Tips, Tricks, and Misc.
I am a geek at heart. I’m also a tinkerer. Every so often, I come across an idea (usually by accident) that is just too good not to share! Here are a few of those tips & tricks.
| Around the House | In the Kitchen |
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Great site! Unfortunately, your “cleaning stainless steel pots and pans” link is broken. It links to the “vitamins for your plants” page.
Thanks for the catch, Kevin! It’s fixed now!
I just received a Ninja Kitchen System and can’t figure out how to use it for making bread. My trusty breadmaker recently died, so I was hoping to use the new machine at least for mixing/kneading. There are no directions for this that I can find. Specifically, is there a way to make your Sweet Honey French Bread recipe using the Ninja? Thanks for the help.
Hi Marcy,
If you have the bread paddle with your Ninja KS, you are in business. I still use my breadmaker for making bread, so I have never tried this, but here is what I would do – very similar to how you would make bread in a stand mixer:
In a small bowl (or the Ninja jar), add the water, yeast, and brown sugar, and let it grow for about 5 minutes, until it starts bubbling. If you add it to the Ninja jar, make sure the dough blade is already in place.
Then, add oil, honey, salt, and, in 1/2 cup increments, the flour. Adding the flour slowly will prevent things from gumming up. Just add the add’l ingredients, then 1/c cup flour and blend on 1 with the dough paddle until combined, then, add another 1/2 cup and repeat, until you have mixed all the flour. Then, blend on 1 until a dough is formed and it somewhat pulls away from the sides of the blender jar. The dough may be a little sticky – this is okay.
When you feel it is ready, place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover with a damp cloth. Let rise in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until doubled in size. Then, follow the instructions starting here – (do all of the steps after this line in the directions):
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When the dough is done, remove it from the machine and roll it out onto a lightly floured surface. I sometimes use a little bit of flour dusted around the edges of the pan to help get the dough out. It won’t keep its shape, so don’t try to make it retain its shape.
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I hope that helps – let me know how it works out for you!
Angela
Thanks for your helpful tips — I probably made every mistake possible because I didn’t see your respones until AFTER I’d had everything in the machine for 45 mintues. Added all the flour all at once, so it got mucked up, then let it run and run and RUN thnking it would quit on its own! Rescued the dough as it began to cook around the hot blade. Finished it as you suggested…it ended up a little flat and kind of doughy, but not bad for a first effort. Looking forward to successes in the future. One bad loaf can’t possibly cancel out all the margaritas, smoothies, and mud slides we’ve enjoyed all weekend. Love this machine!
Hi Marcy,
Oh, that’s too bad. Give it another try if you can — that bread is simply delicious and my husband’s favorite. When I try new recipes, he asks for that one back!
Angela
The “bad” loaf was delicious even if the texture was “different.”
New question: is it possible to buy one of the 16 oz individual cups to add to my system?
Hi Marcy,
The 16 oz to-go cups work with the Ninja Pulse, not the larger Ninja KS. But if you need any parts for your KS, you can always go here: http://www.ninjakitchen.com/partsAccessories.shtml
Also stay tuned to a post tomorrow, as I think you might be interested in it based on your desire for individual blending cups!
Angela
I was afraid they wouldn’t be interchangeable, but now I’m really curious about your anouncement tomorrow!
Marcy, I think I was sort of wrong! Someone just let me know there is a new Ninja KS that comes with a single serve cup:
http://www.ninjakitchen.com/products/ninja-kitchen-system-limited-edition-bl660/m/ppc/ogippc.php?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Offer1FreeBookFSH199&utm_term=ninja%20kitchen%20system%201100&utm_content={campaign}&utm_content={campaign}}
However, while I see an option to buy the cups by themselves on the Ninja site, I don’t see the blade yet. The cups are at the bottom of their parts page: http://www.ninjakitchen.com/Ninja-NJ602-Kitchen-System-1100.shtml?tabID=partsCont
So, what this means to me is if you hang on, they will probably add the blade accessory at some point, as the new Ninja that has the Single Serve cup looks exactly the same as our version… At least there is hope!
Angela
There’s always hope! I just wondered if it would be worth doing a live chat to ask them. It’s so frustrating to have so recently purchased what we THOUGHT was the “latest and greatest,” only to find out that something so useful (16 oz cups) aren’t included and aren’t available for separate purchase.
Soon….
PS – thank you for this site!
I kind of wondered the same thing about the chat. If you take the time to do so, please let me know what you find out! And thanks for your nice notes!
can u please give me a simple but tasty pasta sauce.
thanks
Hi there. I purchased my Master Prep Pro and was wondering if there is only certain recipes for this machine or whether I can use any of these recipes. Understandably not the recipes for breadmaking etc…..
I have always been a disaster in the kitchen. Will have to see how my cooking phobia pans out after this….. Small steps
Hi Anne,
You certainly can use most of my Ninja recipes for the Ninja Pro in your master prep! I can’t think of a single one that wouldn’t work. The blade design is the same (through the middle), it’s just the jar orientation that is different. Good luck!
Angela
I am looking for a retail store that carries Ninja appliances in Grand Rapids, Mi
Do you have Bed, Bath and Beyond? I would start there. If not, try Target.