how can I get guar gum to smoothly blend in juice? I watched a demo clip of a guy who simply tossed a tbsp of guar gum powder into a cup of cold water and 5 minutes later, it looked and acted like a glass of slightly opaque jello. Yet, when I've tried to replicate this with white grape juice, both hot and cold, it keeps turning out lumpy and 'snotty', with tapioca-like beads of undissolved gum suspended in it. Any ideas on how to avoid this? I'd rather use juice since we're touting "100% fruit popsicles", so I'm hoping somebody's got a better plan than 'buy a mixing bat'. Maybe, slaking it gradually, like mixing plaster? Grazie ...
The lumps of gum in products are known as "fish-eyes". Unless you get pre-hydrated gum, the best way to avoid them is to mix it in a blender (and a pretty powerful one at that). Sometimes pre-hydrated gum will mix in more smoothly and with fewer lumps, but you'd still need to blend it. Another option that may not be practical in your case is to disperse the powdered gum in another powder, like sugar, and then mix the blend in.

Here are a couple of sets of instructions on mixing gums.