# explain the anti-freeze-filled ice cream scooper **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 5, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-anti-freeze-filled-ice-cream-scooper/320138 "2005-09-05T01:57:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-anti-freeze-filled-ice-cream-scooper/320138/1 "2005-09-05T01:57:29Z")
Can someone explain how filling a metal ice cream scooper with anti-freeze is supposed to help scoop ice cream? Ok, obviously, the anti-freeze doesn’t freeze when you get it cold by scooping ice cream. Who cares? Just because it didn’t freeze doesn’t mean it stayed _warm_. I really don’t get how this is helpful. In case you haven’t heard of this sort of thing, I’m referring to products like [this one](http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=752&f=6139&q=scoop&fromLocation=Search&DIMID=400001&SearchPage=1). ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-anti-freeze-filled-ice-cream-scooper/320138/2 "2005-09-05T02:01:59Z")
It’s not really antifreeze, at least it doesn’t serve the usual purpose of antifreeze. It’s some sort of fluid (anyone know the composition?) which is designed to readily transmit the heat from your hand to the scoop, thereby partially melting the ice cream as you scoop, making the job easier. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-anti-freeze-filled-ice-cream-scooper/320138/3 "2005-09-05T02:03:04Z")
It’s to keep the ice cream from sticking to the scoop? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-anti-freeze-filled-ice-cream-scooper/320138/4 "2005-09-05T02:04:05Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > It’s to keep the ice cream from sticking to the scoop? Sorry, that was a statement, not a question. Strike the question mark. ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-anti-freeze-filled-ice-cream-scooper/320138/5 "2005-09-05T02:09:20Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > It’s not really antifreeze, at least it doesn’t serve the usual purpose of antifreeze. It’s some sort of fluid (anyone know the composition?) which is designed to readily transmit the heat from your hand to the scoop, thereby partially melting the ice cream as you scoop, making the job easier. I don’t think I can buy this. Wouldn’t a solid piece of aluminum be a better conductor of heat than a cavity partially filled with some liquid? If it were doing a good job of conducting heat away from my hand, wouldn’t the handle feel very cold to me? ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-anti-freeze-filled-ice-cream-scooper/320138/6 "2005-09-05T02:09:29Z")
IANA Thermodynamics student but it seems to me: There is heat in everything (except absolute zero) and therefore the scoop is warmer than the ice cream (which also has heat, only less) at first. But, with a standard scoop, the “bowl” will become colder with each scoop. Once near freezing, it will be more likely to stick. However, the antifreeze in the body of the scooper will circulate heated liquid from the handle (heated by your hand) to the bowl of the scoop and back again with each movement of the device. I have never tested this thing but it seems plausable to me. OTOH, I could be totally wrong. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-anti-freeze-filled-ice-cream-scooper/320138/7 "2005-09-05T02:10:51Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > It’s to keep the ice cream from sticking to the scoop ok, how? ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-anti-freeze-filled-ice-cream-scooper/320138/8 "2005-09-05T02:11:27Z")
Sorry. Simalpost it seems. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-anti-freeze-filled-ice-cream-scooper/320138/9 "2005-09-05T02:13:31Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Sorry, that was a statement, not a question. Strike the question mark. I still don’t see how that answered the OP. For **Q.E.D.** answer to be true, you’d want the handle contain a materiel with a high coefficient of heat transfer. What state that materiel was in (frozen, liquid, solid, whatever) should be immateriel. I don’t know that it follows that just because anti-freeze has a low solidification point, that it has a high coefficient of transfer. Why not just make the whole thing out of copper or something? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-anti-freeze-filled-ice-cream-scooper/320138/10 "2005-09-05T02:14:04Z")
> [@ntucker](#): > > Wouldn’t a solid piece of aluminum be a better conductor of heat than a cavity partially filled with some liquid? It is certainly a better _conductor_, but I’m pretty sure it is also an issue of specific heat capacity. Water, for example, has a MUCH higher specific heat than aluminum (or in fact, most other substances). Essentially this means that a given mass of water can hold more heat energy than an equal mass of aluminum at the same temperature. ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-anti-freeze-filled-ice-cream-scooper/320138/11 "2005-09-05T02:18:11Z")
Now _that_ is an interesting and potentially convincing explanation. I wonder if it’s the correct one. I’m curious what others have to say about it. ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-anti-freeze-filled-ice-cream-scooper/320138/12 "2005-09-05T02:20:09Z")
I don’t know exactly what is inside, but I can report that it does work–I have one. It helps to hold it in your hand for a minute before using it, but then it cuts readily through hard ice cream and the ice cream slides right off of it. ---
**Author:** ![woodstock989](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f05b48/32.png) [@woodstock989](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstock989)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-anti-freeze-filled-ice-cream-scooper/320138/13 "2005-09-05T02:25:57Z")
[Pampered Chef](http://www.pamperedchef.com/our_products/catalog/product.jsp?productId=248&categoryCode=IC) I have one too - it does work. And whatever the liquid is, I remember being told not to put it in the dishwasher or wash it with very hot water. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-anti-freeze-filled-ice-cream-scooper/320138/14 "2005-09-05T02:31:45Z")
Also, unfortunately (or fortunately?) for us, aluminum is not very good at the whole convection thing that happens to liquids and gases. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-anti-freeze-filled-ice-cream-scooper/320138/15 "2005-09-05T03:09:05Z")
After much searching, I have found [this](http://www.designnews.com/article/CA150709.html): > [@](#): > > The scoop consists of a 0.125-inch- thick die-cast aluminum shell, partially filled with what Funka describes as a special “defrosting liquid.” The scoop transfers heat to the ice cream by relying on the high thermal conductivity and low heat capacity of aluminum in conjunction with a high-heat-capacity liquid. The surface is hardcoat anodized for better wear, and the producer can also apply a non-stick teflon coating. > > The system works by transmitting heat from the scooper’s hand through the high-conductivity handle into the high-heat-capacity liquid, which then flows into the scoop, where the heat is released to melt the ice cream. Why not simply make the scoop out of solid metal? The thermal transfer across the interface would go way down, not to mention the residual stresses created by two materials with different rates of thermal expansion. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-anti-freeze-filled-ice-cream-scooper/320138/16 "2005-09-05T08:32:37Z")
Solid metal might _conduct_ more heat, but it may be that this device is moving heat by circulation as well, especially, as using it involves moving it around. I was going to suggest that convection might also play a part (and it might), but the warm part (handle) is generally kept above the cold part (scoop) when the device is in use. ---
**Author:** ![Saranga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Saranga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saranga)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-anti-freeze-filled-ice-cream-scooper/320138/17 "2005-09-05T09:04:49Z")
I think it’s much more simple. **Topologist** first pointed it out and I read a few reviews on Amazon that all said the same thing: _Hold it in your hand for a minute before scooping_. One review said to let it sit in warm water for 90 seconds before scooping. I assume the scoop comes with an information card or instructions on the packaging that dictate this ritual. So: High C liquid + Heat added before scooping = Melted ice cream (yum!) Sounds like a good idea to me.