# Any Magic Bullet users? Worthwhile or junk? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 2, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482 "2013-07-02T21:04:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boozilu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@boozilu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boozilu)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/1 "2013-07-02T21:04:15Z")
My MIL was cleaning out her junk and gave me a completely unused Magic Bullet. I had never heard of it but when I checked it out on-line it seems to be one of those “as seen on TV” type products. Is it worth trying to use? Or just another piece of junk? (Upon review of this post, I realize I may have started it in the wrong place – apologies to mods if it should be moved.) ---
**Author:** ![spazurek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@spazurek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spazurek)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/2 "2013-07-02T21:17:59Z")
We got one hoping it could serve as a cheap substitute for a food processor for making hummus. No dice. It’s fine for light blending jobs – I’d trust it with making a small smoothie – but otherwise pretty useless. I suppose it would also grind coffee pretty well, and there may be a few other good applications that I’m not aware of. But overall I wouldn’t recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/3 "2013-07-02T21:26:52Z")
I have one, I use it pretty regularly. It works for anything that’s too small to want to drag out a food processor for. Basically, anything that you would use an immersion blender for will work in this. ETA, it won’t work on things that are ‘sticky’. That is, if you’re trying to make a cream cheese based dip, it’s not going to work since it’s just going to fling it all against the side and then the blade is going to spin around doing nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/4 "2013-07-02T21:34:07Z")
They are legit products although the main purpose of them is to make single-serve smoothies. They can do a few other blending type tasks if you insist on it but it is really just a quick smoothie maker. They do that part quite well. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/5 "2013-07-02T21:36:42Z")
I’ve got a generic version- makes a cup of salsa in a few seconds. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/6 "2013-07-02T21:42:22Z")
I think I misunderstood what you meant. A blender does smoothies fine. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/7 "2013-07-02T22:26:25Z")
I use mine a fair amount - does great smoothies, whipping together a salad dressing, made mayonnaise a few times. Pureed soup into baby food. Ground nuts. mrAru used it to regrind rock solid brown sugar. Ours came with a set of 4 containers with handles and a brightly colored ring that screwed around the rim to make smoothie mugs. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/8 "2013-07-02T22:29:33Z")
Mrs. uses one all the time, but I promise you it’s never in the kitchen near food… ---
**Author:** ![kjbrasda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/74df32/32.png) [@kjbrasda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kjbrasda)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/9 "2013-07-02T22:57:45Z")
I got one the same way. I agree with everyone else; good for smoothies and light blending - pretty useless for anything else. I would never buy one new though. Mine stopped working suddenly after only a couple months of use. Apparently it’s not intended for blending longer than a couple seconds at a time, as it destroys the motor. And they do mean “a couple seconds”, as in two. Two seconds of blending each pulse, with a rest in between, or the motor melts down. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/10 "2013-07-02T23:13:50Z")
I bought one for making babyfood - about five years ago. I used it daily back then and it was great for quickly grinding up a bit of something for her. Now I use it only about twice per month-usually for guacamole. It’s a whole lot easier on clean-up than the big blender, but it can’t handle ice cubes or heavy loads. Overall, it’s a convenient gadget to have around. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/11 "2013-07-03T02:19:36Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I use mine a fair amount - does great smoothies, whipping together a salad dressing, made mayonnaise a few times. Pureed soup into baby food. Ground nuts. mrAru used it to regrind rock solid brown sugar. Ours came with a set of 4 containers with handles and a brightly colored ring that screwed around the rim to make smoothie mugs. Next time you have rock hard brown sugar place it in abowl with a slightly damp paper towel over it…microwave for 10-15 seconds…viola! Good as new! ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/12 "2013-07-03T04:00:32Z")
When my wife bought one, I was sure she would get tired of it quickly. Not so! She makes smoothies with it just about every other day, and she’s done so since she bought it three or four years ago. We have a full sized blender, but washing the Magic Bullet cup just seems a lot easier than washing a cup + blender, and it takes up less counter space. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/13 "2013-07-03T05:11:44Z")
[Links are hard.](http://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=4824304383463045780&id=pcat17071&type=page&st=magic+bullet&sc=Global&cp=1&nrp=15&sp=&qp=&list=n&iht=y&fs=saas&usc=All+Categories&ks=960&saas=saas&ref=30&loc=KW-4251&k_clickid=24c71e64-45a9-5469-da25-000042879cee) ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/14 "2013-07-03T05:38:50Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > Mrs. uses one all the time, but I promise you it’s never in the kitchen near food… Yeah, my wife also has one of those.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/15 "2013-07-03T06:50:31Z")
Umm, I’ve got one, and I certainly wouldn’t accept one from my MiL _shocked face_ ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/16 "2013-07-03T08:28:41Z")
Well, this thread isn’t at all what I expected it to be about. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/17 "2013-07-03T08:39:54Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > Umm, I’ve got one, and I certainly wouldn’t accept one from my MiL _shocked face_ Well, the OP said it was completely unused. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/18 "2013-07-03T08:41:31Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > Next time you have rock hard brown sugar place it in abowl with a slightly damp paper towel over it…microwave for 10-15 seconds…viola! Good as new! I suppose, but I am not going to go out and buy a microwave just to soften brown sugar … :smack:😃 ---
**Author:** ![d1a1s1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@d1a1s1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/d1a1s1)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/19 "2013-07-03T08:42:59Z")
You already have it? Why don’t you try it out and see if it’s worth your while?? ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482/20 "2013-07-03T14:49:50Z")
It’s definitely not just junk. I’ve had one for years and years. As others have said, it can substitute for a blender or food processor if you are making something small, and it is easier to clean. OTOH, it takes up space and does not do as good a job as a blender or food processor if you already have those. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-magic-bullet-users-worthwhile-or-junk/662482.md?page=2)