The Ninja Professional Blender NJ601AMZ is a straightforward full-size blender that's the next generation of the Ninja Professional Blender 1000. It's a lot more basic than similarly designed yet more expensive models like the Ninja Blender Duo with Auto-iQ BL642, as it comes with a similar 72-ounce pitcher and spiral blade design. However, compared to higher-end models, it has fewer speed settings and lacks additional jars or blades. Unfortunately, it doesn't offer any improvements over its predecessor, and its build quality is a slight step down.
Our Verdict
The Ninja Professional Blender is adequate for multi-purpose use. The 72-ounce pitcher is fantastic for ice crushing, but it's not as well-suited for processing fibrous ingredients or making nut butter. It's also not safe to use for hot blending and has limited speed settings. It's not as well-built as the older model, the Ninja Professional Blender 1000.
Big capacity.
- Superb ice crusher.
- Dishwasher-safe.
- Not very good for processing fibrous ingredients.
- No hot blending.
- Few speed settings.
- Hard to clean by hand.
The Ninja Professional Blender is decent for making single-serve smoothies. It doesn't come with any personal jars, but it can make a single-serve smoothie with a good texture in the 72-ounce main jar. However, you need to run the blender for more than eight minutes to get the best result, and even then, there are grains of kale or fruit skin left over.
- Dishwasher-safe.
- Decent for small batches of fibrous ingredients.
- No personal jars.
- Hard to clean by hand.
The Ninja Professional Blender is good for making multiple servings of smoothies. You can make enough to serve several people in the 72-ounce pitcher. It doesn't struggle to crush ice, so it's well-suited for frozen drinks, but it makes a grainy puree if you use fibrous ingredients like kale. It's also hard to clean by hand.
Big capacity.
- Dishwasher-safe.
- Not very good for processing fibrous ingredients.
- Hard to clean by hand.
The Ninja Professional Blender is fantastic for ice crushing. Like most Ninja blenders, it can make snow-like crushed ice very quickly.
- Superb ice crusher.
- Dishwasher-safe.
- Hard to clean by hand.
The Ninja Professional Blender isn't safe to use for hot blending, so you can only use it to process ingredients for soup once they're cool. It has a large capacity, meaning you can blend a big recipe in one batch, but it can't produce a completely smooth puree with fibrous ingredients like kale.
- Dishwasher-safe.
- Not very good for processing fibrous ingredients.
- No hot blending.
- Hard to clean by hand.
The Ninja Professional Blender is decent for professional use. The main pitcher has a 72-ounce capacity and is well-suited for making big batches of crushed ice or frozen drinks. However, you may want something sturdier if you use your blender every day for ice crushing. It doesn't perform as well for other purposes like pureeing fibrous ingredients or making nut butter and isn't safe to use for hot blending.
- Superb ice crusher.
- Dishwasher-safe.
- Not very good for processing fibrous ingredients.
- Few speed settings.
- Hard to clean by hand.
Changelog
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Updated Nov 26, 2024:
We've added a comparison between this blender and the nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo in the fibrous ingredients (full capacity) section.
- Updated Aug 09, 2024: Compared its ability to process fibrous ingredients to the Beautiful High Performance Blender with Touch-Activated Display's under Fibrous Ingredients (Full Capacity).
- Updated Aug 07, 2024: Compared its controls and programs to the Ninja SMOOTHIEiQ's.
- Updated Aug 26, 2022: Review published.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
Ninja Professional Blender NJ601AMZ comes in Black/Gray or Black/Silver. We tested it in Black/Gray and you can see the label here. If you come across another variant, let us know in the discussions.
Popular Blender Comparisons
The Ninja Professional Blender is a less expensive full-size blender from Ninja and only comes with the basics, a 72-ounce pitcher and lid. It's a newer version of the budget-friendly Ninja Professional Blender 1000 and performs the same way. Unfortunately, the biggest difference between the two is the newer version has a slightly worse build quality. Like most Ninja blenders, it has a standout ice crushing performance, but the 72-ounce pitcher isn't ideal for fibrous ingredients or nut butter. It's still reasonably versatile, but if you make a lot of smoothies, the Ninja TWISTi High-Speed Blender DUO or Oster Pro 1200 are better choices.
If you're looking for other options, check out the best Ninja blenders, the best blenders for frozen drinks, and the best blenders for smoothies.
The Ninja Professional Blender NJ601AMZ and the Oster Pro 1200 have different strengths. The Ninja is much sturdier and quieter. Its jar has a bigger capacity, and this blender is better suited for crushing ice. The Oster is more versatile since it can hot blend and comes with a 24-ounce jar for single-serve smoothies. It makes a much smoother blend of fibrous ingredients like kale or broccoli, which is important if you like to make recipes like smoothies, soups, and sauces.
The KitchenAid K150 is better than the Ninja Professional Blender NJ601AMZ. The KitchenAid has a better build quality and comes with a 2-part lid. It can hot blend and does a better job processing fibrous ingredients like kale. It's quieter and has more speed settings. The Ninja has a bigger capacity and can crush ice more uniformly and more quickly, but the KitchenAid is also great for crushing ice.
The nutribullet Blender Combo is better than the Ninja Professional Blender NJ601AMZ. The nutribullet makes a smoother blend with fibrous ingredients like kale in its main jar. It can also hot blend and comes with two smaller jars for single-serves. Its blade design makes it easier to clean by hand. The Ninja is better for thicker mixtures like nut butter, but it's not ideal for that purpose, either.
The Ninja Professional Blender NJ601AMZ is the next generation of the Ninja Professional Blender 1000. Although they have similar overall performances, the 1000 has a slight edge because it's better built and quieter.
Test Results
The Ninja Professional Blender is a bulky full-size blender. It may not fit in a cupboard, and it takes up some space on a counter.
The Ninja Professional Blender has a decent build quality. It's a small step down from the Ninja Professional Blender 1000. The plastic used for the motor base doesn't feel premium and the control panel feels cheap. The plastic transmission feels sturdy, and the jars and lids are solid. The jar doesn't wiggle around once it's twisted into place, and the blender won't start unless the lid is on. Even though there are no suction cups under the motor base, it doesn't move around on the counter when it's running.
The Ninja Professional Blender's jar has a big 72-ounce capacity. There's a 'max liquid capacity' mark at 64 oz.
The plastic jar and its lid are top-rack dishwasher-safe.
Like most Ninja blenders, its blade assembly is a column with blades that spiral around it. You can remove it from the jar for cleaning, but you need to handle it very carefully because the blades are so sharp. It's also top-rack dishwasher-safe.
The lid is easy to put on and remove. The handle needs to be locked into place before the blender will start. It doesn't have a removable center piece, so you can't add ingredients mid-blend, but there's a spout opening on one corner, which allows you to pour from the pitcher with the lid on.
The power cord is long enough to reach a nearby outlet. There's a compartment to keep it out of the way when it's not in use, but it takes a bit of effort to tuck the cord inside.
- Ninja Professional Blender motor base
- 72 oz pitcher
- Pitcher lid
- Blade stack assembly
- Manuals
The Ninja is decent for processing small batches of fibrous ingredients. It makes a slightly grainy puree with ingredients like kale, and you need to run the blender for a long time to get that result.
If you use the main jar's full capacity, it makes a grainy puree with ingredients like kale. You need to run the blender for a long time to break down fibrous ingredients, but unfortunately, even with the long blend time, there are more visible grains than in the smaller batch. You might prefer the Beautiful High Performance Blender with Touch-Activated Display or the nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo if you want a smoother blend with fibrous ingredients like kale or fruit.
The Ninja NJ601 can crush a batch of 12 ice cubes into snow-like crushed ice very quickly.
The Ninja is great for making nut butter. It's not the most convenient process since you need to stop the blender a few times, take the lid off, stir the mixture and scrape the sides of the jar. It takes a while but makes fantastic, smooth nut butter.
It's not particularly loud for a full-size blender. It's significantly quieter than others, like the Vitamix Explorian E310 or the Ninja Foodi Power Pitcher System, but like most blenders, standing next to it for more than a few minutes is irritating.
Like the Ninja Professional Blender 1000, it has fewer speed settings than most Ninja blenders. There isn't a huge difference between its minimum and maximum speeds, so you have limited control over the blending speed.
Its controls are very similar to the Ninja Professional Blender 1000, with buttons for the three speed presets, pulse mode, and on/off. If you want a blender that stops automatically when it's done, you might prefer the Ninja SMOOTHIEiQ, which is essentially the same blender with an automatic 'Smoothie' blending program.
Its very sharp blades make the Ninja Professional Blender blender difficult to clean by hand. You need to be careful not to cut yourself when you're handling them. There's also a hollow space at the bottom of the blade column where it connects to the jar. This small space tends to trap food residue and is hard to get completely clean, even with a brush.
