You may have seen "Mick and Mimi" many times on television through the years demonstrating the Silver Bullet. The Silver Bullet has been around for a while and is still being sold so that is a good sign that the product has some longevity and value to it. When the infomercial for the Bullet Express emerged on the scene I was completely entranced by the ease and efficiency by which this product produced such great meals. I just had to buy it and see whether it was the "8 minute meal maker."
First things first, this is what you get and how much it will cost you.
The Bullet Express costs anywhere from $115.00 used on Amazon, to $199.99 new.
WHAT YOU GET:
Item 1
The motor base. This will of course motorize all the different components to the Bullet Express. Constructed mostly of plastic.
Item 2
The Meal Maker Express attachment, is is basically the food processor part of the machine.
Item 3
The free juicer. This was fun to use, and works fairly well.
Item 4
User manual. This is pretty good but nothing out of what you would expect.
Item 5
The Bullet express cook book. This is pretty useful whether you have the Bullet express or not. Great easy recipes.
WHAT IT DOES:
This machine does pretty much what it says it will do. That being said, it is more important to realize what it does that it doesn't tell you about. 8 minute meals is stretching the truth a bit. The preparation time they claim in the infomercial doesn't take into account that potatoes, apples etc. have to be paired down to fit through the somewhat small chute. By the time you are done coring apples for slicing, or cutting fruit down to size to juice you have invested quite a lot of time.
What I found while using this product:
Pros:
Good basic idea
The basic idea of this machine is a good one, but they need to go back to the drawing board and iron out all the kinks and those are big kinks.
Cons:
Cheap plastic components
The Bullet Express may look heavy duty, but is primarily plastic. One of my attachments arrived cracked right from the git go. It is clumsy to work with and can crack and break with out a lot of effort. The side "arms" that connect to all the different attachments are flimsy and can snap. Once these snap the whole thing is practically useless so a lot is riding on two flimsy plastic latches.
Engine easily overheats
Now I know many blenders will overheat but this item was new and wasn't being tasked to do anything it did not claim to be able to handle as per the infomercial.
Takes up too much space
The Bullet Express takes up a great deal of space with all components included. You will have to clear a good deal of space out from your cabinets just to house all the parts. The infomercial may say no more space than a coffee maker, but they aren't adding in all of the components.
Extremely messy to use
If you watch the infomercial, pay attention closely to the mess it makes all over the counter top. It is cleverly hidden, but take note while it is being demonstrated. You will see a lot of excess shredded pieces and slices flying all over.
The Juicer isn't convenient to use
The bullet express juicer needs to be raised in order to fill a glass with the juice. Notice also this in the infomercial. When the juicer is being demonstrated, look down at what it is sitting on. You will see they have put a thick cutting block under it. If you do not raise the Bullet Express up for the juicer, you will not be able to fit much more than a mug under the spout. Unfortunately, if you put in too much veggies and fruit it will continue spewing out even if your cup is full. Be prepared to wipe the counter many times using this feature.
Dangerous blade removal
The blades in this machine are difficult to remove and switch out and could easily result in an injury.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Overall, this machine is much like the Rainbow vacuum cleaner that used to be sold door to door. It has a lot of fancy gizmos and gadgets. The Rainbow Vacuum could do a lot of things, for a hefty price. In the end you have spent $1000.00 on something that you use to suck dirt. Will you use any of the accessories? Probably not. Oh sure in the beginning you'll try them out to try and justify the huge expense of the purchase, but at some point you lose interest when you see how much time and energy has to be given to cleaning up the mess it makes.
The Bottom line
