VollrathDisher - Color Coded Size 30,Black

This is a great portioner. I use it for ice cream, cookie dough, muffin batter, and meatballs, and it works great.It’s sturdy and strong and performs well, and has a good solid feel in the hand. I’ve had it for two years, use it several times a week, and have had no trouble with it. Despite the mechanism, it is not difficult to clean: just press down on the handle to clean beneath the moving arc, and then put it through the dishwasher.Regarding the size, the #40 makes 3/4 ounce scoops which are about 1.5 inches in diameter, a little smaller than a ping-pong ball. Cookies made with this scoop usually come out of the oven about 2.5 inches in diameter, give or take half an inch (depends on the dough!). I am watching my weight, and I find these scoops to be a great size for small portions of ice cream, mini-muffins, and meatballs that can be eaten in about two bites, and medium-sized cookies that are (to me at least) satisfying but not excessive for one person.Note that the #40 is too small to make generous, bakery-style cookies. If you want to make big ones like those, go with a bigger scoop — I use a #16 (2 ounce) for large cookies destined for bake sales. The #16 produces cookies in the 3 to 4 inch diameter range with most around 3.5 inches. I find these too big for regular household use, through.My only complaint about the Vollrath scoop is that they don’t make a left-handed version. This is a strongly right-handed tool. I am left-handed and I usually hold this scoop in my left hand, scoop the food, and then reach up at an angle with my index and middle fingers to pull down on the lever to release the food. This is awkward. The angle I have to hold it at means that the “power sweep” of the arc is from the bottom of the scoop to the top, rather than top to bottom, which makes it a little more difficult to free sticky substances. I sometimes switch the tool to my right hand for the release, which makes for an easier release but feels more awkward to me as my right hand is weaker and less accurate than my left one. But these are small issues compared with the high quality and performance of this scoop.Note: there is another good ice cream scoop out there, the Zeroll, which is a much simpler scoop with no mechanism or lever, and thus can be used equally well in either hand. Its trick is that its handle contains a liquid which, warmed by the grip of your hand, slightly warms the bowl of the scoop from the inside, resulting in a smooth, easy glide through ice cream. I really like the Zeroll scoop for ice cream as well — I have the Zeroll Zerolon #30 (1 ounce), which is the smallest one Zeroll makes and slightly larger than the Vollrath #40 (3/4 ounce). I use the Zeroll #30 and the Vollrath #40 about equally for ice cream, but the Zeroll is of course no good for cookie dough, muffin batter, or meatballs. For those, I use the Vollrath.

Love this cookie scoop! I've purchased several others because I like this one so much. I want to get a full set eventually. I was using the OXO cookie scoops which work fine but I found my hand tiring as I used it and it was a bit tricky to clean. I often have to wash it twice because of missed cookie dough under the sweeper. This one is SO much better!!! The lever is easy to use & doesn't require a lot of pressure. It's so quick & easy to clean, and not once have I had to rewash it because of missed cookie dough. I really like the 1 piece body construction, it's solid & it means there are fewer places for food particles to get stuck. The scoops are a bit more expensive than others, but I think they are well worth the price. I don't mind paying a bit more for quality.

Works really well. I make these chocolate chip cookies and the dough chills for at least 24hrs to enhance flavor. So the dough is always coming out of the fridge to bake and even though I leave it out for a few minutes, it's still pretty hard. My old scooper busted and I've tried several other brands and this is the one that is durable, the handle is well designed, the sweep is tight and it's a breeze to squeeze the dough out even with my arthritic hands.

Doing a comparative on the Volrath Vs. other scooper's. I have had many and have gone through quite a few. When I was a kid we had a scooper very much like the Volrath. Was it a Volrath? I honestly do not remember the brand name because I was too young, but my only sadness is that when I moved out of the house the wonderful utensil didn't follow to my new home. So began the long journey through new scoops. There were many but some left lasting impressions. I outline them below following up with the Vollrath...the end all be all scoop.I tried the self defrost Ice cream dipper only to find I still needed a spoon to dig the ice cream out of the scoop. Eventually this type corroded in my dish washer and my hand would always get covered in ice cream because it tends to slide down the base to the head and into the ice cream bucket. If I were to give this type a star it would be a 3. It did the job but was messy.Next I tried two types of OXO and since I am freshly mad at the latest I will start with that one first. I wanted to go back to the type of scooper I had as a kid (Vollrath) I searched high and low at several kitchen stores no less and came up what I thought would be the equivalent. This Oxo scoop had a double handed squeeze mechanism much like a melon ball scoop. After two dips in the ice cream and upon trying to release the dip into my bowl the handles collapsed and the swing mechanism in the cup popped outside the scoop as well as a spring flying who knows where. I had this $10 scoop for less than 5 days. My previous Oxo was shaped similar to the anti freeze scoop with a plastic handle. After several trips through the dishwasher the scoop itself corroded. Totally creepy. Stars? is there a 0 ranking for both of these?Previous to these three I had also tried the shovel type. But again I had to fling my hand to get the ice cream to release or scrape it off with my spoon. I also found that this type was not comfortable for those of us with carpal tunnel. Stars Rating 2So began my search this time not at the kitchen stores but my beloved Amazon. I was going to find that scooper from my childhood if it killed me...which the last Oxo nearly did. I read many reviews on scoops and believe it or not a lot of people were having the same corrosive issue with the dishwasher. Hmmm...so now we wanted to make sure the new scoop was stainless steal as it does not corrode. I did a quick search on Google to see if Swing A Way, (which makes the hand held can opener of my childhood dreams) made the scooper I was thinking of and that is when I found information on the Vollrath. Here was a picture of EXACTLY what I was looking for. Did they make the one I used as a child? I still honestly do not know.Now being skeptical at this point after having being bitten many times. I read through ALL of the reviews. Here were some interesting points I take from those wonderful contributors, as well as my thanks to them for helping me make my decision. First the SIZE. There were so many. How do you determine which one would be the prefect ice cream scoop size. Well thanks to one contributor who wrote: I choose the Ivory one which was a little big for an Ice Cream scoop, it still works but next time I would order the Green Size 12. CHECK! So that was what I ordered. BUT not before I asked the question to those who already have it. How is yours handling the dishwasher? I had several wonderful people answer me and my thanks to them. Two in particular responses stood out. First was from someone who uses it in a culinary kitchen. Who wrote: We use it and it some times sits in water for days with no corrosion or damage! Cool! The next came from someone who said they have ran through the dishwasher several times and no issues. YEA!Now my wind baggedness is coming to an end I promise. I chose the #12 Green and this brand of scoop because of the recommendations, and lastly because it's made in the U.S. so we know it wont be flimsy. Boy am I happy with that decision! This thing is quality right out of the box. The scoop mechanism is a dream to work with and is made really well. The handle is chunky enough with out being too wide and with built in grips as well as an index finger rest. I can now get ice cream out of the container and with one squeeze in da bowl! Nothing on da hands. One washing through a dishwasher and looks great. Only the test through time will tell. But I have finally found that childhood dream scooper again and who knew that there were people out there still making quality items. Kudos and my hat off to you Vollrath, you have restored my faith in industrial merchandise.Just when you thought...finally you're done...I have just one more thing sorry.A shout out to our LEFTY's: this is a right handed scooper. You could use it turned around and the index finger rest would become a thumb hold but since the inner swing blade would now be on your scooping side I am not sure how that would work out. So be sure to ask; maybe they make a left hand version?

Thumb trigger is a bit far for my thumb, but it is easy to push and it moves smoothly compared to others I have. Seems sturdy for a plastic handle too. Easy to clean. I would recommend unless you have really short thumbs like me. I use it for cookies, and it got through the harder doughs easily compared to others.

I’m a home baker using this for cookies and biscuits. It does the job well and keeps the sizes consistent.