Top pick
Favored by ice cream shops everywhere, the Zeroll scoop cuts into hard ice cream more smoothly and produces better spheres than any other scoop we tried.
There’s no better tool for digging into frozen treats than the Zeroll 1020 Original Ice Cream Scoop. Its large, smooth handle is easy to hold, even without a silicone grip.
It makes beautifully formed spheres of ice cream, and thanks to a heat-conducting fluid inside the scoop that slightly warms the (also very conductive) aluminum, it cuts into and releases ice cream more efficiently than any of the competition.
This tool has stood the test of time; it has remained essentially unchanged for more than 75 years and is considered an icon of modern design, even sitting in the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection.
It’s comfortable to use. The Zeroll scoop has a relatively fat handle, which is round, smooth, and simple to grip. Although it doesn’t have a cushy rubberized grip like some other scoops we tested, the actual scoop cuts into hard ice cream easily enough that you don’t have to bear down so much on the handle.
It’s also lightweight compared with many of the hefty stainless steel scoops we tested, which can make it less tiring to use.
It makes perfect little spheres of ice cream. When you scrape the ice cream with the front beak of the scoop’s rounded bowl, the ice cream curls onto itself, creating perfect balls for ice cream cones, brownie toppings, and sundaes.
While it required some work and finesse to get a nice ball of ice cream with most other scoops we tested, the Zeroll scoop can form a beautiful portion in just one or two strokes.
And those perfectly rounded portions of ice cream release cleanly and easily from the scoop. Thanks to the aluminum body (which is a better heat conductor than steel), the heat-conducting fluid core, and hollow design, the scoop slightly melts the ice cream just enough for an easy dismount into your bowl. In comparison, solid stainless steel models needed at least a gentle shake to release the ice cream.
It’s widely loved by pros. The Zeroll scoop is one of the most famed and widely lauded ice cream scoops ever crafted. All three ice cream parlors that we talked to in our testing had already opted to use these scoops in a professional environment. The ice cream shop employees complimented it, saying it’s easy to grip, effortless to use, and lightweight, and they said it makes good-looking, consistently sized scoops.
It comes in several sizes. At the base of Zeroll scoops, different-colored caps denote size. The classic Zeroll scoop comes in six sizes: brown for 4 ounces, blue for 3 ounces, green for 2.5 ounces, gold for 2 ounces, silver for 1.5 ounces, and red for 1 ounce. For our testing purposes, we used the 2-ounce scoop.
How the Zeroll 1020 Original Ice Cream Scoop has held up
The Zeroll scoop is covered by a one-year warranty, but as long as you wash this scoop by hand, you can expect it to last decades. (Apparently scoops from the 1940s are still in use!) And after years of using the Zeroll scoop at home, we are still impressed with the quality and the build.
Marilyn Ong, senior editor of our kitchen coverage, had one for more than 12 years before a neighbor accidentally put it in the dishwasher. Her family replaced the scoop, and she says they don’t expect to have to replace it again anytime soon. Their neighbors, meanwhile, bought one of their own because they loved it so much.
That said, if your scoop dates from before 2012 or has become oxidized or corroded, we recommend replacing it.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
The Zeroll scoop isn’t dishwasher-safe. The manufacturer warns against dish-washing and exposing the scoop to temperatures over 140 °F. The bare aluminum will oxidize or corrode in the dishwasher, a common complaint among the Amazon reviews.
More concerningly, a handful of people have reported to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission that the cap on the end of the handle flew off unexpectedly (a similar Zeroll-made scoop was recalled for safety in 2011). We reached out to Zeroll for comment, but we did not receive an answer in time for publication.
To be extra safe, and to keep your Zeroll scoop looking like new for as long as possible, always wash it by hand under warm, not hot, water.
The aluminum discolors easily. Even if you hand-wash your scoop, the aluminum can discolor. There’s no harm in a bit of patina, but if that will bother you, try to wash and dry your scoop right away. The Zeroll scoop that lives in our test kitchen has a ring in the bowl where water sat in it for too long.
