good rule of thumb.

Get Extra Containers!
Once you get in the groove, you’ll have pre-frozen ingredients ready to go. You’ll also want to have more than just the one or two containers that came with your Creami, so you can always have a pre-frozen treat ready to go. Do yourself a favor and get extras now. These are the ones that we got on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3Q41MQR <-- NOT an affiliate link

Ok, here are the two super-easy things to make to get you started

3-Ingredient Vegan Proteinful Ice Cream: You can flavor this however you want, although it’s shockingly good plain too! Take one box shelf-stable silken tofu, one cup of any type of plant milk, and 1/4 cup maple syrup. Blend until smooth and pour into the Creami container, and freeze for 24 hours. Process using the ice cream or “lite ice cream” setting.

Refreshing Tomato Ice: Take a can of diced tomatoes. Dump the whole can in a blender and blend it smooth. Now put it in the Creami container and freeze for 24 hours. Process using the sorbet setting; you may need to spin it a few times to get it smooth, as there is no fat in it to help it get creamy.