7 On Your Side tests snow cone, slushy machines

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- What goes better on a hot summer day than a slushy or a snow cone? But usually you have to go to the store or even a county fair to get these things. So how about the gadgets that let you make them at home? 7 On Your Side put some of them to the test.

We wanted a summer treat that will cool us down, so we checked out the Jelly Belly Electric Ice Shaver and the Slushy Magic. Our testers were Kelly Finney and Arianna Silvestri.

We started with the Jelly Belly Electric Ice Shaver. You're supposed to push down on the machine and it crushes the ice. Once the ice is made, you top it with syrup, just like they do at the board walk. We give it a taste test and it does taste like a fair snow cone. Both of our testers like the Jelly Belly.

The Slushy Magic says right on the box "no mess" and even announces it on commercials too. However, that was not our experience, although we were warned to allow air to escape with a carbonated drink.

Here's how the Slushy Magic works: you freeze reusable ice cubes, put them in the cup and shake for two minutes. We started with a couple of carbonated drinks and then tried a juice. We get some slushy, but not much.

"It kind of made the drink really cold and when you first take it out, when you first take the cubes out it is like a little slushy," said Silvestri.

"It is slushy, but not as much as you would expect when you are buying one," said Finney.

I am chalking that up to operator error, since others have got more shush action than us, but there is one problem that is hard to overcome. After you take out the freezer cubes, there isn't much there as you might think. It looked like half as much liquid as you put in there.

We contacted the Slushy Magic distributer to ask if this was operator error or what, but we have not yet heard back. The Slushy Magic sells for about $10. The Jelly Belly Electric Ice Shaver sells for about $25.

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