New Addition Old Gadget

Well I have been away far too long, so now is the time to update.  Lately I have been very busy due to a new addition to my family, I now have a  lovely baby girl.   With this in mind I thought this would be a great time to mention an old gadget of mine that has a new model out that is geared more towards the parents out there.  I am talking about the Magic Bullet, you all have heard the slogan, "Your personal, versatile, countertop magician!".  Now out you might have seen the Baby Bullet, geared towards making your own baby food for that bundle of joy.

Let me first say I have NOT used the Baby Bullet, nor do I think I will, since I already have the Magic Bullet, it would seem silly to me just to get it because it is marketed towards making baby food. So now on to the review.

I recieved the Magic Bullet as a gift ages ago, back in my bachelor days.  Yes I had asked for it, thought it would be great for a single guy, much easier to use and clean than a full size blender and plenty of capacity for myself.  It sure looks like it and they tell you that on the infomercial.  But I'm not so sure about those claims. 

My set included the Magic Bullet, the chopping blade, the whipping blade, small and large containers and 4 mugs with their little covers for the threads.  Of course later they had the larger set that included a larger mixer bowl and a juicer attachment, but sometimes it's heck being an early adopter and only getting the basics, my set lacked what could have made this a much more enticing item.

I started off with smoothies of course, I mean thats probably what it seems most blenders are used for anyway.  It did a splendid job with this task, although I learned very quickly it's better to over mix your items than to have to put that blade back on after you take it off.  Right away I started with smoothie dripping over the edge as I tried unsuccessfully to screw the blade back on with smoothie already covering it.  This seemed right away a design oversight on their part.  You have to guage your consitancy on looks alone if you don't want a bit of a mess, or you are rinsing the blade bases every time you check.  Admittedly I overlooked this flaw as I didn't really think you'd be checking too often when blending things.  I'm sure some of you are saying, just look at the flow of it to see it's consistency, nice idea, but you put in your ingredients on the bottom, which becomes the top when put on the power base, and trying to see the consistency through smoothy or any other item, not so easy.

Overall, despite some general frustration at this point I was happy with my new gadget.  Now it's time to start trying some recipes.  I have a bit of a sweet tooth, and I absolutely love cheesecake, so I had to try their included recipe of cheesecake, it seemed so simple.  And it wasn't too bad,  although to get it to completely mix, required a few times opening it up (or the more forceful method of a few good taps on the counter).   Anyway I managed to make a smooth concoction and then toss into a grahm cracker pie crust, bake and eat.  My only complaint, this wasn't REAL cheesecake, it was a thin representation of cheesecake.  I really wanted a full size cheesecake baked in a springform pan, and I eventually made that, but that brings you the first biggest problem with this device.  In order to make a real sized cheesecake I had to make 2 batches, 1 at a time and pour them into the pan.

Oh and on the cheesecake note, while it touts it's power, it had a rough time with the cream cheese, since my impatience felt no need to wait for it to warm up any.  It even stopped on me a couple times.  I have to admit that it always recovered and worked at a later date, but there were a few times I thought I had created the Magic Paperweight!

Their claims on it being perfect to pulse chop things, are more like wishes and hopes.  Their perfect fresh salsa, either comes out with half a tomatoe in there or no chunks at all, and the guacamole was even worse, as the avacodo stuck to the side and didn't even get mixed.

You might be wondering will we be making baby food in the Magic bullet, and my answer is, more than likely not.  While it's a nice size for such a job, I'd rather take out my full size food processor as it's much easier to clean and get better consistency, as I had quite a few issues with anything other than liquids at easily getting a smooth result.  While I believe I got my money's worth out of that little blender, I think it's one item that is destined to be retired.  It's been replaced for a full size blender at 1/3rd the cost and a food processor, both of which I find much easier to clean and do a better job.

My final result while cute and a definite talking piece,  I'm not sure it's entirely worth the money.  The look of it isn't something that most would leave sitting on the counter, and the effectiveness at getting a consistent end result are my biggest issues with it, I think for my money I'd rather get a small 3 cup food processor for chopping jobs, and a cheap blender for my smoothies.

Final Results:  Pass it up.

Pros:
        Size, doesn't take up much counter space, and the pieces don't take up much room to wash.
        Excellent for a quick single serve smoothie
Cons:
        Too small, unless you are making a single serve smoothie for yourself you will be doing multiple batches.
         Doesn't chop or mix evenly at all, unless you are liquifying things.
         Cleaning out the the larger "cup"  is a pain.
         Motor can struggle mixing things like cool cream cheese.