Ariana is the director of student-athlete support services at Northeastern University. She is currently pursuing her credentials as a licensed mental health counselor. During her internship with Real Simple, she reported food and drink articles for the magazine. Highlights: * Interned at Real Simple in the food department and wrote articles * Works as an athletics advisor at Northeastern University * Works as a performance coach at Unlimited Resilience, a mental health practice for athletes * Pursuing a career as a licensed mental health counselor
Eating ice cream is easy, but using an ice cream scoop to get it out of the carton in nice round scoops? Not so much. Read on to learn how to scoop ice cream to create perfectly shaped orbs worthy of a Victorian ice cream parlor. Whether scooping your own homemade ice cream or a store-bought brand from a carton, follow our five techniques and you'll wind up with the ice cream balls of your dreams every time.
Just in case it takes hours of rigorous practice and countless sundaes (it won't), we also offer a few recipes with which you can avoid monotony while polishing your skills (as if anyone could get bored with ice cream).
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Store It Smart
Ice cream stays freshest in the back of your freezer where temperature is typically the coldest and most consistent, as opposed to in a compartment on the door where it fluctuates each time you open it. Temperature changes can lead to partial melting causing icy crystals to form, which damages ice cream's texture and makes it harder to get a clean scoop.
It's also a good idea to place your ice cream container in a ziplock plastic bag with excess air removed, even if it's a new carton. This gives your ice cream an extra layer of protection from air that tries to work its way into the container, and thwarts freezer burn. This trick also helps prevent your ice cream from acquiring the aroma of that bag of diced onions nearby.
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Time It Right
For smooth scooping (and less of a bicep workout), remove ice cream from the freezer about 3 minutes before scooping and let it soften slightly at room temperature. But don't forget the clock! If left out for more than 5 minutes, you risk the ice cream turning soupy.
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Get in Hot Water
Take a page out of your local scoop shop's playbook and set a bowl or plastic container of room-temperature water within reach. Dipping the ice cream scooper between each scoop warms up and moistens the ice cream just enough to prevent it from sticking.
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Make an "S" Shape
To form a perfectly round ball of ice cream, create an "s" motion while you scoop. Make a slow and continuous swiveling action, turning your wrist smoothly as you go.
Another trick is to start around the edges and work your way to the center. Because ice cream melts from the outside in, the center of the carton is generally the hardest to scoop.
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Practice
Now put those skills to use. (Yes, it's a tough job, but...) If you have an ice cream maker, try one of these recipes for inspiration:
Working quickly, and making nice, round scoops, fill all of the muffin holes in your muffin tin with scoops of ice cream. Be sure not to let the ice cream melt into the bottom of the tin (this makes your scoops hard to remove and kind of wonky). Freeze for several hours.
Let the ice cream warm up slightly before scooping
It's human nature to want to dig into an ice cream carton right away to get at the good stuff, but the pro move is to take the container out of the freezer and let it warm up for five to ten minutes. If you don't wait, it's like scooping cement.
Your ice cream scoop is fine to be in contact with water, as long as it isn't boiling; in fact, resting it in a glass of warm water before scooping will help it to melt gelato more effectively. However, you should avoid placing it in extreme temperatures – either too hot or too cold – as this may affect its efficiency.
The high butterfat and lack of air in most good-quality ice creams make them very hard at zero degrees. You may find yourself having to uncomfortably twist your hand deep into the carton, and the scoop that you do manage to get out may be too "hard" to enjoy.
Need the perfect scoop? The perfect temperature for scooping ice cream is between 6 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit. But just make sure not to keep it at this temperature for too long or it will melt!
The standard scoop size varies but tends to be around four ounces. This is true of our winner, which also has a 4-ounce capacity. Since a standard ice cream serving is about 8 ounces, one scoop is roughly half that amount. That said, Zeroll offers their scoops in a variety of sizes, from one ounce up to four ounces.
A higher volume of water requires more time to freeze, and that is the main disadvantage to these molds. Plan on twice the time needed for a regular ice cube tray in your freezer. In really cold freezers, this may take just five hours, though overnight is generally best.
The primary reason for causing ice to crack is freezing it too quickly. The outside freezes first and when the inside freezes, it expands and cause the ice ball to crack. Turn up the temperature of your freezer, wrap the tray in a hand towel, or put the ice tray in a container.
There are two openings on the Play and Freeze ball, one on each end. Open one end to fill the outside chamber with rock salt and ice, and open the other end to fill the inner chamber with your ice cream ingredients.Close and tighten both ends and start playing.
Introduction: My name is Jeremiah Abshire, I am a outstanding, kind, clever, hilarious, curious, hilarious, outstanding person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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