Here's The Genius Way To Keep Ice Cream Soft And Scoopable

Americans eat 23 pounds of ice cream on average each year (via International Dairy Foods Association). Unfortunately, before you can enjoy a scoop of your favorite flavor, you have to wait for the ice cream to soften up after you take it out of the freezer, or worse, you discover it has freezer burn. Well, there's a genius way to keep your ice cream soft — but not soupy — and easily scoopable, so, no more bent spoons, and free of freezer burn. 

The great news is this hack only requires a simple storage item that you are bound to have handy in your kitchen drawers: Ziploc bags. That's really all you need, and a carton of ice cream, of course. Simply place the carton in the plastic bag, push out all the air, ensuring your ice cream and the air never meet, and close it. This will ensure your ice cream stays soft and ready to scoop when you are ready to eat it (via Huff Post). But there's more.

Using freezer bags to safeguard your ice cream should also cut down on freezer burn by keeping the air out, and providing another barrier between your dessert and freezer elements. Meanwhile, Ziploc bags help to keep out any smells that might be lingering in your freezer, so it's a double win (via Tasting Table). 

When you are ready to scoop your sweet frozen treat, run hot water over the scooper to warm it up, and you will be that much closer to brain freeze nirvana. What if you are having friends over and plan on using the whole carton? There's a trick for that too. Warm up a knife by placing it in hot water and then slice up your ice cream like a checkerboard. These cut lines should be about an inch deep. This will then make it easier to scoop your ice cream. 

Finally, when you start your scoop, you want to do so in an "S" shape. And whatever you do, don't start your scooping from the center of the ice cream carton. Ice cream melts from the outside in (via Rachael Ray In Season). Now go scoop your ice cream like a pro!