four scoops

Pulling four ice cream scoops from my kitchen drawer…straight away it was obvious which ones were “dishwasher safe”.  It is something that I usually check before washing but I guess we are all guilty of throwing utensils into the dishwasher only to discover on emptying… “oh hell” did I really put that in there! The photograph speaks for itself.

Making that perfect scoop of ice cream requires a spoon- shaped metal head with a handle that can be held comfortably with a firm grip…that is if you want the perfect scoop! Many a dessert spoon I am sure will have been bent trying to dig scoops of hard ice cream out of it’s container. Each of the four ice cream scoops being different, two mechanical scoops (half-globe shape) with a leaver, one simple ice cream scoop and one that has a handle which can be filled with warm water.

do I really need an ice-cream scoop?

Well, I like having a utensil made specifically for the job and yes sometimes I do want that perfect scoop of ice cream.

scoop number one: The mechanical scoop (half-globe) has a leaver at the side which moves a blade across the scoop’s  interior that helps eject the ice cream ball successfully. Actually I never bought this scoop with ice cream in mind…it was potatoes! Great for serving up nice creamy mounds of mashed potato.

scoop number two: The leaver is positioned on top of the handle and when pressed pushes up a metal leaver on the scoops interior, which helps to eject the ball of ice cream. This scoop was not very successful when used on a soft ice cream because the leaver got stuck in the ice-cream itself and you ended up trying to shake it off instead. Works better with a firmer ice cream. Even though it was dishwasher safe, I had to wash it manually because the metal leaver inside the scoop had to be pressed up to wash underneath it properly.

scoop number three: A plain metal scoop, no leaver and no filling of water. To use this scoop I would  dip it into a mug full of warm water, giving it a wipe with kitchen paper before dragging the warmed scoop over the surface of the ice cream, it worked… but then along came scoop number 4!

scoop number four:  This has a handle covered with a rubber grip which can be filled with hot water (no more dipping and wiping) which transfers heat to the top of the scoop, this aids in forming nice rolls or balls of ice cream when dragged along the surface. The ice cream does not stick to the warm scoop.

my favourite ice cream scoop is number four and one that I use all the time… but there is an ice cream scoop which has an anti-freeze liquid sealed inside and is non stick which is supposed to be really good. Maybe I need to up-grade!

before that perfect scoop!

In my experience when dealing with any frozen hard ice cream it requires some softening first and this should be done slowly in the refrigerator, anywhere between 10 to 20 minutes, depending on size of ice cream container. The aim is to soften it enough to scoop and serve.