The Ninja Creami: An Honest Take After 60 Days of Daily Use

Reader emails about the Ninja Creami have been increasing exponentially since the holiday season, so we bought one, plus 24 reusable pints, and tested it daily for 60 days. This is, regrettably, a contrarian review.

What it actually does

The Creami takes a fully-frozen pint of liquid (ice cream base, smoothie, kefir, etc.) and shaves it into ice-cream-textured product via a fast-spinning auger. It is not making ice cream from scratch. It is restructuring a frozen base.

What it's good at

Restructuring a protein shake into a "bowl" you eat with a spoon. We are a little embarrassed about how much we used the Creami in this mode — it's competent at it and it does feel novel. It also makes a perfectly creditable sorbet from frozen fruit purée.

What it's not as good at

Real ice cream. Even with a high-fat custard base and a 24-hour freeze, the result is icier than what a $40 churn-style ice cream maker produces in 25 minutes. The Creami's "texture" is a function of fast shaving, not slow churn — and you can taste the difference.

The freezer cost

The Creami requires a full pint to be solid-frozen before you spin it. That's 24 hours of freezer time per pint, and you need at least three pints in the freezer to keep up with daily use. For a household with a small freezer, that is real estate you are losing for an appliance you'll use weekly.

The verdict

For most readers, the Creami is hard to recommend. It's a $250 specialty appliance that requires 24 hours of pre-planning per use, costs you a meaningful chunk of freezer space, and makes ice cream that's slightly worse than a $40 churn machine produces. If you're an ice cream maniac, you've already bought one. For everyone else, we'd send you to the $40 churn-style machine.