Two popular brands, Ninja and Keurig, which is the best buy? Today at LoveMyCoffeeCup we are going to try and break that down for you, with ten benefits and drawbacks of these two contenders. Also, we'll be recommending the best product to help you make your own informed decision on the battle of Ninja coffee bar verses Keurig.
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Ninja CF112 Vs Keurig K575: A Quick Comparison
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Product Name: | Ninja CF112 | Keurig K575 |
Appearance & Material: | Stylish plastic, glass, stainless steel | Futuristic plastic, stainless steel |
Coffee Capability: | Ground coffee in filter basket | K-pods |
Type of Brew: | Classic, strong, specialty | Classic, strong coffee |
Cup Size: | Single to 38 oz | Single to 30 oz |
Water Tank: | 50 oz | 80 oz |
Milk Frother: | Available | Not available |
Freebie: | Hot and cold tumbler | 12 K-cups with different flavors |
Auto-off Feature: | Available | Not available |
Brewing Time: | 3 to 5 minutes | 6 to 8 minutes |
System: | Ninja Auto IQ | Keurig 2.0 |
Removable Components: | No | Yes |
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A Word about the Manufacturers
Who's behind these two brands? Here's a brief background check:
Ninja Coffee Bar
The Ninja Coffee Bar is one of the many products of SharkNinja Operating LLC, a household appliance manufacturer that has branches in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, China, and Japan. Ninja coffee machines are best known for being versatile – more specifically, they reduce the number of appliances needed to achieve quality home brewing.
Keurig
Belonging to the Keurig Dr. Pepper beverage company, Keurig’s specialty is pod coffee machines. Keurig is one of the leading brands of coffee makers in the United States. Although some consumers have complained about the company being greedy (their coffee machines require Keurig licensed pods), others praise Keurig products because of their efficiency and ease-of-use.
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1. Appearance and Material
The Ninja CF112 has plastic, glass, and stainless steel components while the Keurig 575 is made of only stainless steel and plastic.
Both are durable, but the Keurig looks more modern than the Ninja CF112. The Keurig is also smaller and lighter than the Ninja, therefore, it is more portable.
The Keurig K575 is an upgraded version of the Keurig K525. It also has a water filter kit.
2. Coffee Compatibility
Like with all Ninja Coffee Bar products, the CF112 processes ground coffee in a filter basket. However, the Keurig K575 and other Keurig devices require pods that have the Keurig 2.0 license.
3. Brew Type
The CF112 is arguably better than the Keurig 575 in terms of coffee variety since it offers the following choices:
Take note that the CF112 only has 4 brew options. The Ninja CF091 and Ninja CF097 have six but they are more expensive.
The Keurig K575 only produces classic and strong coffee. Despite the fewer brewing options, many still choose the Keurig because of its simplicity. It can also provide hot water with the water dispenser.
4. Brew Size and Capacity (Carafe)
The CF112 has multiple capacities: cup, travel mug, XL, and XL multi serve. It can accommodate 9.05 oz to 18 oz depending on the brew type. For coffee concentrates, 4 oz water is recommended, while for café forte, it is 8 oz.
The Keurig 575 capacities are as follows: standard sizes are 4-10 oz, travel mug sizes are 12-16 oz, and carafe sizes are 22-30 oz.
Maximum carafe capacity is 38 oz for Ninja and 30 oz for Keurig. The difference is not that noticeable, but it may help you decide between the two.
5. Water Reservoir
Keurig’s water reservoir can hold up to 80 oz while Ninja’s carafe only reaches 38 oz. The Keurig’s capacity means you can brew up to ten cups before you must refill it.
6. Usage
Ninja coffee machines are coffee drip makers, so you must know how to prepare coffee before you can use them. You will have to put the coffee grounds in a coffee filter, so you must have some filters ready.
The coffee machine does come with a permanent filter, but you have to wash them sometimes to keep it clean and prevent clogging.
To use the Keurig 575, you select the amount of water you will need and pour that in the reservoir. The water will then be heated until it reaches near-boiling temperature. Afterwards, it gets pushed through the coffee pod and into the waiting coffee cup.
The Keurig’s water reservoir and drip tray are removable to make them easier to clean. The Ninja doesn’t have as many removable components as the Keurig, so washing them is more challenging.
7. Pod Based
The Keurig K155 is pod based – it uses pods to produce coffee. A coffee pod is a pre-made capsule with coffee grounds in it. Because of this, coffee selections are limited, but the company tried to make up for it by teaming up with other companies to make more than 160 flavors available.
Despite the restrictions, it is recommended for those who are in a hurry or don’t want to handle coffee grounds, filters, and settings.
Those who want to brew any kind of coffee using the Keurig can use a universal my k-cup which is sold separately. Consider getting one if instead of using unlicensed pods.
8. Distant Features
The Keurig is programmable and has a colored touchscreen panel where you can input your settings. It also has a digital clock and customizable nightlight and wallpapers. Because it keeps track of time, you can program exactly when it will brew a cup of coffee. It also turns off automatically as well.
The CF112 has something that the Keurig 575 doesn’t have – a built-in milk frother. This helps with making more varieties of coffee. A hand-pump frother is also available from Ninja.
As mentioned, the Keurig uses pods while the Ninja uses disposable or permanent paper filters. This makes coffee preparation vastly different among the two.
The Ninja provides a hot and cold tumbler with every coffee maker purchase. The Keurig comes with 12 K-cups with different flavors each. If nothing else could make you decide between them, think about these freebies.
9. Auto-off Feature
The Keurig has a power saving and safety feature that turns off heat after a pre-programmed time period (1 minute to 2 hours).
The Ninja doesn’t have this. This feature is recommended for those who must leave the house right away or are too busy to remember turning off the machine.
10. Brewing Time
Both the Keurig K575 and the Ninja CF112 are single-serve machines so getting coffee is fast. However, the Keurig is a bit faster because it can make coffee within three to five minutes, while the Ninja can take six to eight minutes.
Ninja Auto IQ Vs Keurig 2.0
Ninja has an Auto-IQ One touch Intelligence system that gets the right amount of water and mixes it to the coffee grounds to achieve the preferred coffee concentration and brew size.
Keurig’s system, Keurig 2.0, first scans the pod to check whether it has the Keurig license and to determine what kind of pod it is (K-Mug, K-Cup, K-Carafe, or K-Vue).
Afterwards, the machine makes you select from a shortened list of brew sizes. This system is in place to prevent the usage of pods that are not licensed by Keurig and may be unsafe or incompatible with the machine. It also helps with quality control because it ensures that the right pods go with appropriate water volumes.
These systems are helpful in their own ways. The difference is that one requires the right kind of pods.
Our Verdict
Choosing between Keurig K575 and Ninja Coffee Bar CF112 will depend on whether you put more importance in flavor or convenience. If you want fast, hassle-free coffee, choose the Keurig, especially the Keurig K55.
If you are in it for the flavor, try Ninja. Also consider the fact that you will need to buy K-pods for a Keurig, but you can use any kind of coffee grounds with a Ninja.
Lastly, if you have limited space or if you want to carry around your coffee machine, you may be better off with the Keurig.
So what gives? Weighing in on each product’s features, and their good and bad points, what is the better choice? For us, the winner between Ninja Coffee Bar vs Keurig is the Ninja Coffee Bar.
Resources:
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