You may remember that we recently gave away five sets of Qubies for parents in Australia to review.
Mum-invented Qubies are the award winning upside down ice cube trays which are ‘ideal for boobies and beyond’. Perfect for storing homemade baby food and breast milk, they can also be used for the storage of other items like excess lemon juice and pestos!
We sent the five winners of our giveaway (Cheryl, Donna, Mick, Tracie and Karli) a set of questions about their new Qubies. Here are the questions – and their answers…
Had you heard of Qubies before?
Cheryl: No, the first time I’d heard of them was on your blog.
Donna: Yes, through advertising in parenting magazines.
Mick: I had never heard of Qubies before this promotion.
Tracie: Yes
Karli: No I hadn’t, but since then I have seen them for sale on a website.
What foods did you freeze?
Cheryl: I’ve frozen porridge, spaghetti bol & veg combo (sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower & zucchini).
Donna: Chicken, pear, sweet potato, zucchini.
Mick: I must admit I’ve been experimenting with different ideas. I froze:
Fruit juices, stewed fruits that I pulped in a blender, Honey Dew, rockmelon and watermelon – also blended, tomato puree, soup, stock, custard, milk, breast milk, gravies, water and pureed vegetables.
Tracie: Breastmilk, mango.
Karli: Mixed mashed vegies, pumpkin soup, lumpy baby casserole
Once frozen, was it easy to twist the Qubie to release the food? Comments?
Cheryl: It was fairly easy to twist, once you’d gripped it firmly.
Donna: The food came out of the Qubie very easily, with the exception of the zucchini. It held on a little longer than the other food, which I believe was due to the texture.
Mick: Foods came away from the tray so easily.
Tracie: Very easy. I thought it would break but it didn’t.
Karli: I found it very easy to get the food out once it was frozen. I was a little concerned that the plastic would be brittle when it was frozen and that it would crack. This hasn’t been a problem and the tray seems to be holding up perfectly.
Once the lid was removed, did the food stay in the lid or in the base?
Cheryl: The porridge looked like it was going to stay in the lid so I gave it another twist and it stayed put.
Donna: The food stayed in the base.
Mick: Most stayed in the tray with exception of the custard – which I think I made too thick and maybe caused it to adhere to the lid before freezing.
Tracie: The milk stayed in the base as did most of the mango but some mango came up on the lid.
Karli: The ice cubes stayed in the base until I emptied them out into a storage container so that i could you use the tray again.
What were your overall thoughts?
Cheryl: Great idea, a lot easier to fill, easier than standard ice cube trays to get the food out once frozen & a breeze to clean!
Donna: The Qubie was very easy to use and made storing the baby food a much quicker job. I love the design and will be purchasing more! My only suggestion would be that perhaps they could release a larger-sized Qubie that store meals (maybe 120g?).
Mick: I was really amazed at how easy the whole process was and its great to no longer have spills while transfering unfrozen items to the freezer. Also I noticed that there was none of the “crystalisation” effect one often gets in standard freezer tray contents.
Tracie: It’s great, I love it.
Karli: I felt that it was a great idea but that it wasn’t quite as good to use with lumpy foods now that bub has moved beyond purees and mash. The lumpy bits got in the way when pushing the lid on. The dividers had to move around in order to squeeze between the lumps. The cubes weren’t all the same size but they were still very easy to remove from the tray.
Did you try any of the recipes on the Qubie website?
Cheryl: No not yet, will have to have a look at them.
Donna: Unfortunately, no.
Mick: I havent tried the Qubie site recipes as yet as I was more interested in experimenting.
Tracie: Not yet.
Karli: No, I used recipes I already had.
Would you recommend them to friends/mother/father’s group?
Cheryl: Yes I will.
Donna: Absolutely!
Mick: I already have referred Qubies to my friends and internet contact sites – I feel all sites would benefit from knowing about Qubies as they are so versatile and non messy.
Tracie: Yes.
Karli: I have already recommended the Qubie to several new Mums I know.
Did you use them for non baby related foods eg: freezing ice, lemon juice, watermelon?
Cheryl: I haven’t yet, but I plan to.
Donna: No.
Mick: See answer above.
Tracie: No.
Karli: So far I’ve only used it for baby foods. It’s getting too much of a workout to use it for anything else yet!
Did you know Qubies were an Aussie mum invention?
Cheryl: Yes, from the website, go Aussie mums!
Donna: No, but even more reason to buy more!
Mick: I didn’t know they were an Aussie invention but being such a practical idea it doesn’t surprise me (smile with a proud demeanour).
Tracie: Yes.
Karli: I didn’t know that Qubies were an Aussie Mum invention before I actually got mine. It works well regardless of where it comes from, but it is lovely to know that this is an Aussie invention.