Kitchen

Ice Cream Spade

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Flat blade digs into frozen ice cream

Trouble getting ice cream out of the carton? Bent spoons? Scoops that don’t penetrate? Wondering where the first aid kit is? One solution for parties (when the carton will likely soon be an empty husk) is to just slice the whole thing, paper & ice cream together, with a big knife.

Another solution is an Ice Cream Spade. What’s linked here is very similar to one we’ve been using for years: It’s a chunk of aluminum with a hollow handle that has some sort of “anti-freeze” in it. The relatively flat blade (as compared to scoops) much more easily gets into concrete-like frozen goodness. We’ve got a sister scoop model (same make/construction) but the scoop seriously doesn’t get the penetration the spade gets. And the mass of the metal maintains enough heat to avoid being a contributor to a big frozen/welded problem. And a quick rinse through hot/warm water is like honing a knife – it’s freshly sharpened, so to speak.

Sticking these into a dishwasher is discouraged as 1) the aluminum might corrode and 2) the fluid in the handle might end up being lost. I’m sure ours have been through the machine more than a few times and are still just fine, and hand-washing is easy too. Even if the fluid becomes lost, a hot rinse will help it through the concoctions.

There are a lot of similar models out there; I can’t attest to even the one linked – it may or may not be exactly as ours. A lot of reviewers seem to expect these things to cut ice cream like a Light Saber; it’s not magic, some effort is gonna be required. The one linked might be more expensive than some others though its reviews are pretty good. This summer, avoid the battle and enjoy the relative ease of using a spade like this.

-- Wayne Ruffner 02/18/22

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