Don’t you just hate it when you take the ice cream tub out of the freezer and try to scoop some of that delicious ice cream only to realize that it is frozen solid and won’t budge at all leaving you with only two solutions; either heat up the spoon or let the ice cream melt a little. This frustrating scenario has led an inventor to come up with a tool which will solve this problem once and for all.
Actually, the problem lies with the angle which we all use to approach the task with. So, what did Michael Chou did? Instead of using the conventional scooping method of moving the wrist in sideways direction, he invented a scoop which has to be pushed away from you and thus engages the power of your chest as well as arm muscles. The invention has been named as Midnight Scoop and is the first change in design that has occurred ever since the scoop was invented back in 1897 by Alfred L Cralle.
Mr. Chou is 35 years old and father to two, he works as an Aerospace engineer and lives in Michigan, US. He said, “Every time I scooped ice cream I couldn’t help but feel there was a better way. I like my ice cream frozen and hard – melting it with a hot spoon or letting it sit out for half an hour ruins it.”
The whole project took him two years to complete and the end product has been made from a coated and forged alloy of aluminum. As of now, Kickstarter campaign is being carried out to generate funds and produce this amazing gadget. The retail price, once the campaign ends in October, will be a little over £30.
As for the peculiar name that he has given to this gadget, Mr. Chou expressed, “It’s called the Midnight Scoop because I spent so many late nights drafting and designing on the drawing board. I designed the scoop to rely on something that never runs out – mechanical force supplied by the arm and chest. My background in aerospace engineering has made me familiar with mechanical forces and the materials the Midnight Scoop is made from. But more importantly I am a father, and that has made me familiar with ice cream! I decided I needed to come up with a simple way to scoop hard ice cream without melting it, and without creating some overly-complex product that would break eventually. That was part of what drove me to create the Midnight Scoop – I needed a fast and efficient way to get ice cream to my son and daughter. Also, the scoop allows them to scoop ice cream a lot easier. It’s a win win!”
A pretty simple yet cool invention, isn’t it?