I have an ice cream scoop that is labeled with something like:
Do not immerse in water hotter than 140 °F / 60 °C. Do not wash this item in the dishwasher.
What is the real reason for these warnings? I have found mentions of things like:
- Hot water will "dry out" the chemicals inside. (What chemicals? Why are they there? How would temperature affect them exactly?)
- The finish on the scoop may change appearance and may rub off during later use. (Is this due to the hot water? Detergent? Bleach?)
I have a scoop that has accidentally gone through the dishwasher a couple of times without apparent ill effect. Is there now something deficient about my scoop? Is it not being as effective as it was when it was new due to the lack of some mysterious chemicals? Is the finish now coming off into my ice cream even if I can't see it? Is there any health or safety risk due to this?
The scoop is metal. Probably aluminium. Looks like this but not so shiny (don't recall whether it ever was):
Best Answer
I've accidentally run my scoop, a Zeroll with conductive fluid inside the handle, through the dishwasher. I don't know this for a fact because I didn't cut mine open to check, but I believe what happened to mine (and what's happened to yours) is that the fluid is meant to work at normal body temperature and when it gets too hot, like in a dishwasher, it solidifies. That's the clunking sound, the now-solid conductive liquid. So while it still works as a scoop, the conductive fluid is no longer doing its job and scooping will be a little harder. I definitely noticed that after mine went through the dishwasher.