CHOICE verdict
The Ninja Slushi frozen drink maker looks the part and is enjoyable to use, making it ideal for parties and other gatherings. CHOICE staff preferred the fruit juice and milkshake slushies over the soft drink slushie, however you can play around with the pre-set temperature to reach your desired consistency. Sugar is a key part of achieving the slushy texture, so you need to be mindful that you could end up consuming a lot if you use it often. It’s a big and bulky novelty appliance that might end up collecting dust at the back of your cupboard once the fun (and sugar rush) wears off.
Price: $500
Contact: www.ninjakitchen.com.au
We all love a good novelty appliance, one that's quick and easy to use and customisable to suit our needs, without compromising on taste.
Ninja is known for its creative appliance offerings that capture the attention of consumers that crave convenience. Their latest offering is the Ninja Slushi, a benchtop appliance that brings the fun and excitement of a cold slushie on a hot day into the comfort of your own home.
On this page:
- What is the Ninja Slushi?
- What can you do with the Ninja Slushi?
- How easy is it to use?
- Does it make good frozen drinks?
- Do you need to use sugar to make a slushie?
- Is the Ninja Slushi worth it?
What is the Ninja Slushi?
The Ninja Slushi is a frozen drink maker. It works by spinning an auger inside a cooling cylinder that uses an evaporator to cool liquids and turn them into slushy drinks.
No ice or blending is needed. You just add the drink and let the machine do its thing. Along with the base that holds the motor and evaporator, in the box you'll get:
- 2.6L liquid vessel with handle and spout (1.9L max fill line)
- Auger (the rotating paddle that spins around the cooling cylinder to mix and freeze the liquid into the slushie consistency)
- Condenser tray
- Drip tray
- Removable spout
- Guide with 10 recipes
A locking handle keeps the vessel in place while the auger spins and a spring-loaded handle at the front opens the gate for slushies to pour into your cup.
The Ninja Slushi comes with a liquid vessel, auger, condenser tray and drip tray.
What can you do with the Ninja Slushi?
Basically any drink – like soft drink, coffee, juice, chocolate milk or an alcoholic beverage – can be turned into a frozen treat with the Ninja Slushi. It has five pre-set functions for you to make slushies, frozen cocktails, frappes, frozen milkshakes and frozen juices along with adjustable temperature selection.
You can fill the vessel with a maximum of 1.9L which will in turn produce 2.6L of slushie. Ninja says this is enough for around 9 serves. The minimum amount of liquid you can use is 475mL. A lid at the top of the vessel can be opened to easily top up the liquid to keep the party going and the vessel can keep your drinks cool for up to 12 hours.
CHOICE testing expert, Elias Plastiras, put the Ninja Slushi to the test by making soft drink slushies, frozen orange juice, a frozen chocolate milkshake and a frozen cocktail.
It doesn't cost much to run either. While it depends on the type of liquid you use, the amount of time it takes to turn into a slushie and how long you keep it going (in 'keep cool' mode), we estimate that a soft drink slushie will cost about 24 cents to make and then keep cool for five hours.
The control panel has five pre-set functions with an adjustable temperature selection.
How easy is it to use?
The Ninja Slushi is quite simple and straightforward to use. The control panel has flat sealed buttons at the front of the unit, with the list of preset functions on one side and the temperature gauge on the other. The temperature is automatically set when you select the function, however, it can be manually adjusted which will allow you to play around with the texture.
"Slushies are formed when there is enough sugar content in the drink to keep the liquid from freezing," explains Elias.
There are instructions on the machine and in the manual to guide you, but if the machine detects too little sugar or too much alcohol, it will stop, beep and flash the temperature lights to alert you to the problem.
The opening at the top of the unit is easy to access to pour the liquid into the vessel, but it's important to note that only liquid can be used.
"No solid ingredients or ice can be placed in the machine. It only swishes things around, it doesn't blend or whip", explains Elias.
Slushies are formed when there is enough sugar content in the drink to keep the liquid from freezing
The Ninja Slushi is best used indoors. If you're wanting to entertain outside, it needs to be undercover, away from rain and direct sunlight and in an area where it's not too humid. Most importantly, the outside of the unit can get hot and it needs to have good air circulation, so make sure there's enough clear space at the rear and on each side.
Is the Ninja Slushi easy to clean?
The Ninja Slushi comes with a rinse cycle that can be used to clean the cooling cylinder and auger of the machine, removing any remaining bits of slushie. First, make sure all of the slushie has been dispensed before filling the liquid vessel to the maximum capacity line with warm water.
Once you've finished rinsing the machine, keep the rinse cycle running to dispense the water, remembering to place a large jug underneath to catch it all.
"We had to perform the rinse cycle at least two times for carbonated drinks before it produced clear water and at least three times for milkshakes", says Elias. "We also had to check for any spillages towards the back of the cooling cylinder."
Even after multiple rinse cycles, remnants of the slushies remained at the top of the vessel and in some corners and crevices. The vessel had to be removed and cleaned manually to get it completely clean. While the vessel and auger are easy to remove and dishwasher safe, its long shape can make it awkward to clean in a kitchen sink.
Even after multiple rinse cycles, remnants of the slushies remained at the top of the vessel
The condensation tray also needs to be cleaned. It sits under the vessel and catches all the drips as the vessel gets cold and condensates. It's easy to remove but must be cleaned after each use, especially if the Slushi has been left on for a while.
Elias says to be mindful when using coloured drinks. "If the slushie is made using a yellow or orange drink, staining can occur and is very difficult to remove. Even using dishwashing liquid, hot water and some elbow grease didn't work to remove the stained colour."
Coloured drinks can cause staining on the liquid vessel.
Is the Ninja Slushi easy to store?
The Slushi takes up considerable bench space. Weighing 11kg, it's quite sturdy and at 43cm high it's also quite tall, so storing it in most underbench cupboards would be tricky.
Maybe you have a modern kitchen with plenty of bench space or a spot in your butler's kitchen for it. But regardless of your kitchen design, you'll need to consider if you have the room to have the Slushi as a permanent fixture on your kitchen bench.
Is it noisy?
The machine makes noise as it works and emits a slight shudder when the evaporator kicks in to keep the slushie cool. The noise comes mostly from the motor and the fans that are used to extract the warm air from the unit. It'll beep to let you know the slushie is ready, but it's not loud and could be easily missed.
"We measured the noise level of the machine at work to be around 50dB. While this is not particularly loud, depending on the layout of your house and typical room ambiance, it can become quite noticeable and distracting, sort of like a loud conversation" Elias says.
Does it make good frozen drinks?
Elias put the Slushi through its paces, making four frozen drinks to test its various functions.
Soft drink slushie
We initially made a Coke Classic slushie by adding 500mL to the machine and simply selecting the Slush setting which preset two temperature bars (the warmer end of the scale). It took about 20 minutes for the slushie to indicate that it was ready, however, there was too much liquid remaining which suggested it wasn't 'slushed' enough.
The temperature was then manually increased by one bar which produced a better slushie, however, the pour consistency wasn't great, with blobs of iced drink being dispensed.
Elias says "it's best to let the slushie sit for a while before dispensing to improve pouring consistency."
He made another carbonated slushie by pouring 1.25L of Kirks Pasito, again selecting Slush mode. It took 35 minutes but this time he waited about an hour before serving. While it still came out in blobs, it was much quicker to dispense, maybe due to there being more weight in the vessel.
The Kirks Pasito caused the vessel to become stained and we were unable to remove the yellow streaks, which is something to be mindful of when using beverages with colourings in them.
Elias says the result was pretty good. "The ice texture was fine, with very few larger pieces, and it could pass through a straw. It felt mostly fluffy on the tongue and the temperature made it easy to drink as it wasn't overly cold. It's similar to the experience you would get from a service station Slurpee."
Frozen juice
Elias also made a fresh orange juice slushie by using about nine oranges and one cup (around 250mL) of water to fill the vessel to its maximum level. It took 45 minutes to be ready and was left to rest for around an hour before pouring.
"Everyone who tasted the soft drink and fresh fruit juice preferred the fresh fruit option, saying the texture and taste was better. The fresh juice also flowed better through the spout into the cup."
Making a frozen chocolate milkshake in the Ninja Slushi.
Milkshake
To make a milkshake slushie, Elias used 1L of Oak Chocolate Milk. It took 24 minutes and the end result was a fluffy drink that almost had the consistency of a soft-serve ice cream. The 1L of milk produced a lot of slushie – the vessel was completely full by the end of the process.
Elias says: "The longer you leave the milk spinning in the machine the more it increases in volume, so it's not the type of drink you could leave on 'keep cool' for hours."
The milkshake also produced a lot more spillage from the spout and required more attention when pouring and cleaning.
"It can get very messy, so it's worth cleaning any spillages between pours."
Frozen cocktail
Elias made a Midori Illusion using the Frozen Cocktail setting. This setting used the lowest temperature (9 out of 10 bars) and took an hour to complete 550mL. The drink didn't flow smoothly from the spout, so you may need a spoon to consume. You might also want to adjust the temperature to make the pour a bit smoother.
If using pre-made alcohol-based drinks, then you can just pour them in and let the machine do its thing. But if you're mixing your own cocktails from scratch, the alcohol content will need to be between 2.8–16%. The supplied user guide gives some quick measurements based on the recipe size. If you make your drink too strong, the machine's temperature LEDs will flash upward to warn you that some water has to be added.
Do you need to use sugar to make a slushie?
When you're making a slushie, you want to prevent the drink from freezing completely. To achieve the slushy texture and consistency and to keep the ice crystals small and smooth, there needs to be 5g of sugar for every 100mL of liquid, so keep this in mind if you're mixing your own drinks. The drinks we made already had enough sugar (for example the Coke Classic and Chocolate Oak stated 10.6g per 100mL).
It won't work with artificial sweeteners, but you can add flavoured syrup, sugar, date sugar, coconut sugar, maple syrup, agave, sugar syrup or honey.
With its reliance on sugar, this makes a slushie machine something that should be used in moderation or for special occasions. The extra calories without any nutritional benefit is not ideal if you're consuming slushies regularly or in large amounts.
If you want the fun of a slushie without the added sugar, the instructions state that you can use diet or low-sugar drinks and supplement them with a natural sweetener called erythritol, some lemon juice and salt. Keep in mind that erythritol will make your favourite diet soda taste even sweeter.
Is the Ninja Slushi worth it?
If you often entertain or love the idea of having frozen drinks at home, the Ninja Slushi brings the fun – it's a well-designed machine that requires minimal effort from the user. But you need the space for it, whether it's on the kitchen bench or in a cupboard, so that's something to keep in mind.
Our expert Elias rates its performance as OK. The soft drink slushies weren't as good as the fresh juice and milkshake slushies in terms of pouring performance. You'll probably want to have a play around with the temperature settings to reach your desired consistency.
"It's one of those machines that you pull out of hiding a few times a year when the weather's too hot to handle," he says. A price tag of $500 is a lot to spend on what is ultimately a novelty appliance, unless you're going to use it frequently.
If you already have a high performance blender, you can make a slushie by adding liquid and frozen ingredients and blending together to achieve your desired consistency without the added expense of a dedicated slushie machine.
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Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
