It doesn't matter if you aremake your ice creamat home or enjoying your favorite pint from the store, a trusty ice cream scoop is a tool you'll reach for more often than you think. With a few years of experience testing ice cream scoops under our belts, we approach this topic with enthusiasm (and are happy to share some sweet treats along the way). Right on the heels of ourstest of ice cream machineswe have taken a closer look at how you can achieve the best ice results at home in every season.
During our original scope test, we reached outJeni Britton Bauerfrom Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams for her gushing wisdom. Bauer's ice cream empire now includes dozens of stores and two ice cream cookbooks, so she naturally has a favorite model that she uses in her stores and doesn't like models with moving parts like a release arm. “Spring/handles don't work well for hard-bodied American ice cream,” she says, “If there are too many pieces, they will fall apart when scooped. I don't recommend them.”
Starting with Jeni's recommendations and with her advice in mind, we focused our testing on 2- to 3-ounce scoopers and expanded to a few more styles to consider for your favorite frozen treat. So before you open your favorite new oneice cream cookbookor favorite pint, check out our top picks.
Our favorite
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Although other firsts generally yielded great resultsZeroll Original Ice Cream Scoopproved to be the most useful ice cream scoop we tested. The heat-conductive handle ensures smooth scooping without causing freezer burn in your favorite pints of ice cream.
The tests
The food and wine team tests ice cream cones
There are a few scenarios where we want our scoops to achieve excellent results. We tried them in draft and half-gallon containers of classic ice, looking at maneuverability, size and cornering. We switched to our left hand to make sure the angles worked for everyone, and we ran the dishwasher-safe scoops through two cycles to see how they held up with rinsing, heating, and drying. In previous tests, our winners have also served frozen ice cream and sorbet, as well as freeze-dried pints, for a test of durability.
We watched how the balls curled, fit into bowls or cones, and how easily the ice cream and sorbet released from the ball. We reviewed each tool and compared the results, and while there are no real duds (eventually there will be a tasty ice cream even from a teaspoon), our favorites were excellent in all areas.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the best way to scoop ice cream?
Jeni Britton Bauer advises: Make sure the spoon is completely dry and at room temperature. A wet or warm scoop leaves ice crystals in the ice cream, which spread and cause freezer burn. You may see ice cream parlor employees dipping their scoops in a container of water between uses, but Jeni says this is not a good practice and is done only for convenience.
How much ice cream is in a standard scoop?
In general, an ice cream scoop is 1/2 cup of ice cream or 4 ounces. There are usually 32 scoops in a liter of ice cream and about 4 scoops in a pint.
Who invented the ice cube?
Alfred L. Cralle, a businessman and inventor, first patented the "ice cream mold and dishwasher" in 1897 after noticing servers having trouble getting ice cream from spoons at the hotel where he worked as a bellman. His original tools are reflected in the design of modern scoops with a scraper mechanism.
In the early 1930s, Sherman Kelly was on vacation in Florida when he noticed that a woman working at an ice cream parlor had calluses and blisters on her hand after eating frozen ice cream. He saw it as an opportunity: In 1933, he patented his idea for a self-defrosting model that would make scooping ice cream painless and founded the Zeroll Company in his garage. Now the scoop is made in Florida, but the product has not changed much in the years since.
Factors to consider
Comfort and maneuverability
Most shovels performed well, especially in terms of comfort and ease of scooping. A few that were otherwise good ran into trouble releasing the ice; the colder it got, the harder it was to get it out of the container. A few were too large or blunt to fit into the hooks at the bottom of the box.
Weight
Scoops fall into two general categories: light and heavy. Some were in the 4 to 4.5 ounce range, and some were in the 8 to 8.5 ounce range, but we find that design is more important than weight. We had favorites in both groups - a well-designed heavy shovel can provide leverage to cut through hard ice. A well-designed lightweight shovel can feel more comfortable and flexible.
Functions
Some of the balls have heat-conducting or defrosting fluid in the handle: that fluid supposedly transfers heat from your hand on the handle to the bowl, warming it just enough to glide smoothly through the ice and then easily release ice from the bowl. dish. They both performed well – one better than the other – although the downside is that you can't put them in the dishwasher. However, washing an ice cream scoop by hand isn't much of a hassle, so we haven't said that to those models in terms of ratings.
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We tested other ice shells
Strong competitors
Farberware Professional Soft Ice Cream Scoop, $10 clAmazon
Although Farberware did well with containers of different sizes, the square edge would be difficult for left-handed users. Otherwise, we found it easy to use and easy to grip, meaning we were able to get consistent scoops. We like how the wide black handle fits in our hands, and the square end is a nice feature when starting scoops.
Norpro Nonstick Antifreeze Ice Cream Scoop, $7 clAmazon
Like the Zeroll, the Norpro Nonstick Anti-Freeze Ice Cream Scoop is filled with heat-conducting fluid to aid scooping and releasing. This one also has a non-stick coating, so it was the most effective at loosening the ice from the bowl. But if you like a self-defrosting scoop, there's no reason to choose this over the Zeroll. The handle is thinner than the Zeroll and feels slippery due to the non-stick coating, making it difficult to get a good grip on it. The shape of the bowl is more elongated than round, so the balls are not as neat and beautiful.
Zyliss Right Scoop ice cream scoop, $16 klAmazon
It may seem strange that the heaviest scoop (this one weighs 250 grams) is best for small hands, but the balanced weight of this scoop provides great leverage when cutting hard ice cream or sorbet. The Zyliss Ice Cream Scoop's ergonomic handle is super comfortable and made testers feel like they had a secure grip. Minor gripes: the skeleton is too large and blunt to be very effective at removing the last bits of ice from the corners of a container; ice cream is sometimes a bit sticky and needs a push to release from the scoop; and the scoops themselves are not as nice as Zeroll's. It also makes larger portions than the other models we tested, which can be a good or a bad thing depending on your perspective.
What didn't make the list
There were a dozen other scoops we didn't like as much, including the Anyone who bought the KitchenAid Classic Ice Cream Scoop (it feels cheap, slippery, and too round) and the Tovolo Tilt Up Ice Cream Scoop (large, top-heavy, and unbalanced). Ultimately, having a scoop that will last you another ten or twenty years is worth the initial investment, as the inferior options will only need to be thrown out and replaced within a year or two.
Our expertise
Jennifer Zyman is a Senior Commerce Writer for Food & Wine and a former restaurant critic with a culinary school education and more than 15 years of food writing experience. Her work has appeared in Atlanta Magazine, Bon Appetit, Eater Atlanta, The Kitchn, Local Palate, National Geographic, Simply Recipes, Southern Living, and Thrillist.
Sarah DiGregorio conducted earlier rounds of testing and wrote the original version of this piece. She has written for several publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Saveur. Her work has been included three times in the annual Best American Food Writing anthologies. For the original version of this piece, she spoke with Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams for expert tips and testing method development.
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