Christine GallaryFood Editor-at-Large
Christine graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France, and she has worked at Cook's Illustrated and CHOW.com. She lives in San Francisco and loves teaching cooking classes. Follow her latest culinary escapades on Instagram.
published Jun 3, 2015
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Going out for ice cream is so easy: order your scoop, and someone with strong arm muscles reaches down into the freezer, carves out perfectly round scoops with ease, and hands you your cone. I never seem to be able to recreate these smooth movements at home, though, since my ice cream is always rock-hard straight from the freezer.
When I read about this tip that supposedly keeps ice cream at a soft and scoopable temperature all the time, it was worth a try since long, hot summer days are fast approaching!
The Original Tip
A suggested way to prevent ice cream from getting too cold and hard to scoop is to place the whole container in a freezer bag and press out the air before sealing it and placing it in the freezer. Supposedly the bag keeps the air around the ice cream from getting too cold, resulting in easily scoopable ice cream.
Read the Original Tip: Store Ice Cream in Freezer Bags for Easier Scooping
The Testing Method
To test this tip out, I bought two pints of the same ice cream. I placed one pint in a gallon-sized freezer bag, pressed out the air, and sealed it. I placed the bagged and unbagged ice cream side by side on the same shelf in the freezer and left it there overnight.
The next day, I took them both out, grabbed spoons, and dug in.
The Results
I noticed no difference when scooping ice cream out of each container — the textures were identical. And of course, for testing’s sake, I took a taste out of each pint and didn’t notice any textural differences as I was eating either. Disappointing result, but nothing a few more bites of ice cream couldn’t fix. (And I’ll save the freezer bag for another use.)
Verdict: This is not a mind-blowing tip!
Final Notes
When it comes to scooping hard ice cream, I’m sticking to more traditional methods: letting the ice cream soften up on the counter for a few minutes, dipping my ice cream scoop in a cup of hot water first, or if I’m truly desperate, sticking it in the microwave for a few seconds.
