Hello! We are looking to start making smoothie bowls, but I don’t want to use ice as a filler. I can’t quite seem to get it thick enough. I don’t want to serve someone 3 bananas (2 in base, 1 fresh on top) because that’s a lot of banana to consume just for the sake of the bowl. I also don’t want to blend forever or wear too much on our machines, which might be unavoidable.
I am trying a lot of different recipes, including freezing our cold brew and almond milk to have it act as a frozen thickener, but am still testing quite a bit for that good thickness.
Any help you all want to offer? I think we are late to the bowl game, but are ready now haha.
Hello @marketjuiceak Sarah, I hear you, it is very difficult to process thick smoothies sometimes without taking a toll on the blender, other ingredients I like using typically have the same consistency as a banana, where when its blended it becomes a smooth puree, such as berries, mangos, papayas berries. I also love, like you mentioned freezing items like cold brew to not water down the blend by using straight ice.
I would also try to get one of these or something similar, which will help out a bunch for getting the thicker blends to process, You could even experiment using a food processor if you have one available to make it a bit easier. Hope that helps.
Making sure the consistency is key to your bowls. Food processors or vitamix blenders world well, add your frozen fruit mixture along with 1/2 banana add little by little almond milk (basically you want it to move within the machine) once it begins to move, you can determine how thick or thin you’d like it to be.
@marketjuiceak, we follow all of the above approaches using our blender with a custom profile that starts to spin the blades slowly at first to rough chop the frozen fruit and then ramps up to full speed, then back down again, then up again. It took some trial and error to get to a good profile. Having the right amount of liquid makes a big difference!
Thank you all so much! I purchased some large silicone ice cube trays which are a 1/2 cup each and have found success in freezing our almond milk. Now on to figuring out how to blend it quickly. I really appreciate all the advice! Also, freezing our cold brew is making for an amazing coffee flavored bowl.
Hi there! I get the best results from using a Vitamix blender. The trick to thicker smoothie bowls is less liquid. In my Pitaya bowl recipe, I use 3 frozen packs Pitaya and 1 1/2 frozen bananas and add less than a cup of my homemade almond milk to blend. I use the Vitamix tamper to work the frozen fruit to the consistency I like. Play around with it and you will get it! I have never used ice, hope this helps!
Oh haha this particular recipe batch makes 4 bowls…I do a high volume output at the farmers market so I make 4 at a time. Are you trying to make one bowl at a time? It is the same exercise, just do a small amount of your liquid base. You can always add more! Hope this helps!