If you’re wondering how you can beat the heat this summer, just take a look around your kitchen. Popsicles, ice cream, or a crushed ice drink – if you’ve got the right small kitchen appliances, you’ll be able to whip up an icy drink or a sweet, cold treat to cool you off in no time.

Check out this list of cool appliances – with them on your countertops, hot summer days will be a breeze.

Ice making goes portable

With the summer sun beating down on you, any ice you have out in the open is going to melt and it’s going to melt fast. Rather than run up and down the stairs to bring guests more ice from my fridge icemaker, I’ve bought bags of ice and kept them in a bucket outside. But that ice turns to warm water so fast the kids want to play in it, so it’s nice to know there’s a better solution available.

From the company that makes air conditioners to keep you cool comes the Haier Portable Ice Maker. It’s great for backyard parties, BBQs, or other occasions when you want to have access to instant ice, and it can make two sizes of ice cubes in 13 minutes to create a whopping 25lb of ice per day. It’s also easy to use, has an LED display, add water feature, and a removable ice basket.

Keep your beverages cool the retro way

I lived in Atlanta for 3 years, so I’m a huge fan of the ‘World of Coke’ and all of the Coke merchandise you can find there. There’s just something about an old style Coke bottle that reminds me of growing up, so I love the Koolatron Coca-Cola Bottle Cooler and it would earn a spot of honor on my cupboards.

Not only does the Coca-Cola Bottle Cooler give your kitchen cupboards or backyard a retro vibe, it will hold and cool up to 15 cans of soda or two 2 liter bottles and keep them up to 40° cooler than the ambient temperature. It can also heat up to 149° F.

Chill out with an icy drink

Frozen drinks may give you brain freeze, but they definitely are delicious! I’ve shared a few of my favourite frozen drinks on a post recently, and one of my go-to for a really hot day is a Key-Lime Pina Colada created with the Margaritaville Frozen Drink Maker. I make it without the alcohol using a key lime mixer you can pick up from any grocery store, and the entire family can enjoy a cool, refreshing drink.

The Margaritaville Frozen drink maker has a unique shave and blend feature, so it will make up to 36 oz of frozen drinks. If you like frozen drinks like margaritas or daiquiris, this is the perfect machine for you. It also doubles as a very cool slush maker for the kids if you use it with plain grenadine syrup and soda.

We all scream for ice cream

One of the most fun summer activities you can do with your kids is make ice cream. It doesn’t have to be a long process either, because machines like the Hamilton Beach Ice Cream Maker have a built-in gel canister that fits easily into the freezer and makes 1.5 quarts of ice cream. Once you’ve frozen the canister, it will create ice cream in as little as 30 minutes.

Ice pops in minutes

I gave the Zoku Duo Quick Pop Maker a try a few weeks ago, and I was so impressed with how quickly it made all kinds of ice pops. All you have to do is pop it in your freezer for 24 hours and you’ll be able to make ice pops, creamsicles, or even multi-flavored pops in minutes.

The Zoku Duo Quick Pop Maker has six spots for pops and comes with six plastic pop sticks with drip guards. It can make up to 9 pops before you have to refreeze it, so you’ll have plenty for the kids and a few to spare.

Hot summer weather doesn’t stand a chance against these cool kitchen appliances. Check out these great products and all of Best Buy’s small kitchen appliances online right now, then get ready to have the coolest summer yet.


By Shelly Wutke, Editor Appliances and Home & Lifestyle

From blenders to laptop computers, I like to take everything I write and put a personal spin on it. As a Vancouver freelancer for 5 years, I’ve written for the Globe & Mail, The Vancouver Province, Chicken Soup for the Soul (grab your hanky, that one is a tear jerker), and on too many websites to list. My personal website is at survivemag.com and if you like Twitter, come find me and chat at @kidswap. 

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Shelly Wutke
Editor TV & Home Theatre
I'm a Vancouver freelancer and tech enthusiast. When I'm not writing you'll find me on my farm with my alpacas, chickens, and honeybees. Visit my website Survivemag