Your first Slushi batch

Your first batch asks very little of you. The machine does the freezing, so there is no ice to crush and nothing to blend. You pour in a liquid, pick a preset, and walk away while the machine does the rest. Get the liquid, the fill level, the sugar, and the wait right, and the first run is a smooth one.

Liquid goes in, slush comes out

Everything you add has to pour. Inside the vessel, your drink flows over a refrigerated cylinder. A thin layer freezes against the cold metal, and the auger scrapes it off and folds it back into the mix. That constant scraping builds a soft, even slush instead of one solid block of ice.

Because the machine supplies all the cold itself, you never add ice. Ice cubes, frozen fruit, chunks of fresh fruit, and scoops of ice cream all stay out, since solids cannot circulate around the auger and can strain the machine. If it pours like a drink, it is fair game: sodas, juices, lemonades, sweet tea, and coffee drinks all work. Keep heat out too: hot liquid fights the chilling and can damage the vessel, so let anything warm cool down first.

Fill between the lines

Before the first batch, let the machine stand upright for at least 2 hours. The cooling system needs that time sitting level after shipping before it runs.

Pour through the fill port on top of the vessel, close the cover, then press power and pick a preset. Stay between the lines on the vessel:

• Minimum: 2 cups (16 ounces). Any less and there is not enough liquid to coat the cylinder and freeze evenly.
• Maximum: 8 cups (64 ounces). A full vessel pours the smoothest.

One habit pays off right away: start with liquid that is cold from the fridge. A chilled drink reaches slush faster than a room temperature one.

Sugar makes the texture

Sugar does far more than sweeten. Dissolved in the liquid, it keeps the mixture from freezing rock hard, so the ice stays in tiny crystals and the finished drink stays soft and scoopable. Take the sugar away and the same liquid freezes into a hard, icy sheet that the auger cannot turn into slush.

Every liquid you pour in needs at least 4 percent sugar. Check the label before you pour: an 8 ounce serving should carry at least 8 grams of sugar, and a 12 ounce serving at least 11 grams. Most sodas, juices, and lemonades clear the bar without help.

Diet and sugar free drinks are the trap for first timers. Their sweeteners do not behave like sugar in the cold, so a diet drink on its own freezes too hard and too icy. The machine spots the problem and flags a low sugar alert with flashing lights and beeping. The fix is to stir real sugar in before you pour, about 1 to 2 tablespoons of flavored syrup, simple syrup, juice, sugar, or honey for each 8 ounce serving. If you use plain sugar, dissolve it into a little of the liquid first so it blends in smoothly.

Presets, timing, and spiked batches

Five presets cover the range: Slush for everyday drinks, Spiked Slush for drinks with alcohol, Frappé for coffee drinks, Milkshake for dairy based drinks, and Frozen Juice for naturally sweetened juices. Each one starts at a temperature set for that drink. The lights pulse while the batch freezes, then stay solid and the machine beeps when it is ready.

Most batches take 15 to 60 minutes. Big batches, warm liquids, and very sweet drinks sit at the slow end. If the texture is still not there after 60 minutes, raise the temperature control one level and give it 10 to 15 more minutes. The up arrow makes drinks thicker and colder, and the down arrow makes them looser and easier to sip. Once a batch is ready, the machine holds it at serving temperature for up to 12 hours, so there is no rush to pour. The one exception is the frothy pair: pour milkshake and frappé batches within 30 minutes, before they turn foamy.

Alcohol lowers the freezing point of the whole batch, which changes the math. Premade drinks for the Spiked Slush preset, like wine, beer, hard seltzer, and bottled cocktails, should land between 2.8 and 16 percent alcohol. If you are pouring spirits yourself, keep them modest: no more than 4 ounces of spirits in a 24 ounce batch, and no more than 10 ounces in a full 64 ounce batch. Overshoot and the batch stays liquid while the machine flashes a high alcohol alert. Bring it back by diluting each serving with about 1/4 cup of water, soda, seltzer, or juice, then run the preset again.

Serve it, then rinse

Keep the machine running while you pour. Set a cup under the spout, pull the handle slowly, and release it to stop. Stopping the machine stops the auger and the chilling with it, so leave the batch running until every glass is full. You can pour more liquid in while a batch runs to keep the slush coming.

When the last glass is poured, run the rinse cycle before anything dries on:

1. Pour out any slush that is left.
2. Stop the preset and press the rinse button.
3. Fill the vessel with warm water up to the max fill line.
4. Pour the water out into a big cup or bowl, then press rinse again to stop.
5. Take the vessel and auger off for a proper wash, by hand or in the dishwasher.