Does the Bullet hit the target or is it a dud?
Written: Jan 23 '07 (Updated Jan 23 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great for small jobs & smoothies; saves space on counters
Cons: Not powerful, mushes rather than chops.
The Bottom Line: If you want a space-saving blender that does small jobs and makes clean-up easy, the Magic Bullet is excellent.
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| knitsnbytes's Full Review: Magic Bullet High Speed Blender Mixer System |
Introduction
The Magic Bullet blender system--the latest and greatest in the Infomercial Roundup of New Kitchen Gidgey-Gadgets. Is this better than any blender you've tried, is it really the wonder device that can make a meal in seconds? Not exactly, but it does do a lot of of things, with some limitations
What You Get
If you buy the newer 21-piece system, here is what you get:
The base power unit.
Cross blade
Flat Blade
Shaker/steamer perforated lids
Blender attachment 40oz
Juice Extractor and plunger
Four party mugs with screw-on color coded rims
One 16 oz tall blender cup -microwave safe
One 10 oz short blender -microwave safe
User guide and recipe book.
The mugs are not microwave safe, but the "bullet" blender cups are safe. Used with the perforated top, you can go from chopper to microwave to melt cheese or cook an item.
The mugs have drinking rings, to avoid placing your lips on the screw-thread portion of the rim. This would not be a problem if you are from those parts of the country that deem Mason Jars as suitable beverage serveware. (For the record, after a long stint working in certain parts of the US, I think Mason Jars are the glass-of-choice for sweet tea and lemonade.) But if you demand only the finest Baccarat crystal against your lips, you would of course be disturbed by a screw-thread. So the rim is nice to have, but not a perfect solution, either. More on this later.
Most of the parts are dishwasher safe; of course, the base is not immersible nor is it dishwasher safe. This is because the motor, which does not like getting wet, is in the base. So keep it out of the water.
How to Use the Magic Bullet
The Magic Bullet is a pulse blender. A pulse blender can run continuously only for a short while. It is not intended for major jobs like bulk pureeing of masses of pumpkin or squash for canning, batching your harvest of peas for baby food or making a gallon and a half of Margaritas for your Superbowl extravaganza. If you use the Bullet to do heavy-duty tasks, you will burn out the small motor. Look at the base. That motor is not big. It is meant to do small quick jobs.
The bullet jar comes in two sizes--10 oz or 16 oz. You can thread on either a cross blade (chopping) or flat blade (whipping or coffee beans or spices.) Then you invert the bullet-blade unit and place it into the base unit. It screws in to four notches that settle the bullet into the motor. You line up the small tabs on the bullet with notches in the base and seat the bullet. By pressing AND twisting, you activate the motor.
When you untwist the bullet, the machine stops and you have pulsed your drink, cheese or other food item. The bullet is microwave safe, so at that point, you can screw on a multipurpose shaker cap that either lets you dispense powdered Parmesan-style cheese, for example, or put the bullet-shaker cap in the microwave to melt the contents. The shaker top then acts like a vent. The steam issues from the holes and you have melted cheese, hot milk or other food item.
Cooking with the Magic Bullet
The infomercials show you how to make Alfredo Sauce (cream and cheese, basically) using this vented top method. But be warned, if you don't blend your cheese down and have a lump of very hard Parmesan cheese, you will get a lumpy Alfredo.
I found that softer cheese, like Swiss cheese, tends to glom up on the blades and make a doughy lump. Even moister Parmeggiano-Reggiano tends to clump. Only the driest cheese makes good grated cheese, and it's not "grated" it's chopped fine.
For bread crumbs, the same applies. Dry bread, good. Moist bread, not so good.
In the case of drinks or smoothies, instead of the Bullet container, you substitute the Party Mug (minus the color rim) and process your drink in the mug. Then unscrew the blade unit, pop on a rim and drink. This is really why we bought the Bullet. I don't want the big heavy blender on the counter, nor do I like washing the huge jug. The mugs make a single serving smoothie very quickly and cleanly. For this alone, the Magic Bullet is probably worth it. If you are a weight lifter or dieter, smoothies are part of your diet. If you are in a hurry for a quick breakfast, you might also be a smoothie drinker. Kids get them after school for a fast, nutritious snack and seniors who have problems with solid food or need additional quickly-absorbed foods also find smoothies to be a good thing in their diet.
The only problem with the drink mugs is the color-coded ring that covers the screw threads. The rings are plastic and don't ALWAYS fit tightly onto the screw threads. And if someone in your house is not up on the important theory of overtightening and has a powerful grip that overtightens EVERY cap in the mistaken idea that it makes it better, then your rims will become, paradoxically, loose.
(German engineers have a saying "Nach fest, ist ab" which cannot be translated exactly but means something like "If you keep that tightening action up, Bub, it will end up permanently loose rather than tight" and they invariably quote it to you as you manipulate the screwdriver in front of them. Here is a golden opportunity to let anyone know that overtightening the rim will deform it and make it permanently LOOSE. This means that the drink runs underneath the rim and dribbles down your chin. VERY ANNOYING. So either resist the urge to overtighten that rim, or else prepare yourself for the dribbles.)
As to the juicer. it employs a mesh screen to process carrot or other items and leafy vegetables won't work, and seedy fruits will clog. I never use it, to be frank, but it is of limited use for carrots, which is nice if you juice occasionally. For heavy duty juicing, you want a real juicer.
The recipes that come with the book (as featured on tee-vee) tell you that you can make salsa and chicken salad. Well, you CAN kinda make salsa (it's more pureed and whipped than bottled or hand-chopped or food processor style.) You sorta can make chicken salad--it will be rather finely chopped and a pate-style rather than chunk-style.
Summary
The small base of the Magic Bullet make it pleasing for a small space kitchen. For fast use on smoothies, or perhaps for use in a cabin or RV, the Magic Bullet is helpful to save counterspace and have a (mostly) fully functional blender.
The ability to make drinks in mugs is helpful for cleanup and quick preparation; the shaker top/bullet microwave function is clever.
In short, this is a versatile but not heavily durable device. It has its advantages, but is not a be-all for every blending application.
Recommended:
Yes
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knitsnbytes
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Location: Delaware
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As well as digital photography, I enjoy writing.
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