Preethi Zodiac Mixer Grinder Review (MG 218)

Our Verdict: The Preethi Zodiac MG 218 is a good choice for your kitchen because of its versatile performance and sturdiness. Though it has drawbacks, this appliance earns its right to adorn your kitchen cabinet.

Overview

Having an all-rounder in your team is always beneficial. The Preethi Zodiac MG 218 fits the bill perfectly because it can double up as a food processor, mixer-grinder, and juicer-blender. Though this machine is not as good as the Bosch model for wet grinding, it is excellent for dry grinding, especially turmeric and ginger powder.

Kneading chapati atta and grating onions and carrots comes naturally to this machine. However, the juicer’s performance is satisfactory and could have been better. Though a bit expensive, the Preethi Zodiac MG 218 is a desirable investment in your kitchen.

Pros

• Excellent dry grinding performance
• Versatile because of its multi-utility
• The food processor and juicer arrangement is satisfactory
• Beautiful and sturdy design
• Powerful 750W motor

Cons

• It takes time to adjust to the food processor.
• Wet grinding is satisfactory but could have been better
• The jars are not dishwasher safe.
• It occupies more space on the kitchen counter.

Preethi Zodiac Mixer Grinder Specifications

• 750W Vega W5 motor
• 18000 rpm speed
• Three-speed control and pulse
• It weighs nearly eight and a half kg
• Dimensions 58 x 32 x 32 cm
• ABS plastic body
• Vacuum grip

What is in the box?

The Preethi Zodiac MG 218 comes neatly packed in a sturdy carton. Let us see what is in the box.

This polycarbonate jar features a citrus juicer attachment. Besides, it has a kneading blade to facilitate kneading chapati atta. The chopping blades are ideal for slicing and grating vegetables like onions, carrots, and beetroots.

You can detach the food processor bowl from the jar lock, enabling you to remove it from the motor housing, scrape the ingredients, and refix it easily.

3-in-1 Insta fresh fruit jar with a juice-extracting arrangement

The 3-in-1 juicer jar is a unique attachment not found in other mixer grinder models. This jar has a blending blade and another for extracting juice. The pusher arrangement makes it convenient to insert fruit pieces into the jar when it is running.

Three stainless steel jars for various purposes

• 0.5L stainless steel jar with dome lid for chutney grinding
• 1.0L stainless steel jar with flat lid for dry grinding masalas
• 1.5L stainless steel jar with dome lid for wet grinding

These lightweight jars look elegant and have ergonomically-designed handles screwed from the outside. Thus, the screw heads are not inside the jar body, making cleaning convenient. In addition, the chutney and wet grinding jars have polycarbonate dome lids, whereas the 1.0L jar has a flat plastic lid.

Tripod design ABS body with speed control knob and overload protector, and vacuum grips

The ABS body makes it a hygienic appliance in your kitchen. The sturdy design with its ergonomic speed control knobs is easy to use.

Motor

The Preethi Zodiac MG 218 has a powerful 750W Vega W5 motor encased in a sturdy ABS body casing. The copper-winded motor can spin at a maximum speed of 18000 rpm. In addition, it offers three-speed levels and a pulse modulator mode that can be controlled by a plastic knob.

The power-on indicator is located at the bottom. It glows blue when switched on. The color turns orange if you overload the machine. It alerts you to remove some load and reset the device.

This machine is heavy but features vacuum suction feet that allow an excellent grip on the kitchen platform. In addition, the device features a PVC insulated 3-core flex cord with Plug-top and earthing.

The motor makes noise, especially when dry grinding. But the 80-decibel noise should not be an issue because it is within acceptable levels.  

Preethi Zodiac Mixer Grinder Performance (Grinding)

The Preethi Zodiac MG 218’s strength is its grinding performance. The dry grinding is perfect because it can comfortably grind hard ingredients like turmeric, ginger, pepper, and other masalas.

The dry grinding process leaves some coarse residue, but that should not matter much because it does not affect its consistency.

While you can use the 500ml and 1L jar for dry grinding, the 1L jar is better equipped because of its plastic lid. The polycarbonate lid of the 500ml jar tends to get stained. On the other hand, plastic lids do not stain easily. Therefore, they are convenient to clean. But the smaller jar is also handy as it allows you to grind in small quantities.

The wet grinding jar is large enough to accommodate a sufficient quantity of idli and dosa batter. Though the wet grinding performance is satisfactory, it could be better. The Bosch machine is a better alternative for wet grinding. The Preethi Zodiac MG 218 can grind the batter ingredients smoothly.

Though the motor is powerful, the Sujatha Dynamix model is more potent because it can grind ice cubes. In comparison, the Preethi Zodiac MG 218 leaves many cubes uncrushed.

Despite these minor drawbacks, the Preethi Zodiac MG 218 is excellent for your daily grinding requirements.

Food Processor Performance

The food processor arrangement makes the Preethi Zodiac MG 218 stand apart from its competitor products. This machine features multiple attachments for kneading, slicing, chopping, and grating. The pusher arrangement is beneficial because it has calibrations for measuring precise quantities of water and flour. It ensures you get the best results.

The kneading arrangement is excellent for preparing chapati atta and dough for parathas and paneer rotis.

First, the chopper lets you chop and grate the paneer and methi pieces perfectly. Then, you can add the dough and water to knead the atta according to your requirements.

The chopping and slicing blades are suitable for grating carrots, radishes, beetroot, onions, and tomatoes for making salads and other recipes. You can also shred carrots to make carrot halwa. But this machine is not ideal for grating small pieces. So, you cannot grate or chop ginger or garlic using this attachment.

Making chips should not be a problem with this appliance. The slicer can chop potatoes and bananas into thin pieces to prepare thin chips. However, you must position the vegetables accurately to get the best results.

The food processor features a citrus attachment, allowing you to easily extract juice from citrus fruits without crushing the seeds and altering the juice’s taste. This machine can prepare a glass of orange or sweet lime juice within one to two minutes.

The multipurpose food processing arrangement allows various tasks using different blades and attachments. For example, making biriyani requires chopping different vegetables, grating onions and carrots, preparing masala powders, etc. This machine is perfect for catering to all these responsibilities. Thus, it saves precious time.

The food processor has a significant drawback: it is challenging to change the blades at short notice. In addition, it takes time for users to familiarize themselves with the food processor activities.  

Preethi Zodiac Mixer Grinder Juicer Performance

The 3-in-1 extraction jar is a unique attachment that allows you to extract fresh juice from fruits and blend milkshakes and smoothies. Though the juicing performance is okay, it cannot compete with a standalone juicer.

The external spout arrangement is good because it allows you to collect the fruit juices in a glass. In addition, it enables you to crush large quantities of fruits without worrying about the jar overflowing with liquid.

This juicer is suitable for crushing soft fruits like watermelons, bananas, and papayas. But it is not the ideal appliance for extracting juice from apples, pomegranates, carrots, and beetroots. The juice-extracting action produces much foam, and the pulp retains most liquid. A centrifugal or a cold press juicer arrangement is better any day than the Preethi Zodiac MG 218.

The blending blades are not as efficient as expected. They leave much coarse residue behind, making it inconvenient to prepare nut milk. It should be fine for coconut milk but not ideal for extracting almond milk.

Again, changing the blades is challenging. If you twist too hard, you can injure yourself or damage the jar. So, it is not a good idea to use the Preethi Zodiac MG 218 for juicing purposes. Instead, you can use the 1L wet grinding jar for making banana and chikoo milkshakes.

Cleaning

Cleaning the Preethi Zodiac MG 218 jars is easy. The best way to clean these jars is to run the mixer with warm water and soap liquid for a few seconds. It allows the soap to spread all over the jar interiors. Thus, it becomes comfortable to rinse the jar in your kitchen sink.

However, cleaning the extraction jar is challenging because the fruit pulp can get stuck between the base and the blades. Removing the extraction blade is not recommended because it can damage the lock.

However, we advise you to be careful when cleaning the Preethi Zodiac MG 218 jars because the blades are sharp and can injure you. The primary drawback of this machine is that its jars are not dishwasher safe.

Safety Features

The Preethi Zodiac MG 218 is a safe appliance because its vacuum suction feet perfectly grip the kitchen table. As a result, the machine does not wobble even when functioning at full speed.

The overload protection switch proves handy because it alerts you when you overload the jars. In addition, you can reset the overload button after reducing the load.

The blades are sharp. So, we advise you to handle them carefully. Keeping the blades along with other kitchen tools is not a good idea. You could injure yourself accidentally. It is better to have a separate plastic box for storing the blades when not in use.

Warranty and After-sales

The Preethi Zodiac MG 218 has a standard manufacturer product warranty of two years. However, it does not cover the plastic parts and damage caused by incorrect usage. The motor has a 5-year warranty.

Repairing the mixer grinder is not an issue because Preethi offers exemplary after-sales service. Besides, local mixer grinder repair technicians can handle this model comfortably. However, we do not advise using the local technician’s services during the warranty period.

Other Comparable Models

Preethi offers a couple of mixer grinder models that can compete with the MG 218.

• Preethi Zodiac 2.0 MG 235 has a 750W motor and features four jar arrangements, including the 3-in-1 insta fresh juicer and master chef jar.
• Preethi Zion MG 227 – This model has a 750W motor and four jars, including the Master Chef food processor jar.