Picturetastic Review of Magic Bullet

[Xaroxantu Zero]

Don't know what a Magic Bullet is? Watch this:



---

After my picturetastic review of the Slap Chop, a request was made for me to do one for the Magic Bullet. I had heard about this magical product a few weeks back, and I was intrigued by the convenience of making smoothies and other dishes in a very short period of time. I went to their website, planning to order a set, only to find out that I have to buy two full sets (21 pieces) for US$100 and an additional $40 shipping.

Somehow, I don't think I need two sets to do my review.

Luckily, Bulaian was quick to point out that Canadian Tire actually sold a 12-piece set for a much cheaper price. Thus I went there last weekend and bought myself a unit. Since I don't drive, I had to lug this relatively big box back via public transit.

As I was walking across a parking lot, a random woman walked passed me and shook her head when she saw the Magic Bullet box under my arms. I guess she had a bad experience with it?

Anyways, without further ado - the photos.

CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO ENLARGE

The 12-piece set is also called the " Magic Bullet - Single Shot +", whatever the hell that means.




At first, I thought there was a speaker on the backside on the Magic Bullet, but clearly - it's not.


Close-up of the basic operation instructions of the unit. I think the "Off" instruction isn't quite clear, as it looks like I have to shift the whole cup to the right to turn it off.


Magic Bullet with the cup/blender out of the base:


Close-up of the base. The middle part rotates the blade on the lid attached to the cup.


Close-up of the switch. Note that there are three of them around the rim, which is meant for locking down the cup for hands-free operation.




Cup and crossblade lid:


As expected - to prevent getting sued - warning labels on the blades:




Other side of the crossblade lid:




The 12-piece set comes with two party mugs and one extra comfort lip ring (which I think is just silly):


Tall bullet cup with a Stay-Fresh resealable lids (hey, they named the damn thing):


Also provided are two replacement gaskets for the crossblade lid. Clearly, it's not a toy for three year-olds to chew on:


And lastly, a 10-second recipe book. There are actually quite a few recipes inside for owners to try out. I doubt I will be following many of them, though.

[Xaroxantu Zero]

As I mentioned before, I will be using the Magic Bullet mainly for making smoothies, so I looked up its recipe book to see what kind I can make easily. I chose to test out the Strawberry Banana smoothie. According to the book, I had to use a cup of ice, a handful of frozen or fresh strawberries, a banana, and a "splash" of orange juice. I added the ice first, then the strawberries, then a whole banana to the tall bullet cup.



Yeah. Doesn't really work.

The cup is definitely smaller than I thought, so I had to stuff in half a banana first, then blend the rest later.



Much better. I then twisted the crossblade lid onto the cup:


I placed the cup onto the base and started to do some blending. The crossblade went through the banana and strawberry easily, but then I realized the ice weren't touching the blade at all. I tried using the Pulse method (pressing the cup down and letting it go in a steady rhythm), but it still wouldn't blend anything.



I decided to take out the cup and remove the crossblade lid to see what was going on inside. As it turns out, the strawberries and banana became a sorbet-like mixture and was stuck around the inside of the cup, resulting in a barrier of sort, which prevents the ice from ever coming in contact with the blade. I had also realized I completely forgot to add the orange juice.

In the end, I had to pour everything out, reinsert the strawberry-banana mixture into the cup first, then add the ice on top along with the orange juice. The Magic Bullet managed to blend most of the ice this time around, but something was still stuck. I picked up the Magic Bullet and shook it while it was on. Everything became blended nice and smoothly afterward.



The smoothie ended up thicker than I expected, but at least it worked.




The blade was covered in smoothie:


I had learned later that a "splash" of orange juice wasn't nearly enough for a smoothie. I think half a cup of orange juice would work much better, not to mention sweeter.

The total time it took me to make that first cup of smoothie was nowhere near 10 seconds. It was more like 10 minutes. Nevertheless, it was a good smoothie.

I mentioned briefly in my picturetastic review of the Slap Chop that I usually make my own sandwich spread using celery, mayo, and canned meat. The Slap Chop proved useful in chopping up the celery quickly and easily. The Magic Bullet also claims that it can chop up vegetables quickly and easily as well, so I decided to experiment by making my sandwich spread with it.

For starters, I used boring canned tuna, mayo, and a stick of celery.



I placed it onto the Magic Bullet with the crossblade lid and let it rip. Hopefully, my life will be more exciting after this.

Boy, did I ever regret it.



This is the result of blending tuna, mayo, and celery together. A tuna smoothie. There were no traces of celery anywhere. I most likely left it on for too long, hence the creamy, watery paste that will no-way-in-hell be part of my sandwich.

Overall, the Magic Bullet didn't perform as well as advertised. However, I will continue to use it to make smoothies. Screw Jugo Juice and their overpriced drinks.

[BenC]

I use this thing to blend my protein shakes. Gets the job done so I have no complaints!

[D'z Nutz]

Haha nice. Yeah, I bought one a couple months back to blend PWO protein shakes. I liked it so much I bought another one last weekend when it was on sale just for the office.

Fruit shakes cost $5 at best. Magic bullet at $30 will pay for itself off in no time, especially during the summer. I'm not sure what people are doing to their Magic Bullets to break them

And clean your damn sensor!

[Xaroxantu Zero]

Originally posted by D'z Nutz
I'm not sure what people are doing to their Magic Bullets to break them

They probably used ice made of diamonds or something.

Originally posted by D'z Nutz
And clean your damn sensor!

Yes, sir! @_@

[adidas]

Funny read...now if they would only stop advertising it, then we would be golden!

[GQBalla]

Hrm interesting that your ice didn't break.

Mine seem to break right away. Timed it and it only took 15 seconds.

For my protein shakes I add in 3 pieces of frozen fruit, 6 icecubes, probably 6 or 7 oz of water, whole banana, and 1.5 scoops of protein.

[bball2]

Haha I had the exact same reaction for the sandwich spread. I tried making that chicken salad they did on the commercials: small chicken breast, cherry tomato, quarter of an apple, stalk of celery, and some mayonnaise. Turned into a puree instead of a 'chicken salad'

[brian_tr]

Originally posted by Xaroxantu Zero
...I will continue to use it to make smoothies. Screw Jugo Juice and their overpriced drinks.

i'm doing the same thing too.
splash of juice my ass. for a full..bullet(?) of ice/fruit i need to probably fill up half or 3/4 with juice for it to blend. it still needs to be shaken occasionally with those proportions.

[malcolmk14]

Next up! The shamwow!

[bulaian]

i find that filling the cup with at least 1/3 water/juice works the best. For ice cubes, i don't fill the trays to the top anymore, in case i want to use them in the magic bullet. I only fill them about 3/4 full, so they're easier to blend

[n1zm0]

lol my request was granted, awesome.

I definitely dont drink many smoothies probably once a year i go nuts with ice and fruits in a blender, i would use this for chicken salad/tuna sandwich stuff but it looks like it goes a bit overboard lol, what if you were to just hold it for 5 seconds would that have made a difference for the tuna spread? How hard was it to clean?

i'll throw another request in there, either the pancake puffs skillet thing with the syringe you jam filling with or the billy mays big city slider, i think either one is about 15-20$ i saw at wallymart.

[Xaroxantu Zero]

The first five seconds barely chopped the tuna or the celery. Once they made contact with the blades, everything just turned into mush. It definitely wasn't hard to clean, though. It was a friggin' smoothie, after all. o_o

I'm not sure I'll be interested in pancake puffs, and I have no idea what a Big City Slider is.

Originally posted by malcolmk14
Next up! The shamwow!

I don't think close-ups of a piece of cloth is all that interesting. :P

[n1zm0]

Originally posted by Xaroxantu Zero
I'm not sure I'll be interested in pancake puffs, and I have no idea what a Big City Slider is.

both seem to do the same thing, the pancake one looks more or less like a homestyle takoyaki pan i'm sure you could put meat or pancake mix.. or both into either lol anyways i'm sure whatever you pick next will just as good of a review haha

[Xaroxantu Zero]

The Pancake Puffs pan is totally a takoyaki ripoff.

The Big City Slider seems like a good idea - I wonder how well it works with frozen minced beef, though?

[HuMz]

The only task the magic bullet is good for is busting up weed, its absolute garbage when trying to dice food/veggies.

[adidas]

Originally posted by malcolmk14
Next up! The shamwow!

Come take mine from me.

Bought it like a year ago and only used it once! It worked like garbage so i never used it again!

[nonlinear]

i've never understood this thing. how is this any different than a regular blender - aside from the small size, which is a major drawback IMO. I can fit a whole banana in my blender. i can also make extra smoothie for my friends, etc.

[Xaroxantu Zero]

I found it convenient if I just want to make a quick smoothie for myself. Cleaning it will also be faster, since it's a just a small cup. Otherwise, you'll definitely be better off with a blender.

[xxxazntigerxx]

can u buy this at showcase?