WhyNot?

Heated Ice Cream Scoop

Category: Desserts
Responses: 7 (7 in support, 0 neutral, 0 in opposition)
Number of views: 7010
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Hard ice cream can be a nightmare to scoop. You end up shaving it instead of scooping it. I propose an ice cream scoop with two C-Cell batteries in the handle and heating coils in the scoop area. The scoop takes a few seconds to heat up and then cuts through the hard ice cream like a "hot knife through butter."

Some people would counter propose numerous trips to the hot water tap to heat the scoop portion, but that's potentially a waste of energy and not very effective.

WickSmith, Aug 20 2004

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I like it ...

Michael, Aug 21 2004

I like it too... ;)

Angel Incognito, Aug 23 2004

A simpler system might be an aluminum scoop with a hollow thick handle with a screw cap like a bottle. If the hollow section could be filled with hot water the high temperature might be maintained for a sufficient time to be effective. Heating with electric elements requires a substantial input of energy that would go through a battery's energy reservoir very quickly.

sand, Oct 05 2004

That's an awesome idea. I'm thinking of making one but what kind of supplies and set up would you need?

KC_13, Oct 22 2004

I think what you would need would be something like a soldering iron or perhaps one of those immersion heaters.

I'm not a handyman, so the idea of building one myself neer entered my mind. I always envisioned it made in China for pennies and sold at Sharper Image for big bucks.

WickSmith, Oct 22 2004

You could have a reservoir of phase change salts, heated by an electric heating element powered by a base powered by mains current.

classicsat, Oct 23 2004

Actually i'm buying supplies to make them. Here's what i have so far: 5 Ohm resistors, an ice cream scoop and a 9 volt battery. A few minutes ago, i tried heating the ice cream scoop from the stove and i scooped up the ice cream and it worked except that the ice cream melted very quickly. Has anyone seen the difference w/o a heated ice cream scoop and one that's heated? Because i'm not seeing any differences....unfortunately.

KC_13, Oct 24 2004

Before you build one why not try one of the hundreds you can find on Google.

Sean Turvey, Sep 14 2006

Can't we scoop out ice cream *without* resorting to heat? I love the texture of Breyer's when it's fresh out of the box. Could we instead try things like ultrasonics, scoop contouring (perhaps aspherical shapes or "blood notches"), or non-smooth surfaces?

nayhem, Sep 15 2006

They have microwavable ice cream scoops. Scoop is made out of a material with a high specific heat so that it retains a lot of heat once the heat has been absorbed. Metal scoops have specific heats that are too low, and lose the energy too quickly. Besides, no putting metal in the microwave anyway.

F=ma, Apr 14 2007

This is such idea that there are several on the market both battery and outlet powered. I first saw one several years ago. Sorry.

Barry Williams, Aug 08 2008