Shakes and Smoothie makers?

[PurpleButterfly]

To anyone else who has a smoothie maker, do you find that when you mix the shake before then put it in the smoothie maker with about 4 or 5 ice cubes it goes super uber thick, i.e. too thick to pour? (yum yum!)
I find if I bung water, shake powder and ice cubes in together then it comes out runny but with froth on top... Doesn't seem to make a diff how long I give it, it still doesn't come out like a thick milkshake/foam consistency.
Anyone else found the same? why is that?

 

[PurpleButterfly]

Don't get me wrong, I love it when it goes thick, I just wondered why it makes a difference mixing it before or not. Or whether it's just me.

 

[pete10141748]

I reckon it's got something to do with the way that the power dilutes in the water.

When you mix it with ice+water, essentially the ice that is crushed up in the blender becomes water anyway, and so the powder is dissolved in the both "types" of water.

when you mix it into a paste/slightly thick shake and then add the ice, the powder is already dissolved, and when you then blend it with the ice, the ice does not dissolve the powder away, and so you end up with a thick shake which is essentially a regular shake with lots and lots of tiny lumps of ice floating in it.

My theory, anyway