Creation of surgical slush having desirable mechanical properties by chilling a closed slush container with liquid saline and an air gap. The closed slush container having interior surfaces that are smooth and hydrophobic to resist adherence of ice crystals. Moving the closed slush container so the contents move in a complex set of motions rather than constant rotation around a longitudinal centerline of the slush container as the liquid saline is converted into surgical slush with a mixture of liquid saline and ice crystals. Interior surfaces of the closed slush container move into and out of an air gap to help shed any ice crystals forming on the interior surfaces. In some instances, as the orientation of the closed slush container relative to gravity changes over time, different interior surfaces shed the ice crystals. An optional method for delivering surgical slush to the sterile field is included. The full range of the disclosure exceeds the scope of this brief abstract.
