Rapidly Cooling Food and Drinks

A device located in a hermetically-sealed pod containing liquid food or drink ingredients, the device comprising:

• a body having a longitudinal mixing paddle;
• the body having a cross-section along a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the body, at least a portion of the cross-section being S-shaped;
• the body having at least two windows passing through the cross-section of the body;
• the body being sized and shaped such that, when the device is rotated within the pod while the pod is cooled:
• (i) edges of the device scrape an inner surface of the pod to remove built-up frozen ingredients located on the inner surface of the pod;
• (ii) the S-shaped portion of the body forces ingredients in an axial direction in the pod;
• and
• (iii) the device forces frozen confection out of the pod after the pod is opened.

A system comprising:

• a pod comprising:
• a body having a sidewall that extends from a first end of the body to a second end of the body, the body having an interior that contains ingredients for producing a single serving of a cooled food or drink;
• and
• a mixing paddle disposed within the body and rotatable relative to the body along a longitudinal axis of the body, a cross-section of the mixing paddle taken perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the mixing paddle having at least one curved or non-linear section;
• and
• a machine having a recess sized to receive the pod, the machine comprising:
• a refrigeration system operable to cool the ingredients within the pod when the pod is inserted into the recess of the machine;
• and
• a mixing motor operable to rotate the mixing paddle to mix the ingredients within the pod while the ingredients are being cooled to produce the single serving of the cooled food or drink.