Would the Magic Bullet work?

Posted by Margarita on March 4, 2008 at 8:35am

Hi All,

I know this has come up often, but there hasn't been anything specific about the Magic Bullet. So far, I've been juicing using my Omega 8003 - a fantastic juicer that does greens like they're its job...which I guess they are. But, as many have mentioned, it takes a really long time. I don't think I can invest in a Vitamix right now (full time grad student and all). Would blending greens in a Magic Bullet work? I use it for all my smoothies normally and it seems to do the trick, but I'm not sure about relying on it for juice.

Thanks!

Margarita

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Permalink Reply by David and Katrina Rainoshek on March 4, 2008 at 8:49am: The Magic Bullet is small, not terribly powerful, and you will probably wear its motor out making juices with it. That being said, try and let us know how it goes!

With peaceful steps,

David and Katrina Rainoshek; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by TaiChiMaster on May 20, 2008 at 7:57am: G'day :)

Ok, I have a technical answer for you.

I use The Magic Bullet. Two of them, actually. (Read below.) The resulting blend is okay, but it isn't as good as if blended for the same amount of time in one of the high-performance blenders (eg Vita-Mix or Blendtec).

I use two Magic Bullets for each blend/smoothie that I make, because previously using only one of them for about 30-60s continuously caused the the bearing (bushing) in the blade-base to wear out after only about 50 blends, causing the base to leak (the bushing is supposed to seal around the blade-shaft while providing a low-friction rotation).. So I found some replacement blade-bases online (eBay etc) and I bought a second whole Magic Bullet set, and now I use each one for a max of only about 15s (15s with the first one, pour into the second one for another 15s, then 15s in the first one again, and 15s in the second one again if needed). This way I've managed to not wear out the bushings. Previously the bushings wore out because of overheating (friction) due to the "prolonged" continuous use. (I know what I'm talking about, partly koz I do engineering as a profession.) Also, the motor will start to overheat (and hence emit a toxic burning smell and smoke) after more than about 1min of continuous use. The instructions & sticker state that it mustn't be used for more than 1min at a time; but this 1min max is too long for the bushings (even though it's right for the motor) in my experience.

If your tools are cheap, you've gotta take better care of them. If your tools aren't durable, then using two of them like I do will prolong their life.

Also, I chop (with a sharp knife or scissors) the leafy-greens/grass into pieces before blending, so that the blender doesn't need to work as hard or for as long. Also, less blending time means less heating & oxidation of the precious nutrients.

So, in summary, The Magic Bullet will work for smoothies/blends/juices (juices via the supplied juicer thing or via straining the blend through a sieve), but it's not as effective (the blend being not as fine, hence not as nutritious) or durable as a Vita-Mix or Blendtec or another similarly high-performance and robust (and much much more expensive) machine.

I hope this info helps, :)

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Permalink Reply by Terri on May 20, 2008 at 6:59pm: I have a silly question - when you "juice" with a blender - (I use the VTec) - do you add water to the greens? I just blended spinach and celery and couldn't stomach the thick mixture...

Peace to all!
terri; ▶ Reply to This