Zoku: A Space Age Slushie

Last summer, I spent many an evening happily devouring a freshly made Popsicle. Using my Zoku Quick Pop Maker, I tackled a variety of my favorite juices in iced form, in order to remain hydrated. This summer, I have spent just as much time, scraping and stirring similarly flavored slushies, thanks to the Zoku Slush & Shake maker.

It sounds like something that Isaac Asimov would have written about, it even looks the part, but Zoku has the patent on an innovative piece of technology that has been keeping this family hydrated, in a fun way, since 2012! Without the use of electricity, the Zoku Slush & Shake maker will provide you with an iced beverage within about ten minutes, assuming you have completely frozen the base beforehand. I still have no idea what this wonder product is that freezes liquid so easily. The closest the Zoku website comes to revealing the contents are by saying that the “liquid refrigerant” is non-toxic, they are also keen to point out that the device is BPA free. Zoku is very tight lipped about its patent information, their PR company will only reveal that it uses patented heat exchanger technology that is combined with a proprietary non-toxic refrigerant.

After freezing the inner base for 8-18 hours, making a slushie is easy enough. You put the inner core into the plastic sleeve, pour your chilled beverage in, and then scrape the walls per instructions until you have slush. My husband failed to follow the instructions provided, and instead followed his gut, letting the liquid sit for longer periods of time between scrapings. He did not get very good slush, I followed the directions using a digital timer, and got fantastic slush.

Depending on the age and temperament of your children, this might be a family event or it might be a margarita hour for mom! My three-year-old enjoyed the end product, enjoyed watching it freeze, but was extremely twitchy and distracted throughout the whole process. A friend’s 6th grader, did not think it worthwhile at all. I loved it, especially when I could scoop out my lemon-lime concoction into my margarita glass. Alcohol itself interferes with the freezing process, so I added in moderation after the fact. This will diminish the slush slightly but it’s still pretty good.

One of the things I loved about my Zoku Quick Pop maker was that you don’t have to clean it! Well almost, the advice given in the instruction booklet is that you not clean it after each use; that’s my kind of device. When it comes time to clean it, when all your pops seem stained with the remnants of the last one, simply defrost the base and clean with warm soapy water. The Slush & Shake on the other hand, really needs to be cleaned each time. It defrosts more fully with each use, as you eat the slushie from the device instead of pulling it out and refreezing instantly. You are also transferring your own germs into the container each time you take a bite/suck. It is not dishwasher safe.

There are some pretty neat recipes on the Zoku blog, and a book devoted to the device, but I have a penchant for plain old V8 Splash or cranberry juice.