My opinion on the Zoku fridge

Since warm weather arrived Beatriz, author of To Be Gourmet, has enjoyed making delicious ice pops. She also enjoys eating them, because homemade natural and freshly made pops have many advantages, starting with how good they taste.

Since most people are surprised to learn that you can make pops in 7 minutes, and from her experience with the Zoku ice pop maker, I asked her to give us her opinion and experience with it; I hope you find it interesting.

When I first saw the Zoku ice pop maker and the beautiful pops shown in the photos on the box, I admit I thought they probably wouldn’t turn out anywhere near as pictured.

I was thinking of the many gadgets, kits, or toys that in advertising promise one thing and then when you face the task alone at home, there’s no way to reproduce what’s advertised as easy and affordable.

So when I made my first pop with Zoku, something basic; a striped mixture of lemon and orange juice (they recommend starting with simple things to get familiar with the tool) I couldn’t believe I had something so pretty made by me, with no practice, and in less than ten minutes.

The first advantage, and this is very important when we talk about a product especially aimed at children (although we adults are having a great time too) is that the result is a fresh, natural food to offer as a snack or treat.

Zoku pops are made mainly with juices, yogurts, milk, chocolate…. For juices it’s true we can use store-bought ones, but among those there are some more natural, and of course the ideal is to make them ourselves at home by blending the fruit and in some cases adding a little water to dilute it.

Kiwi, melon, apple, banana, cherries, watermelon, apple… this summer our children can reach the famous “5 a day” with no effort.

The Zoku ice pop maker comes in three sizes: for three pops, for two, or for one. But inside the box there are sticks to make double the capacity (after making one batch of pops, you can immediately make another).

How the Zoku ice pop maker works

The only thing you need to keep in mind is that the maker must be in the freezer for at least 24 hours before use. And don’t worry much about space, because even the largest capacity one (three pops; you can make six) is a very acceptable size so it can stay in the freezer from June to September without disturbing our routine too much.

To make the pops, simply pour the liquids and ingredients you’ve chosen into the cavities of the maker, where you also place the stick, and you take them out as pops after just a few minutes! To pour the liquids, you can use the small cups that come in the Zoku accessories kit.

The pops can all be the same or each one different. Striped, filled, with stamped fruit….. The instructions that come with the product are super easy to follow. Even our own children can make the pops by themselves, since the device needs no electricity and is completely harmless. To understand how it works, just know that the cavities of the maker are so cold that freezing is almost instantaneous.

If we want to stamp fruits, they must be cut very thinly and with a wand, which is included, they are pressed against the cavity walls where they stick due to the cold. The sweetest ones adhere best, like pear. If we have trouble getting them to stick, or for example we are using chocolate which is harder to stick, the solution is to moisten it in a sweetened liquid, like syrup, honey, water with sugar….etc.

If we want to make a single-color pop we’ll add the juice, or yogurt, or horchata, or mix all at once. In 7 minutes it’s done and we remove it with the help of an included accessory; a kind of orange knob that fits onto the stick by twisting around it, helping us pull it out.

If we want to make a pop alternating several flavors, we add one liquid, wait two or three minutes for it to solidify, then add the next, wait again and so on until the pop is complete.

Besides stamping fruit slices, you can stick hearts or little stars of firm fruits like apples, it looks great.

It’s advisable to get with the Zoku ice pop maker the kit that includes the cups, which also serve as measuring cups, the wand, molds for stars and hearts and a pipette that is used to make filled pops with another flavor very easily. It’s very affordable and is an important complement to get the most out of our Zoku ice pop maker.

The possibilities are almost infinite in flavor and appearance. Although there are some things we should keep in mind. If the product we want to use is excessively sugary (for example dulce de leche), the usual 7 minutes to make the pop won’t be enough, because too much sugar prevents freezing. Conversely, a lack of sugar makes the pop impossible to extract, it will freeze very quickly and become so hard we won’t be able to remove it.

So any liquid should be sweetened, or contain fat like cream or yogurts. Some sweeteners also hinder a good result, and the same goes for some carbonated drinks. That’s why it’s best to start with what’s simple and obvious, and then experiment.

In any case, if on some occasion we have difficulty removing the pops, it’s a good idea to wait a while; the maker loses its extreme cold, and they come out easily. That time shouldn’t need to be more than 15 or 20 minutes and this circumstance would be exceptional. Zoku pops normally unmold without any difficulty.

Maintenance and cleaning of the ice pop maker

Maintenance of the ice pop maker is extremely simple; as you remove a pop you can immediately make another in the space it left (we already said extra sticks are included). And when we’re finished, if there are no residues (which there don’t have to be), we can put it back in the freezer.

From time to time we let it thaw, wash it with a little water and dish soap, rinse and dry it well by inserting kitchen paper, so that when we return it to the freezer it’s free of water that could freeze and affect the shaping of the next pops.

You’ll find a couple of recipes with the Zoku ice pop maker in the post we published a few days ago (here). You can also find the delicious cherry and coconut pop recipe that you saw in the photos in this other post. But imagination (especially the children’s!) can be our greatest source of recipes for the maker to create new pops, but if we don’t want trials and errors Zoku has a book full of ideas!

No less than forty ways to have fun and enjoy natural, healthy pops this summer! Buying a Zoku ice pop maker has endless advantages as you can see.