Norpro Anti-Freeze Ice Cream Spade

NICE SCOOP FOR HARD ICE CREAM

This Norpro 682 Anti-Freeze Ice Cream Spade plows through ice cream like it's butter. Very sturdy and easy to grip. For those of you with dishwashers, in no fewer than four different places on the packaging and the spade itself, it warns you DO NOT PUT IN A DISHWASHER or immerse in water hotter than 140 degrees. If that's too hard for you to follow, then I suggest you don't buy this product. You will ruin the spade if you put it in a dishwasher, as several others have shown in their comments. I mean, come on, you're only scooping ice cream with this thing. All you need to do when you're finished using it is rinse it clean with warm water, towel dry, and put it away. How hard or complicated is that? If you do that, you will have a great ice cream spade to use for a very long time.UPDATE 10-01-14: It's been over two years since I purchased this ice cream spade and it still looks as good as the day I bought it. I also discovered that it works great for scooping out the meat of a watermelon. Just cut your watermelon lengthwise, then take the spade and push it down along the edge of the rind all the way around. The dull end of the spade won't cut into the rind, so you get all meat. Then just lift the watermelon meat out in one big piece and cut it into serving sizes.

Of all the many ice cream scoops I've tried, this is my very favorite! It scoops even very hard ice cream, which most others don't do nearly as well! Love it!!

This one is difficult to rate, but I read the reviews and decided I could follow the directions to prevent damage because I'm the only one that will be using it and the price point was good for me. Mine came with the end cap, so I knew better than to think there is actual defrosting fluid contained inside of the handle because of the negative reviews left by those who felt it was false advertising. I suspect that it is a language translation that is at fault here, not deliberate misleading of their customers. I have given this large and shiny spade spoon 4 stars overall because it has a good feel to it, looks attractive, and is not difficult for me to use as a senior with arthritis in hands. I also don't have a dishwasher so I hand wash everything and that is not an issue for me. Others may feel differently, so other than that caveat , I can recommend it as a great buy.Pro: It's exactly the shape I wanted, although it would be even better if it was one solid piece instead of the end cap that serves no purpose at all. It would not be waterproof obviously. It's most likely lighter weight though because it is hollow and not solid metal, so that's both a plus and a minus. It can be rinsed off with tepid water as long as you avoid the handle, and dry it immediately. These instructions are also on the cardboard that the spade spoon is attached to with plastic twist ties, so there really isn't any reason to use an additional plastic sticker on the spoon itself! That was also a con that caused my rating to be lowered two half stars overall.Con: Not easy to clean since it can't tolerate any soaking, dishwasher or not, and it has a sticker on the back of the spoon warning it can't be subjected to more than 140 degree F, 60 degree C, which is basically lukewarm to me. It was annoying to remove as it left a sticky residue on it that forced me to spend 5 minutes with several pieces of scotch tape to remove it from the back of my spoon. I also washed it with a few drops of Dawn soap, rinsed it again and dried it with a paper towel. I have no idea how durable it will be before tarnishing at this point, but I do expect to get a couple of years out of it since I rarely indulge in ice cream or sherbet frozen desserts. Hope that helps you make a good decision for yourself. I'm satisfied with my purchase at this point. Updated 3/5/24: Still very pleased with this spoon after 9 months. It's still very shiny, the end cap is still firmly attached, and the only con is the fact that I've gained 10 lbs. because it's now so easy to scoop ice cream!

A couple weeks ago, I was in the mood for some ice cream and luckily I had some in my freezer. The bad thing is that it was hard like ice. So like any normal human being, I grabbed one of my Mikasa flatware spoons and attempted to "scoop" out the ice cream. Now mind you this, my Mikasa spoon isn't one of those cheap ones you get from a $20 set from Walmart. I got the set for my wedding and if I remember correctly, it was a $200 flatware set. Not to say they are invincible but as I scooped, I felt the spoon's end flex a little bit because the ice cream was that hard. So instead of continuing to scoop, I immediately stopped because I didn't want to bend the spoon. Bottom line, I had to let my ice cream thaw a little before I got to enjoy any of it.So that's when I started looking for a real ice cream scoop. Not the kind with the thumb lever that tries to "release" the ice cream (I hated those) but a real scoop that you see at local ice cream shops. I checked Bed Bath & Beyond but all the good ones with brand names were at least $10.99 and up. I didn't want to spend that much on an ice cream scoop.Looking at Amazon with the following criteria: 4-star and up, under $10, I found this scoop, or rather... ice cream spade. I originally looked at this one Norpro Nonstick Anti-Freeze Ice Cream Scoop, which was near the same price but it so happens that most of the "negative" reviews is the black coating chips off. Not wanting to deal with the chip problem, I looked at this one (the item I'm reviewing) and the majority of the negative reviews is that it gets ruined when in the dishwasher.So it came down an ice cream spade that "gets ruined in the dishwasher" or an ice cream scoop that "chips eventually". I can control the dishwasher portion easier than I can control a chip problem, so I went with the spade.Now for the functionality. I also chose this based on the "antifreeze" functionality. Like other reviewers said, if you shake it, you can hear some kind of "liquid" in the shaft of the spoon. This liquid is how it keeps the ice cream from sticking/freezing to the spade. Because the liquid is at a warmer temperature (typically room temperature) than the ice cream, it keeps the spade at a warmer temperature. This in turn has a "melting" reaction when you scoop ice cream. Making it easy to scoop, easy to release into the bowl.Also if you haven't noticed, the other reviewers say "DO NOT PUT IN DISHWASHER". This is apparent by the labeling and the sticker on the spade if you purchase it. If you do, then this spade gets ruined. I'm not taking my chances and I will definitely hand wash this thing.With that said, I'm very happy with my purchase and would recommend it to anyone.

After receiving this, I did go back in and see the description says it’s handwash only, but seriously? It’s an ice cream scoop. Why wouldn’t it be dishwasher safe? The coating came completely off in the dishwasher.

Much better than the most famous Z------ scooper. Moves more ice cream faster.