Scoop (utensil)

Disher style scoop
A measuring scoop
Model of an Ice Scoop, Eskimo, 1900-1930, Brooklyn Museum

In common usage, a scoop is any specialized spoon used to serve food.[1]

In the technical terms used by the food service industry and in the retail and wholesale food utensil industries, there is a clear distinction between two types of scoop: the disher, which is used to serve ice cream, measure a portion e.g. cookie dough, or to make melon balls; and the scoop which is used to measure or to transfer an unspecified amount of a bulk dry foodstuff such as rice, flour, or sugar.

Dishers are usually hemispherical like an ice cream scoop, while measuring scoops are usually cylindrical, and transfer scoops are usually shovel-shaped. The disher was patented by Alfred L. Cralle in 1897, including both the common hemi-spherical design and a cone-shaped design.[2][3]

Some dishers have mechanical devices which help get the contents out of the scoop. Some ice cream scoops are liquid-filled to keep the ice cream from freezing to the scoop's metal. Traditionally dishers are sized by the number of scoops per quart but may also be sized by ounces, the diameter of the bowl, or the number of tablespoons they hold.

Disher Scoop Sizes
Scoop Number
(Scoops per Quart)
 Fluid Ounces
(fl. oz.)
 Spoon Equivalent
(Tea=tsp.
Table=TBS.)
Metric
(millilitres)
Diameter
(inches)
6 5.3 10 2/3 TBS.158
8 4.0 8 TBS.118
10 3.2 6 2/5 TBS.95
12 2.7 5 1/3 TBS. 80 2 3/8
16 2.0 4 TBS.59
20 1.6 3 1/5 TBS.47
24 1.3 2 2/3 TBS.38
30 1.1 2 1/8 TBS.33
40 0.8 1 1/2 TBS.24 1 5/8
60 0.53 3 1/5 tsp.16
70 0.46 2 3/4 tsp. 14 1 1/4
100 0.32 1 8/9 tsp.9

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ice cream scoops.
  1. ↑ "Scoop utensil United States Patent 6733056". Freepatentsonline.com. 2002-06-14. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
  2. ↑ Admin, Cooks (2013-06-11). "The Dishroom: Ever wonder who invented the ice cream scoop?". Blog.cooksdirect.com. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
  3. ↑ United States Patent 576395