Zoku Popsicle Makers-Best Popsicle Makers
It’s not often that I start a product review with my conclusion but I must admit, I am officially declaring that I am insanely, irrevocably in love with Zoku’s Popsicle Makers. There are several versions of these nifty and innovative kitchen gadgets, two of which have become indispensable in my personal arsenal. Before I begin lauding the long list of virtues of Zoku, let me first reminisce about those annoying, confounded contraptions otherwise known as traditional popsicle molds.
Those plastic or sometimes aluminum “professional” grade popsicle molds that remind us of sweet childhood memories also bring about memories of struggling to free the popsicles from those contraptions, carefully running parts of them under warm water, prying until one hard, final yank sent us tumbling backwards as our dessert finally became ours to savor.
Yes, those days are thankfully long gone. I recently tried two Zoku Popsicle Makers- the Quick Pop Maker and the Mini Pop Molds.
The Quick Pop Maker is kitchen engineering at its best, about the size of two subway sandwiches stacked on top of each other. It has room to make 3 popsicles at a time, though its mechanism can make up to 3 batches of 3 in one use. You simply wash, thoroughly dry and freeze the Quick Pop Maker in the freezer for 24 hours before using. You can make any type of popsicle your creative mind can imagine- from super healthy fruit pops to diabolical chocolate concoctions.
Take the Quick Pop Maker out of the freezer and place on a kitchen countertop when you’re ready to use it. Simply pour your liquid mixture (you can even use smoothies or milkshakes here) into the molds and gently place the included (reusable) popsicle sticks into place. Just 7 minutes later (I timed it exactly as per Zoku’s intructions) you have delicious, fresh popsicles. The gadget comes with a blue twisty knob that you easily screw on to the top of the popsicle sticks to pry the popsicles free. With just a few turns of that knob, the popsicles came sliding right out. Drip guards are included.
Clean up was super easy and quick- just a quick rinse with warm water and lay out to dry before putting back in the freezer until next use.
Zoku makes me feel like I’m at a Disneyland for desserts. Even though I’m an engineer, I don’t want to know how the magic happens; I just know that it does and it’s amazing! If you want to learn more about the technology behind it, click here. The possibilities with this innovative popsicle maker are endless– recipes that I wouldn’t have thought of trying with regular pop molds are now doable because I know they’ll come out beautifully with very little effort.
The other Zoku gadget I’m in love with, the Mini Pop Molds, while simpler in engineering than its heftier sister, is equally as genius, making us popsicle lovers wonder how nobody invented this decades ago. As pictured above, this gadget makes 9 mini popsicles, each the size of a large lollipop, which makes eating dessert both super fun and easier for portion control.
With the Mini Pop Molds, you simply pour in your liquid mixture into each mini hole, top off with the included, reusable sticks and freeze for about 4 hours. Zoku recommends freezing for 6 hours but I’ve tested this over and over and I find 4 hours is ample time.
Once done freezing, gently push up from below on each of the mini molds and up pops out the mini popsicles. These are the cutest desserts I’ve had in years. Like its sister Quick Pop Maker, the Mini Pop Molds makes healthy desserts a very real and easy possibility. You can do something as ridiculously easy as pour your favorite juice into the molds and in just a few hours you’ll have a healthy, delicious and fun popsicle!
For all of us who are health conscious, it’s important to note that all Zoku products thus far are BPA and Phthalate free.
The Quick Pop Maker is available in 5 gorgeous, vibrant colors at US $49.95, an absolute steal for this technologically advanced kitchen gadget. The Mini Pop Molds are available in red at US $16.99.
Gift these to yourself or a loved one and make dessert fun, easy and healthy again. You’ll wonder how you ever lived without these.
Purchase the Zoku Quick Popsicle Maker
Purchase the Zoku Mini Pop Molds
Here are 3 of my favorite easy popsicle recipes to use with Zoku.
Chocolate Strawberry Popsicles