The Versatile Tool That Makes Portioning Ingredients A Breeze

If you've been an avid home cook for a while, you've probably learned with time that it's best to avoid single-function appliances, tools, and gadgets. These items can simply be a waste of space. They're suited for just one very specific task, yet take up precious real estate in drawers and cupboards. Savvy Food Network host Alton Brown, who has avowed his distaste for this category of single-function kitchen tools, even has a disparaging name for them: the Unitaskers (via Slate).

If you like to bake, you might find yourself reaching for your cookie scoops only when whipping up chocolate chunk, brown butter toffee, or classic peanut butter cookies — the dreaded Unitasking at work. But did you know there's a whole world of utility out there for cookie scoops? Read on to find out what these handy multitaskers are truly capable of.

Don't fret; your cookie scoop is handy for so many tasks besides baking, according to GYGI. This includes efficiently spooning deviled egg filling into cooked egg whites, perfectly portioning out meatballs, and scooping precise amounts of ground meat to be shaped into uniform burgers. You can use a scoop to shape perfect balls of falafel, measure out pancake batter, and fill family members' plates with identical amounts of mashed potatoes, potato salad, and other side dishes; no fighting among siblings with this trick!

The cookie scoop, too, is a neat item for measuring raw ingredients, according to pastry chef Mac Daniel Dimla. Dimla's scoops, as he told Food & Wine, are anything but Unitaskers given that different-sized scoops have different capacities, measured in ounces, they can be used like a measuring cup to grab an exact amount of, say, flour, sugar, or even liquid ingredients such as oil or honey. 

"It is so much easier to grab ingredients from the container, and measure them with the scale, instead of trying to pour a container into a bowl and messing up," Dimla told the outlet.

If you've only got one scoop size at home, purchasing an array of sizes will help you achieve an even wider variety of tasks. Dima recommends this set from Amazon, which range in capacity from ¾-ounce to 5⅓-ounces, and since the handles are color-coded, you'll quickly recognize which size is which. Think about how much you can get done with all of these scoops!