Ninja Foodi Power Pitcher SS201  Blender Review

The Ninja SS201 is a fairly bulky full-size blender. It's roughly as tall as the Ninja Foodi Power Pitcher System, and its base is slightly bigger. You can store it directly on your kitchen counter or in a spacious cupboard.

The Ninja SS201 has a decent build quality. The motor base is made of plastic that doesn't feel particularly premium and sits on four anti-slip suction cups. The jar twists into place and is made of thick plastic. Installing the blades, which must be fitted inside the jar, is easy. The blade assembly doesn't lock into place, but when the lid is on, the top of the assembly fits into a small hole on the underside of the lid. The control panel is simple but feels sluggish to respond. If you're looking for a full-size blender with a better build quality, check out the Breville the Fresh & Furious.

The jar has a 72oz total capacity and a 64oz max liquid capacity, so it's suitable for blending big batches and multiple servings.

The jar is made of plastic and is dishwasher-safe, along with the lid and blades. It doesn't have a 2-part lid, so you can't add ingredients mid-blend, but it has a pouring spout at one corner. The jar must be oriented correctly on the motor base to clip into place.

The Ninja SS201's blade assembly is shaped like a column, with six sharp blades at different heights. This design is typical for Ninja blenders and means you can't use a tamper. While most Ninja blenders are fantastic for ice crushing, the design doesn't offer any particular benefit over blenders with more conventional blades at the bottom of the jar. The blades are very sharp, so you must be careful when handling the assembly, like when cleaning it by hand. A dough blade assembly is also included, which is meant for forming dough.

The plastic lid locks onto the jar with a button on top to release it. It's not a two-part lid, but there is a small opening on the spout corner of the lid. There's a metal bar across the opening that'll prevent bigger chunks of food from coming out if you're pouring from the jar. You can use the opening to add more ingredients to the blender without removing the lid, but it may not be big enough unless you add small pieces of food or liquid.

This blender's power cord isn't particularly long, but it'll reach an outlet near your counter. Unfortunately, there's no stowaway compartment to help store the cable when it's not in use.

• 72 oz 'Power pitcher' and lid
• Motor base
• Stacked blade assembly
• Dough blade assembly
• Cleaning brush
• Manual and recipe book

The Ninja SS201 is mediocre for processing small batches of fibrous ingredients. It takes a while, and ingredients like kale aren't fully processed, resulting in a grainy puree. Unlike many Ninja blenders, like the Ninja Foodi Power Blender & Processor System or theNinja Professional Plus Blender DUO with Auto-iQ, it doesn't come with any personal jars that might do a better job of processing smaller amounts of ingredients.

It's disappointing at processing fibrous ingredients at full capacity. Even if you run the blender for several minutes, it can't make a smooth blend with fibrous fruits and vegetables like kale. Some Ninja blends with similar jar and blade designs do a much better job, like the Ninja Foodi Power Pitcher System. However, they aren't identical blenders. The jars have different gear designs and don't work with each other's motor bases. This blender sometimes suddenly gets louder and seems to blend faster for no apparent reason, as if it suddenly has more power.

This blender is fantastic for crushing ice. The 'Ice Crush' preset runs the blender for one minute, but making very fine, uniform, snow-like crushed ice doesn't take long.

It's excellent for making nut butter. If you start at a low speed and slowly ramp up, it's a decently easy process, and the result is very smooth, spreadable nut butter. However, it takes several minutes, and you need to stop partway through to scrape the sides of the jar, so you can find full-size blenders that are easier to use for this purpose, like the Vitamix Explorian E310.

It's fairly loud. You can find much quieter models like the Ninja Professional Plus Blender DUO with Auto-iQ if you want a blender that makes less noise.

This blender has a small range of speed settings, like most Ninja blenders. While you can select from 10 different speed presets, the difference between the lowest and highest speeds is relatively small compared to blenders like the KitchenAid K400 or Vitamix Explorian E310. The highest speed isn't as fast as most full-size blenders', which isn't ideal for making smooth purees, and you don't have many options for fine-tuning the speed to suit different recipes.

The Ninja SS201 has a manual mode and an 'Auto-iQ' mode. You can use the 10-speed dial to fine-tune your blend in manual mode. The blender runs for 60 seconds before shutting off. You can also select 'Auto-iQ' mode to use the various presets or push and release the 'Pulse' button to run the blender in short intervals. There are six automatic blending programs:

• Smoothie: 65 seconds
• Bowl: 40 seconds
• Chop: 5 seconds
• Ice Crush: 60 seconds
• Dip: 75 seconds
• Dough: 45 seconds

According to the manual, the 'Bowl' setting doubles as a cleaning cycle if you run it with hot water and soap in the jar.

It's not easy to clean. The very sharp column of blades is removable, but you need to handle it carefully to avoid cutting yourself. It's also very difficult to properly clean some parts of the blender, like the hole at the bottom of the blade assembly where it fits into the jar.