I'm a failure at making juice popsicles! help!

[indigosky]

OK, I figured that if I could make an elaborate meal, I could make juice popsicles in the freezer. Wrong!

I found popsicle molds at the dollar store, the kind that your pour the juice into and stick the little plastic sticks on top.

Poured in juice, stuck in sticks, put in freezer for about 3-4 hours.

But when it came time to eat the popsicles, I couldn't get them out of the molds still attached to the stickers. I tried running hot water over the frozen part. I tried to twist them out. I tried a knife. No luck. Usually the sticks would pull out and leave the frozen juice behind. Sometimes I could get them out, but broken. I did miraculously manage to produce one functional popsicle for DD. But surely I can do better!

Potential errors:

- Dollar Store popsicle maker is junk. Buy a better one? If you have one you like, where did you get it, and/or what brand is it?

- Run hot water over popsicles for much longer, or submerge in a bowl of hot water for longer?

- Leave popsicles in the freezer longer? They felt fully frozen (I ate a broken one), but maybe they'd stick to the sticks better if they were even more frozen?

Thanks for your tips, expert popsicle-making mamas!

[YayJennie]

If you're just using sticks, try putting aluminum foil or something over the top of the cup, so there's more for the popsicle to stick to. The popsicle molds I have come with tops that have a stick and a flat part like this. Does that make sense?

[sapphire_chan]

It's a lot easier to get them out if you can also run water on the top part. We've had no problems with our popsicle molds from the grocery store.

ETA: besides dd thinking she should be able to have a "sicle!" right now and having to show her that they aren't frozen yet.

[indigosky]

My popsicle mold does have a stick and a flat part, like the photo you sent. So I don't think that's the key. Do your sticks have any texture on them? I wondered if part of my problem was that the sticks part on mine is so smooth.

It doesn't sound like I'm doing anything different than anyone else (so far), so maybe I either need to freeze for longer, or buy a different popsicle mold.

[bender]

The mold I got from Target has little holes in the stick to help the sicle stick to the stick better. I'd invest in a better mold.

[Friday13th]

I discovered last summer that the sticks really need to have some texture and holes in order for the popsicles to come out. Ikea has an awesome set if there's one near you, otherwise the cooking section of target (not the dollar bin) should have some that work.

[Super~Single~Mama]

Originally Posted by Friday13th

I discovered last summer that the sticks really need to have some texture and holes in order for the popsicles to come out. Ikea has an awesome set if there's one near you, otherwise the cooking section of target (not the dollar bin) should have some that work.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40167106

I found this on their website - it looks really cool. Next time I go to Ikea I'm going to get one!

[ramama]

Like others said the sticks need holes or textures. When we make juice popsicles, I do have to run them under hot (very hot) water for quite a while to get them out.

[sapphire_chan]

my sticks have holes as well. (Which could be an unfortunate sentence if taken out of context.)

[ellairiesmom]

sapphire_clan

I don't know...I bought "bpa/pth free" molds at Buy Buy Baby & we can never get the darn things out of there. I stopped using them.

And as usual...something at Ikea pops up after I already bought something else more expensive...when will I learn to just GO.TO.IKEA.FIRST!!!!!!

[EviesMom]

We just put yogurt pops into the freezer. I used the single serving yogurts, put diced fruit on top, and stuck in regular old wooden popsicle sticks. From the directions, I believe if they don't come out easily, they can be cut out. I've also done them in shaped molds (always tricky IMO, damp hot towel for 3 seconds only around the outside seemed to help with that) and sticks in paper/plastic drink cups (cut away after freezing).

[not_telling]

I just bought these at our local co-op.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...Q9DPA1TQBSFD7Y

Haven't used them yet, but it takes the stick out of the equation and might potentially make for a less drippy popsicle mess (once DS gets the hang of them).

[Thalia]

We have some soft silicone molds that you don't have to take the popsicle out of, you just push it up from the bottom. It doesn't stick much and keeps all the juice from spilling everywhere.

We have another kind that we found at the grocery store that you also push up from the bottom, and they are great, too, but probably not BPA free.

[Ruthla]

I would try freezing them overnight and see if that helps. If it doesn't, then invest in better molds. Alternatively, try using the molds you have with plain wooden popsicle sticks, held in place with aluminum foil (put foil over juice, make hole in foil to hold stick in place until it freezes.)

I have some Tupperware molds I got as a gift- those work really well. I have no clue how expensive they are or where to buy them.

[PennyRoo]

so very off topic, but Eviesmom, are you willing to share your yogurt popsicle making tips?

[EviesMom]

Originally Posted by PennyRoo

so very off topic, but Eviesmom, are you willing to share your yogurt popsicle making tips?

Somewhere on Martha Stewart online there was directions for really easy ones, and we just followed that. The kids ate them last night with the babysitter, and from what I hear, they were a big hit. We took small size strawbery yogurts, added some diced strawberries to the top (we had strawberries to use up, I imagine it would be fine without too) and then stuck wooden popsicle sticks into the middle. Then froze them. A warm towel around the outside for 30 sec first let them pull out of the cups said the sitter. We put them in at 11am or so and they had them at 7pm.

[StrawberryFields]

I have cheap crappy pop molds but can usually get them out pretty easily. What I do is I flip it so the pops are right side up, run hot water over the one I want to take out. I grasp the stick and when I can wiggle and rotate the pop in a complete circle I stop the water and gently use gravity to ease it out. My pops are circular though, I suppose this wouldn't work with flat popsicle molds.

[rainbowmoon]

We have these and these and have no problems at all getting them out after freezing. We run them under hot water for about 30 seconds and they pop right out. I do think the textured thing (on both the stick and mold) has some merit as I have had some smooth ones previously that didn't work so well at all.

[luv-my-boys]

I think its probably your mold, Our sticks have holes in them plus I fill them to the very brim so that some some of the liquid touches the *base* of the popsicle stick (ours has this bowl type bottom.

To the poster who asked about yogurt pops. They are sooooo easy. We take some yogurt and a tad of milk (to make a little runnier) and then put those in the molds overnight. Same thing with jello pudding, I make the pudding according to pkg directions thin out a bit with maybe a few tbsp of milk and add that to the molds. awesome pudding pops!!!!

we have these that we bought at a kitchen outlet store
http://www.prairiemoon.biz/lisipicepopm.html

[fancyoats]

the lickety-sip ones that luv-my-boys linked to are the ones that target carries. we have them too. like pps have said, the sticks have holes so the popsicle freezes through the holes and comes out all together. i think that's crucial.

my favorite popsicle flavor is fresh apricots, plain yogurt and honey all blended together. we have some banana/strawberry/plain yogurt/oj ones in the freezer right now. i like peaches blended up with a little ginger and some oj too. we have also made kiwi/strawberry/oj ones. chocolate pudding pops are also awesome. coconut milk/pineapple chunks turn out really well too. just plain strawberries and honey makes a pretty amazing popsicle as well. there are a bazillion variations! you could make minty green tea and freeze that. i have heard of people making savory popsicles, too, though i haven't tried those.