There once was a time when you could only slurp a slushie on a trip to the seaside, but now you can enjoy that end-of-the-pier treat at home. Although still relatively new in the kitchen appliance market, there’s been an increase in slushie machines to meet our thirst for frozen drinks.
When Ninja launched its slushi frozen drink maker in late 2024, it was a viral sensation and sold by the bucketload the following summer. Now British brand Salter has released its own slushie machine – and it’s almost half the price of its Ninja rival.
Unlike the catering models spied in cinema foyers and beach cafes, with their tanks of lurid blue and red slush, at-home slushie machines are not just for soft drinks. Compact and multifunctional, these domestic slushie makers may keep the kids happy with retro favourites, but they can also create grown-up drinks, from mocha frappés to frozen margaritas.
With all that in mind, I put Salter’s new affordable machine head-to-head against Ninja’s hit product to see whether you really need to shell out for a café-worthy slushie or bar-standard frozen cocktail.
At first glance, there is little to distinguish Salter’s slushie maker from the Ninja slushi. It’s almost identical in weight and dimensions but is boxier in design. It has a 2.5l tank, which is a little misleading, as this refers to its fill line for rinsing. Its maximum drink capacity is 1.9l – the same as Ninja’s machine. The control panel features colourful images accompanying its five preset programs: slushie, frosted cocktail, frappé, milkshake and chilled juice.
A successful freeze is dependent on ingredients (for instance, a sugary squash freezes at a different temperature than an alcoholic drink) and the desired texture. By following Salter’s recipe booklet, making a drink was extremely easy: I poured my premixed liquid (no ice required) into the tank, selected a program, and away it went, churning the liquid around the central cylinder, which chilled it to the appropriate sub-zero temperature. I liked the large numerical display showing the drink’s temperature decreasing. It will take some experimentation, but if you prefer a thicker or thinner slush, you can customise the temperature along a horizontal sliding scale.
