Nutribullet Magic Bullet Mini Juicer Review
A low-cost juicer that makes fresh juice fast.
Verdict
What is lacks in finesse, the Nutribullet Magic Bullet Mini Juicer makes up for with speed, producing high volumes of drink fast. It’s flexible, too, taking all kinds of chopped fruits and vegetables. I found the final juice a little frothy, but if you only make the occasional drink, this compact and well-priced juicer is a good choice.
Pros
- Compact
- Simple to use
- Fast
Cons
- Very loud
- Foamy juice
Key Features
- TypeThis is a fast juicer that uses blades to cut fruit.
Introduction
Nutribullet has become a huge name in the world of blenders but the brand also sells a range of juicers. Within this range are three juicers: the Bullet Pro, the standard Bullet Juicer and, and at the lower, entry-level end, the Magic Bullet Mini Juicer that I have on review here.
This Mini version uses centrifugal force and small blades to extract juice from fruit and veg, and filters all the waste into a detachable pulp bin.
It’s compact, meaning it will fit comfortably on most kitchen tops or in cupboards, and it promises to offer all the benefits of its larger juicers in a much smaller form.
Design and features
- Compact design packs in a lot of tech
- Easy to use
- Very loud
As its name suggests, the Nutribullet Magic Bullet Mini Juicer is compact and portable, measuring 31cm tall, 20cm wide and weighing 3kg. Its base, where the 200W motor is stored, takes up the majority of this total size. On the front of the base is a simple on/off switch. A plastic juice bowl fitted with a detachable steel sieve and small blade system sits on top of this base.
On the left of the bowl is a spout that comes with a silicone, anti-drip cap, and on the right is a chute, and detachable pulp bin, where the Bullet Mini funnels the waste.
A tube then runs through the middle of the bowl. This is where you put the fruit and vegetables, and where you use the plastic plunger to push the food towards the spinning blades.
Setting up the Bullet Mini is a little fiddly, but intuitive. The sieve slots in and out of the juice bowl easily. You have to attach the pulp bin – which takes a small amount of manoeuvring to fit into place – before attaching the lid. And to prevent the lid from flying off, you then have to lock it in place with two hinged arms on the side of the juicer. There are small suction pads on the bottom of the base to keep the juicer in place.
Once you flick the switch on the base, the blades and sieve spin and, as you push the fruit and veg onto the blades, the juice flows through the spout, while the pulp is flung towards the bin. I use the word flung because the juicer moves with such force, it sends juice and pulp flying in all directions. Thankfully all of it stays in the bowl – and this is where the suction pads come into their own – but it’s quite intense. As is the juicer’s volume. It’s so loud, it’s not possible to easily have a conversation while it’s running and my four-year-old covered his ears in fear every time I used it with him in the room.
Due to its compact size, the food tube is so narrow that you can only put small amounts of fruit and veg in at a time, and you have to cut your fruit into small chunks in order for them to fit. You also can’t easily fit a glass underneath the spout. Nutribullet does include a 16oz juice cup and lid in the box, as standard, so this is a slightly moot point. Plus, this cup holds a lot more juice than a glass would so it is a great way to make and store batches of juice.
Cleaning the juicer after use is a little more complicated than other juicers I’ve tried. It comes apart easily and the main components are simple to rinse and wash. However, the sieve and blades are not. The holes are so small in the sieve that pulp clings to it and it isn’t easy to rinse this away. Similarly, the blades are so sharp that they cut up any sponge or cleaning cloth if you try to scrub any pulp or fruit away.
The Magic Bullet Mini does come with a cleaning brush, but in my experience, this doesn’t go far enough. On the plus side, all of the components are dishwasher-safe.
Performance
- Makes large amounts of juice in seconds
- Effectively filters out the pulp, skin and pips
- Creates a lot foam which dulls the taste
One overriding positive that comes from the fact the Bullet Mini is so fast and loud is that it creates juice in seconds. The extra time it takes to chop your fruit and veg into small pieces is counteracted by the fact the Bullet Mini juices them quickly and effectively.
From a single lemon, and orange I managed to fill the juice cup up by around a third. When I added a couple of pineapple slices to the mix it filled more than half. The extra force also meant that the majority of waste ended up in the pulp bin and not stuck to the inside of the juice bowl, or to any of the inner components.
The downside is that the force, and the fast nature of the juicing, generates a lot of foam and froth – the most of any juicer I’ve used. So much so, that I had to strain every batch of juice I made before serving it to my kids because they refused to drink it with the foam on top. This also impacts the taste. In the process of testing the best juicers, I often have more than one running at the same time in order to compare how the juice from the same fruit tastes from different juicers. To do this, I cut an orange in half and put one in one juicer, and the other half in the other. I also try to make sure the two juicers are similar in price and use similar technology.
Whether it was the velocity at which the juice was extracted, or the foam, but the juice from the Bullet Mini was noticeably less flavoursome. It still tasted fresh and clean, but it didn’t pack quite the same punch, as you get from slow juicers, such as the excellent Sana 868 Wide Mouth Vertical Juicer.
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Should you buy it?
You want juice fast from a variety of ingredients: This juicer can handle anything, fast.
You want a juicer with more finesse: A slow juicer will produce better results.
Final Thoughts
As a brand that’s so well revered for blenders, I had high hopes for the Nutribullet Magic Bullet Mini juicer. It didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but it still performed admirably. Especially when you factor in its low price, and its compact design.
This makes it ideal for people with small kitchens, or those who consider themselves to be casual rather than pro juicers. It packs most of the technology of its larger siblings into a smaller appliance without you having to make too many sacrifices. It’s just not perfect, and the juice it produced was frothy. Check out our guide to the best juicers for alternatives.
How we test
We test every juicer we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Used as our main juicer for the review period.
We test juicers with a variety of fruit to see how they cope and how much juice can be extracted.
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FAQs
It uses blades to chop fruit and veg, and extract the juice.
Yes, the components can be put in a dishwasher.
Full specs
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
