Why Are Your Ninja Creami Containers Getting Scratched? (And How to Prevent It)

Reasons why this may happen…

There are various reasons that this can happen, none that have been confirmed by the manufacturer.

1. The spindle is no longer perfectly straight, which causes the paddle to process the ice cream at a slight angle.  While processing, the paddle scratches the sides of the containers, leaving scrape marks and pieces of plastic inside the processed ice cream and wrapped around the paddle in the lid.
2. The paddle is not attached to the spindle 100% correctly (the magnet may no longer be strong enough to hold the paddle on correctly).
3. If the top of the frozen mixture is not level, it could cause the paddle to be off balance, causing it to scrape the inside of the containers.
4. You are not using the proper ingredients in your mixture. Most Ninja Creami mixtures need to have some sugar, fat, dairy, or thickeners added. The machine cannot process ice (just water). It’s not recommended to use anything that is close to just water. You can use some water in your mixture, but it’s recommended to add sugar, fat, dairy, or thickeners like guar gum so that it’s easier on the machine.
5. Using generic or knock-off accessories like paddles or containers can cause the machine to malfunction if the accessory is not a perfect fit.

How to resolve the issue…

1. Use proper ingredients (for example, don’t try to process loose frozen fruit, water-based recipes without sugar, fat, dairy, or a thickener, or just ice cubes) and make sure your freezer is the proper temperature.
2. Use Ninja-branded accessories like paddles and containers instead of generic or knockoffs.
3. You can continue using the machine and see if the scratching happens again; it might just be a one-time issue. However, if you notice scratches forming in multiple containers or the problem keeps happening or gets worse, it's likely a sign that something's wrong with the machine itself.
4. If the issue continues, call Ninja. See below.