Is there a place for Scoop It in your kitchen? If manufacturers had their way we’d have a different tool for every minute chore that pops up while we’re cooking or cleaning. This review will try to determine if Scoop It is something you should buy and keep handy while you’re cooking.
Overview
We’ve all had the experience of dropping freshly cut vegetables as we try to move them from the cutting board to the cooking area. Any time the masses have a problem in common you can be sure someone somewhere is working on a fix. Such is the case with Scoop It. They’ve taken a relatively minor inconvenience and tried to make a best-selling product out of it. So the question is twofold: does it work, and should you buy it?
The Claim
Scoop It claims that you won’t have to subject yourself to the horrible pain of dropping foods that you’re preparing. By using a sweeping motion and using their gadget that works something like a dustpan for food, they say that more food will make it to the pot or the pan more easily than before.
The Hype
They really exaggerate just how bad it is trying to pick up food and put it into the frying pan. Sure, sometimes foods don’t quite make it into the pan, but it’s not the end of the world. After chopping vegetables and trying to transport them over to another area of the kitchen it’s bound to happen that something hits the floor. Not a big deal, and not really worth its own instrument in the kitchen.
The usual hyped-up commercial:
The Cost
Since Scoop It does not address a pressing concern in most households, and also because it is made entirely out of plastic, we assumed it would be sold for $10 or less. The best we could find it for was $13 on Amazon, which at least included free shipping.
The Commitment
This is the part that will trip up most buyers of Scoop It. It’s not as if you are going to keep it on your countertop where you might remember to use it. So you will have to remember to get it out whenever you are preparing fruits and vegetables. In the moment, if you do remember, you will have to put everything down and get out your Scoop It for a few seconds of work, and then clean an additional utensil and put it back in its storage spot.
It is our belief that most people will not remember to do this, and that the Scoop It will wind up collecting dust in a junk drawer.
Evaluation
Scoop It is not rocket science, it is basically just a few pieces of plastic molded into a shape and form that allows you to quickly pick up your food without dropping it. There are still ways for you to miss some pieces of food, but you will get most of them picked up with the first pass, and it makes it hard to waste any pieces.
Final Scoop It Review
Scoop It works, but this is no surprise. It’s simply a small plastic dustpan that you use to sweep up the food and move it over to the frying pan. It’s got a few clever design features, like the way it has a V shape so food stays put and then slides nicely into the pan.
But as far as being useful goes, Scoop It does not get a passing grade. Most people that buy it will not think to use it each time the need arises, and will probably stick to their current habits and just use the cutting board or the broad side of their chef’s knife. The few scraps of food that fall off just come with the territory of cooking at home.
Our Recommendation
Although Scoop It works as advertised, the question remains whether or not you need it. Will you remember to take it out of your kitchen gadget drawer and use it for the one second or maybe 2 seconds it takes to move food from the cutting board to your frying pan? Also, does Scoop It work better than just using your knife to scoop the food and transf it over? We think not.
I got the Scoop It at a baby shower as a prize. It is one of those things you throw in your junk drawer in your kitchen as it is basically junk. I don’t know why anyone would ever purchase this product as all it can do is scoop up foods that you chop, but if you are using a cutting board, then you can slide the chopped food from the cutting board into a bowl. Why would you ever use this product? I tried it and it was a waste of time to me and in the trash it went.
Seriously, how do products like this even get to market?!?
just another product for people to waste money on. As the article rightly says this is nothing more than a small plastic dustpan.
If you can’t move chopped food to a pan without sacrificing the odd one or two pieces if they fall then maybe you shouldn’t be in the kitchen 🙂
A better solution to this problem i saw once was a chopping board that had sides that folded up to make a scoop shape. You could then hold the whole chopping board with the sides up so the food couldn’t fall out/off…
I can’t remember what it’s called but will update if i find it again