The ice tongs in two lines
Stainless steel ice tongs, 180mm long, with clawed tips: they take cubes from the ice well and put them into the glass without hands touching them.
Who it is for
For anyone with an ice well and guests. Ice is a raw ingredient that reaches the glass exactly as it is, with no step afterwards that cleans it up: whatever touches the cube reaches the guest. That is why the hand stays out, and it is also why the scoop and the tongs do not live inside the ice when they are not in use.
The claws are not a styling detail
A cube just out of the well has a film of water on it and behaves like a bar of soap: a smooth tip lets it escape at the first movement, and it ends up on the floor or on the counter. The claws bite just into the surface and turn the hold from friction into a lock, so the cube stays where it is even when the hand moves fast. On a large old fashioned cube the difference is more obvious still, because there the weight works against the grip.
Specifications
- Material: stainless steel
- Length: 180mm
- Tips: clawed
- Packed dimensions: 7 x 23.5 x 3.5cm
- Weight: 100g
- Dishwasher safe: yes, bare stainless steel
One hundred and eighty millimetres, short on purpose
On tongs the arm is a lever, and the longer it is the less force reaches the tip: 300mm ice tongs look more comfortable but grip less, which is why models made for ice are almost always short. One hundred and eighty millimetres reach the base of a bar ice well and still sit in the palm, which is the position where you control the pressure. Habit does the rest: you take one cube at a time, not three.
Why they are not for garnishes
For two opposite reasons. The first is mechanical: claws score a twist and tear a mint leaf, so a garnish picked up this way reaches the glass already spoiled. The second is about taste: ice takes on the smell of everything it touches, and tongs that have just gripped a slice of lime leave it in the well, where it stays for hours. On a serious station there are two pairs of tongs, and they live in two different places.
Tongs or scoop
They are two different ways of serving ice and they cover different situations. The scoop takes many cubes at once and is the right tool when you fill a glass to the rim or load a shaker: fast, and with flaked ice it is the only workable one. Tongs are for when there is one cube and it has to go exactly where you want it, which is to say on a drink served over a large block, or when you add ice to a glass already built without wrecking the garnish. A bar that works well has one of each, and neither of them inside the ice.
Care
Bare stainless steel, so the dishwasher is allowed. It is worth drying them, because limescale shows on the tips and on the polished arm, and it is worth resting them on a clean cloth beside the well rather than in it: tongs buried in ice are tongs nobody washes mid service. Every so often check that the two arms close in line.
FAQ
How long are the ice tongs? One hundred and eighty millimetres, the short size that gives the grip more force.
Dishwasher safe? Yes, it is bare stainless steel with no plating.
Do they hold large cubes? Yes, the claws bite into the surface and take the weight of an old fashioned cube.
Can they be used for garnishes? No: they would mark twists, and the ice would take on the smells.
Where do they live during service? Out of the ice, on a clean cloth beside the well.
The more you buy, the less you pay: 4 pieces -5%, 6 -7%, 8 -10%, on the same item.
Dispatched from Rome, Italy. 15-day returns, free of charge. Questions before you order? Message us on WhatsApp on +39 351 929 6937.
The comparison with the other tongs on the bar is in the tongs category.
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