Kitchen Scale Recommendations (2003 – 2010)

[Kerry Beal]

I have the myweigh 7001 also, purchased from www.canadianweigh.com

I love it because it can be set up so it doesn't turn itself off and it stays in the same units until you reset ie you don't have to push the button a couple of times each time you turn it on to get to grams.

My old scale, purchased from an office supply store drove me nuts. It would turn itself off just as I was getting close to getting the glucose to come out of the bottle, then I would have to change it from ounces to grams. By the time I got the glucose ready again, the ****ing thing would turn itself off again.

[KLwood]

I finally got around to ordering some goodies from WillPowder and reading up on this cool food trend , only to find that my Salter digital kitchen scale only reads in 5 gram increments , and guesswork just doesnt seem to cut it with sodium Alginate, I was wondering what some of the 'Molecular Gastronomes' are using... will a scale accurate to the gram do it or do I need something more along the lines of a lab scale ? Id rather not go overboad , or more importantly over price... under ( preferably WAY under) $100, is my limit.

THANKS

Edit to add, Ive found plenty of digital scales that claim to be accurate to .01 gram, but Ive never heard of the brands..

Edited September 22, 2007 by KLwood (log)

[Joe Blowe]

If you search this board for scale recommendations, you'll see MyWeigh mentioned pretty often. I have their KD-7000, which measures in one gram increments, and it's been great.

MyWeigh also have scales that measure in .1 and .05 gram increments...

[dougal]

For curing, I wanted some scales that were accurate to 1/10 th gram.

I chose a scale with a sensitivity/precision (not quite the same as accuracy) of 1/100 th gram.

Reckoning that the additional precision beyond my requirements increased my belief in the product doing what I wanted!

I was careful to choose a scale with enough range to handle the most that I would want to weigh accurately PLUS the weight of a container for it. (Incidentally, turns out that paper cups - USA "dixiecups"? - make excellent scale pans!)

And I chose a scale with a calibration function, and a vendor that sold appropriate calibration weights. (Generally, I think that they calibrate at full scale - my 200g scale needs a 200g calibration weight.)

Such scales - and pocket-sized too - seem to be mass-produced. My guess is that their primary market just might be street sales of chemicals that weren't intended for cookery...

My scale is just fine for my needs.

Including the calibration weight, tax and signed for UK postage, IIRC it cost less than £20 ($40). Over a year ago.

HOWEVER

- that specific model is discontinued

- and it seems that the retailer (I'm tempted to say 'dealer') has been absorbed by its major chinese supplier

SO I haven't dealt with *exactly* these folk - but I did with their (then UK based) predecessors

http://www.ukscales.com/shop/

They now ship from China. And have dollar (as well as sterling) prices.

I can't see why you'd be better off with a brandname rather than a calibration function (and for the paranoid a couple of smaller checkweights even if they can't be used for calibration).

[KLwood]

Well, after a truly fascinating shopping trip into the world of pocket sized digital scales that measure to the tenth of a gram, most of which are backlit for those situations where its crucial to measure accurately in low light , I wound up with This One From My Weigh along with a calibration weight .. seriously, I couldnt resist , besides having the coolest name, its also eco- friendly

My overall favorite was This Baby which deserves this Years design award for Originality in a Small Dope Scale.

Now onto Syringe Shopping.....

Edited September 23, 2007 by KLwood (log)

[cdh]

I recently picked up this scale. It has .1 gram resolution, and works quite well for $11.

[Shalmanese]

There's quite an active market for these sorts of scales on ebay for people who have a frequent need to measure out very accurate amounts of fine white powder.

[Joe Blowe]

Cream of tartar? Baking soda? Oh no wait, invert sugar!

[Preserver]

sounds like you need a scale that weighs weed or some sort of drug. living in San Francisco you get alot of these scale's in the head shop thats strewn around town..

[paulraphael]

I haven't shopped from this site, or used Myweigh scales, but both have been recommended to me:

http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/

.1 gram resolution is easy to find. (as is .01 and .001 ... which I doubt you need). The issue is that if you have fine resolution AND a reasonably high capacity, the scale will be very expensive.

I use a .1g acculab scale that's been borrowed from my darkroom. It works fine, but, its weight limit is 300g. Which is a serious limit for cooking! I'm thinking about getting a 1g resolution mywiegh that can hold several KG for the routine stuff that I do in the kitchen. If you just need one for the molecular stuff, a low capacity, high accuracy one like mine might be the best buy.

[Daniel Rogov]

First a question and then an answer:

1. Why in the world would anyone on planet Earth choose to use sodium alginate in cookery?

2. If you do need an accurate scale, stroll to 47th Street in Manhattan and buy one of those scales used to weigh diamonds.

Apologies for black humor.....

[paulraphael]

First a question and then an answer:

1. Why in the world would anyone on planet Earth choose to use sodium alginate in cookery?

you've never had a dab of alginate on toast? you're missing out!

[paulraphael]

The other threads on digital scales are a few years old. I figure info on anything electronic has an expiration date.

So. ny old darkroom scale has done a pretty good job weighing chocolate and butter, but is limited to 300 grams.

I'd like something that can handle 5kg or so, is simple, easy to clean, works with any bowl, and has whatever kitchen features people think are useful (all I've ever used is Tare, but maybe there's something else I don't know about?)

People seem to like My Weigh scales (in spite of the name). Thoughts?

[Joe Blowe]

Yes, MyWeigh good.

[David J.]

The other threads on digital scales are a few years old. I figure info on anything electronic has an expiration date.

So. ny old darkroom scale has done a pretty good job weighing chocolate and butter, but is limited to 300 grams.

I'd like something that can handle 5kg or so, is simple, easy to clean, works with any bowl, and has whatever kitchen features people think are useful (all I've ever used is Tare, but maybe there's something else I don't know about?)

People seem to like My Weigh scales (in spite of the name). Thoughts?

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Though it's sold as a postal scale I really like the 7001DX. I've had it for over two years now and use it for all my chocoalte work and baking. It's both durable and inexpensive.

[paulraphael]

I ordered a My Weigh, but chose the i5000 based on recommendations from Old Will Knot and this Cooking for Engineers article:

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/82/Kitchen-Scales

I'll let you know how it is. Thanks for the feedback.

[Chris Amirault]

I got a KD-600 a long way back and didn't run into any limitations until I started doing lots of charcuterie (especially dry-cured stuff) and bitters. So I just grabbed one of those DealExtreme scales with the 0.1 gram scale. Cheap, too: $11 and free shipping.

I'll report back when it arrives.

[paulraphael]

Does anyone make a scale that works with bakers' percentages? It seems like such an obvious feature: weigh your flour, establish it as the 100% ingredient, and hit tare. Then every other ingredient gets measured in percentages instead of grams. Instant, mindless recipe scaling.

[Woods]

Does anyone make a scale that works with bakers' percentages? It seems like such an obvious feature: weigh your flour, establish it as the 100% ingredient, and hit tare. Then every other ingredient gets measured in percentages instead of grams. Instant, mindless recipe scaling.

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Yep, this is the way I bake bread all the time now. I just fail to record some of the better results too often!

[paulraphael]

Yep, this is the way I bake bread all the time now.  I just fail to record some of the better results too often!

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You have a scale that translates percentages? What is it?

[Chris Hennes]

Yep, this is the way I bake bread all the time now.  I just fail to record some of the better results too often!

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You have a scale that translates percentages? What is it?

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The myWeigh i5500 has a "count" function that you can use like this, I think. You would put your flour on and tell it that that is 100 units. Then, everything else you put on will come out as a "percentage" of the flour.

[paulraphael]

I've had a chance to use the My Weigh i5000 a bit.

It's a great scale ... fast, repeatable results, good capacity, good display, easy to clean. The 5kg capacity is great. I can measure out anything in any container (my old lab scale topped out at 300g). The company says the scale uses higher grade load cells than many of their scales, for improved accuracy and durability.

My one complaint is the auto power-off "feature." The thing constantly shuts down while I'm in the middle of using it. The power up cycle is fast, and it will automatically tare any weight that's sitting on it when you turn it on. But still a nuissance. i wrote a note to the company asking if there's any way to disable it.

Only other potential issue is that the platform is small, so if you need to weigh a large container it might hide the display from you. But I'll mostly use it with mixing bowl or saucepan-sized things, so I don't anticipate trouble.

[paulraphael]

The myWeigh i5500 has a "count" function that you can use like this, I think. You would put your flour on and tell it that that is 100 units. Then, everything else you put on will come out as a "percentage" of the flour.

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Chris, I believe you are a genius.

Edited February 4, 2008 by paulraphael (log)

[Chris Hennes]

The myWeigh i5500 has a "count" function that you can use like this, I think. You would put your flour on and tell it that that is 100 units. Then, everything else you put on will come out as a "percentage" of the flour.

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Chris, I believe you are a genius.

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lol... you only think that because you don't know me very well... I can dispel that belief very quickly in person! Does your i5000 have this feature? I have only really looked at the i5500 since it is accurate to 0.1 grams and the auto-off can be disabled.

[Chris Hennes]

So I just grabbed one of those DealExtreme scales with the 0.1 gram scale. Cheap, too: $11 and free shipping.

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Chris, I followed your lead on this and ordered one of these as well. For the price, it is certainly a good deal. It seems to be accurate, giving the correct result of 2.5 grams for a U.S. penny (clean, from 2000). The backlight is a little odd, but for $11 it is a great investment for those of us who weigh out small quantities (salt, yeast, etc.).