Never Struggle To Scoop Ice Cream Again With A Simple Microwave Hack

The worst thing about buying a carton of ice cream is that, sometimes, scooping it can be impossible. Whether the ice cream freezes a little too much, your freezer is arctic-cold, your scoop isn't the best, or you simply lack enough upper body strength to properly hack away at it, there are a few tricks you can use. The first one is a microwave tip every home cook should know. Simply take the lid off and pop it in the microwave for 10-60 seconds at 50% power, checking it at 10-second intervals. The key is to manually change your microwave settings, so don't forget this step before doing anything else — yes, you really need to mess with the power settings before microwaving food. 

A microwave at 100% is the equivalent of cooking on high heat, so you need to cut it in half for ice cream or else you'll end up with soup (delicious, but not the goal). Rather than creating slush, ideally, you want to keep the ice cream firm but still penetrable. Changing your microwave power settings to 50% softens the ice cream just enough to glide your scoop through. To do that, locate the "power level" or "cook level" button and adjust from there. Some models might require you to enter the cook time first, though, so check your user manual for how to adjust this on your brand.

If you don't want to use the microwave to soften rock-hard ice cream for better scoop-ability, you can stick the carton in the fridge for no more than half an hour. Or, scoop frozen-solid ice cream like butter even faster by using this knife trick: Just warm a knife under hot water and then use that as a scoop by cutting out small slices one at a time. You can also warm your scoop up before using it too. The microwaving at 50% power method, however, is the fastest.

Using the microwave is also the best way to build an ice cream sundae. If you melt one tablespoon of crunchy peanut butter in the microwave for about 20-35 seconds, you'll have a delicious peanut butter sauce with crushed peanuts to pour on top of your sundae. And you need a microwave to heat up hot fudge, which is superior to chocolate syrup. With all these tips and tricks, you're ready to enjoy your perfectly scooped ice cream without having to plan in advance.