Key takeaways:
- The iconic Zeroll is just fine for low-tech recipients.
- Introduced in 2023, the USB-powered scoops do the job too–and will appeal to the kitchen gadgeteer.
- Warm the ice cream up to scoop, then use stainless steel bowls to keep it cold.
Would you be surprised to learn that seven out of 10 Americans say ice cream is their favorite dessert?*
In other words, the odds are excellent that you know an ice cream lover to whom you could present what could be a perfect gift: an ice cream scoop.
A heated ice cream scoop might make things even more thoughtful, wouldn’t you think?
Tread carefully with this one as you will be wandering into a match pitting an iconic product against a very recently introduced challenger. The scoops are just about the same price, and both do exactly one thing and one thing well: they soften ice cream to make it easier to scoop.
Ultimately your selection may come down to your knowledge of your recipient as preferring low (old) tech or new tech.
Low tech: The Zeroll
In one corner, weighing in at 7.25 inches long and 1.75-2.0 inches wide and 57 grams we have the Zeroll. I gave three of these as gifts in December 2022, thrilled to be introducing my sisters to something I knew a) they could use and b) they didn’t know about. Score!
The Zeroll has mostly had the heated scoop market to itself since its introduction in 1935. It may look like the simplest of implements, but the hollow aluminum handle is filled with “fluid”(it doesn’t get any more descriptive than that). The handle conducts heat from the hand holding it, which warms up the aluminum scoop and the ice cream it touches. That warming is what enables the scoop to glide right into frozen ice cream.
A heated scoop makes sense for:
- Power ice cream consumers and that includes professionals who have sworn an allegiance to the Zeroll in particular.
- Hands that have trouble with hard ice cream, whether they’re arthritic, have carpal tunnel syndrome or are just older.
- Users of deep freezers, where the ice cream is stored as cold as -5°F.
My sisters really like the Zeroll. Of the four I bought, mine is the only one that oxidized. I may have erred and put mine in the dishwasher at one point, maybe. I’ve been less of a fan overall.
You could give this $24 gift to the ice cream lover in your life and likely make their day. As of this writing, the scoop gets 4.4 stars from almost 6,400 reviews on Amazon. Over its 90 years, it’s earned the loyalty of ice cream shops and experts. Its design is celebrated at MoMA as a design milestone 291. It’s been reported that families pass Zerolls down from one generation to the next.
You could buy the Zeroll and never look back.
The electric scoop
But hold off on that final decision before you check out the challenger, a USB-powered electric scoop that comes with an LED display and in multiple colors. Most are similar in shape, size and weight to the defending Zeroll.
The first one of these brands, Kitchen HQ, debuted on the Home Shopping Network in July 2023. Others (FrostJoy and Dalicode. Traditional brands like Oxo have yet to introduce but are believed to be working on it.
Here’s what most electric scoops have in common:
- USB-C rechargeable batteries, the cord is included, with the user assumed to have their own power adapter brick
- LED displays so you can watch the temperature climb and keep an eye on the battery life
- Waterproof scoop heads
- They need to be hand-washed. (Noted.)
- Auto shut-off.
- Available in a spectrum of colors
Although they all do just that one thing, there is some variation in the features:
- Materials: Many use aluminum alloy while others use more premium materials (stainless steel and zinc alloy that keeps them from oxidizing or corroding).
- Temperature: Many scoops heat up to as high as 158° Fahrenheit. The $50 Salton scoop has two temperatures—113° F and 140°F—while a few max at 104°F.
- How they heat: Some models heat the head as soon as the handle is grasped, then keep warming it for about 40 seconds. Others feature on/off buttons.
- The Ankztos scoop has both a child-proof lock and a physical on/off switch.
- A cute feature for any ice cream scoop, extra thoughtful considering the hot heads: The Laudtec scoop comes with a kickstand that folds out so the head doesn’t touch the counter (and make an ice cream mess).
They can range in price from $18 to $50, depending on the quality of the build and controls. Most average right around the same price as the Zeroll.
Count me among the converts to the electric scoop, based on my experience with this one from Sweyouth. I love its aesthetic (never mind, MoMA). It’s cool how fast it heats up. I can use it to create perfect scoops, something I haven’t done with the Zeroll because of the shape of the head and I find the melting too hard to control.
The problems the heated scoops are meant to solve are First World problems, no question.
Here’s what clinched the evaluation for me: To test, I used a very particular kind of ice cream—Baskin Robbins’ Wild & Reckless sherbet. The Zeroll has made a melty mess of this. Could I use the scoop to soften it enough to make my perfect scoops and then drop it in these insulated double wall vacuum stainless steel bowls to curb the softening?
Yes! Both the scoop and the bowls performed perfectly in the relay race and I was sold. Btw, it’s surprising how lightweight these 16.9 fluid oz. stainless steel bowls are. They’re double wall insulated, good for cold or hot.
Your review may come down to two questions:
1. Is the heated scoop overkill for the ice cream lover in your life?
Don’t rush to judgment on this point. It’s fun to use even for the occasional scoop.
And there’s this: Let’s not rule out the possibility that more ice cream is being consumed than you may be aware of. Americans eat 12 pounds of ice cream per capita per year**. That’s a lot of scooping.
2. Would your intended prefer the low-tech, storied past and simplicity of the Zeroll or the higher tech, more controllable performance of the electric scoops?
Either way you decide, the heated scoop is a win-win gift.
*Source: A 2025 national survey of 5,000 Americans (100 per state) commissioned by Undeniably Dairy
**Source: 2021, Dairy Data, published by USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS)