To thaw or not to thaw?

This is one of the most common and controversial questions about using the the Ninja Creami.

The Ninja Creami was made to process frozen solid mixtures straight out of the freezer. It was not made to process partially thawed mixtures. With the exception of the SLUSHI function, none of the manuals from the manufacturer say to thaw the ice cream before processing.

***When using the SLUSHI function, the manual recommends taking the frozen mixture out of the freezer and thawing on the counter for 10 minutes before processing.

The idea of thawing ice cream (when using functions other than the SLUSHI function) came from social media, not the manufacturer.

If you process the ice cream straight out of the freezer, followed the instructions for the machine and used the proper ingredients in your base recipe, the machine should not malfunction when processing straight out of the freezer. If it does, you need to contact Ninja as that should not happen.

Many people thaw the ice cream before processing because they like the softer texture of the finished ice cream and because they think it's safer on the machine. It's okay to thaw, but it's not required and it's not recommended in the manufacturer's instructions.

Can your machine break if you don't thaw the ice cream before processing? The answer is yes. But the same can happen even if you do thaw the ice cream. You have to follow the instructions and use the right ingredients. Regardless of whether you thaw the ice cream or not, the machine can malfunction or can be defective. If it malfunctions, you have to call Ninja.

Some say that when they call and talk to Ninja customer service, they tell them to thaw the ice cream. Others get the opposite response. The answer you will get from Ninja's customer service 100% depends on who you talk to on the phone. You can call 3 times and get 3 different answers.

I surveyed a group of uses and asked if they thaw and if so how...See below for the results.