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If you have a Magic Bullet and you’re in the mood for a cool refreshing smoothie, you may be wondering whether your Magic Bullet can crush ice.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of misleading information on this topic, and some of it could leave you with a broken blender! If you go read the other top articles on google they all say the same thing, but they haven’t actually tested it.
We tried blending ice in a Magic Bullet and the results were disappointing. We’ll tell you why and show you the pics to prove it!
Can a Magic Bullet Crush Ice?
If you’re hoping to crush ice in your Magic Bullet blender then, unfortunately, you’re going to be disappointed. A Magic Bullet is simply not powerful enough to crush ice.
You need a powerful blender to crush ice and the Magic Bullet only has a 250-watt motor. We did a deep dive guide on how many watts is good for a blender and you’re going to want 800+ to crush ice well.
The manufacturer makes this clear in the user manual, which says:
“Your Magic Bullet® is not intended to be an ice crusher and attempting to crush ice may result in permanent damage to the Cross Blades and may cause the unit to malfunction and cause personal injury or property damage.”
Power isn’t the only issue. As the manufacturer says, the blades themselves aren’t strong enough either.
For a blender to be able to crush ice, it needs to have strong, sharp blades. These high-quality blades are generally only found on more powerful blenders, which the manufacturer has designed to be able to crush ice.
The blades in lower-end blenders like the Magic Bullet are not designed to cope with the forces involved in crushing ice. Attempting to crush ice with a Magic Bullet is therefore likely to break or blunt the blender’s blades, and it could cause damage to the motor too.
If large pieces of ice get jammed between the blades of your Magic Bullet then the blades won’t be able to spin. While the blades are stuck, the motor will continue delivering power normally, as if the blades were rotating. This will put a huge amount of strain on the motor, potentially causing irreparable damage. This can cause your Magic Bullet to smells like it’s burning.
Given the risk of damaging your blender, attempting to crush ice using a Magic Bullet is not a good idea. However, you may have seen Magic Bullet recipes that contain ice, and you may also have read some conflicting recommendations elsewhere.
So why does some online advice suggest you can put ice in a Magic Bullet? And why is an ‘ice crusher blade’ available as an optional extra for the blender? Allow me to explain…
Can You Put Ice in a Magic Bullet?
As explained earlier, you cannot crush ice with a Magic Bullet. The blender just isn’t powerful enough.
However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t ever put any ice into a Magic Bullet. It simply means that you can’t use the blender to crush ice.
If you manually break up the ice into small pieces first, then it is ok to then put small pieces of ice into your Magic Bullet, along with liquid and other smoothie ingredients.
If you’re going to do this, then I recommend breaking the ice into very small pieces, using the Magic Bullet’s dedicated ice crusher blade.
You should also make sure that the ice is positioned at the top of the blender. That means putting the ice into your Magic Bullet cup before other ingredients so that the ice is at the top when the cup is turned upside down.
Finally, you should use a pulse blending technique – where you switch the blender on and off in short bursts – to ensure the ingredients are blending well and not getting jammed in the blades.
At this point, I want to take a moment to manage your expectations. While it is possible to blend small amounts of pre-crushed ice into your smoothie using a Magic Bullet, the results won’t be anywhere near as good as those of a more powerful blender.
Given the effort required to crush the ice manually, and the potential damage that a rogue chunk of ice could do to your Magic Bullet, you may want to consider whether blending ice into your smoothie is worth the risk. Personally, I don’t recommend it.
Common Questions about Blending Ice in a Magic Bullet
It is ok to crush ice in a blender, as long as the blender is powerful enough and as long as its blades are designed to crush ice. Powerful blenders with 800W or larger motors can usually crush ice easily. However, less powerful blenders, like the Magic Bullet, cannot crush ice.
Blending ice can damage a blender’s blades if the blender is not designed to crush ice. Lower-end blenders with weaker motors (less than 800W) are the most at risk of damage when blending ice. If in doubt, it is best to check the user manual for your blender model.
The Magic Bullet is not designed to crush ice. However, it is possible to blend pre-crushed ice into your Magic Bullet smoothies. The ice crusher blade is the best Magic Bullet blade to use when blending ice.
When it comes to crushing ice, more power is better. Your blender power should be at least 800W to crush ice properly. Ideally, you would use a 1000W+ high-end blender, such as a Vitamix or a Blendtec.
Ice goes at the top of the blender. The correct way to fill a blender is to put liquids and soft ingredients at the bottom, nearest the blades, and hard ingredients, like ice, at the top. For blenders where you turn the cup upside down, such as the Magic Bullet, this means adding ice to the cup before the other ingredients.
The Real Answer: Can You Put Ice in a Magic Bullet?
In conclusion, a Magic Bullet blender cannot be used to crush ice. The blender’s tiny 250W motor is nowhere near powerful enough to break up hard chunks of ice. If you try, the ice will likely damage the blades and potentially the motor too.
If you want to crush large chunks of ice then you are going to need a much more powerful blender. I recommend purchasing a blender with a motor power of at least 800W.
While the Magic Bullet cannot crush ice, it is possible to blend small amounts of pre-crushed ice into your smoothie using a Magic Bullet. However, you should take care to ensure the ice is thoroughly crushed into small pieces, and only add a small amount. Remember – too much ice, or any large chunks, could cause serious damage!
