Best food scale?

sarahwinston2

So I want to buy a food scale. Which one is the best?

autumnblade75

I don't know anything about *best* but if I were to buy another one (the old one is working fine, why would I?) I'd look for one with a larger weighing area. Like, you can fit a whole plate on it. Mine, the readout is lost under the edge of even a salad plate, unless I balance the plate on top of a cup, or something. So, that's a feature I would look for.

netitheyeti

I like mine because it's nice and flat, my mom has one that has a smaller round (raised) area to put stuff on and it's really awkward with larger plates/bowls. But basically any scale should be OK (even my old non-digital one was decently accurate), some are just less awkward to use

cmriverside

I have one that I paid less than $15 for on amazon and I've used it daily since 2010...any digital one will do, they all have various weights (grams, ounces, etc.) they all have a tare, most of the inexpensive ones go up to 10-11 pounds.

If you want "Best" home food scale it's likely the OXO one. It's $50 ...it would account for autumnblade's problem since it has a pull-out display so you could use it with larger plates and pots. I don't see the value in that since my little $15 one works fine. Mine is an Ozeri, but I don't think the brand is particularly important.

kimny72

cmriverside wrote: »

I have one that I paid less than $15 for on amazon and I've used it daily since 2010...any digital one will do, they all have various weights (grams, ounces, etc.) they all have a tare, most of the inexpensive ones go up to 10-11 pounds.

If you want "Best" home food scale it's likely the OXO one. It's $50 ...it would account for autumnblade's problem since it has a pull-out display so you could use it with larger plates and pots. I don't see the value in that since my little $15 one works fine. Mine is an Ozeri, but I don't think the brand is particularly important.

I have an Ozeri that I paid $15 years ago too!
I would just look for a digital scale with a flat weighing area (not a bowl), a tare function, and just picture your typical plates and bowls on it - will they balance on it and will you be able to see the readout at the time?
As others have said, it's hard to go wrong though

autumnblade75

I'm pretty sure WalMart offers one with a nice large platform for $20. I'm too cheap to upgrade, while the scale I've got is working. But if I was just starting out, I'd have appreciated the pointer.

cmriverside

kimny72 wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

I have one that I paid less than $15 for on amazon and I've used it daily since 2010...any digital one will do, they all have various weights (grams, ounces, etc.) they all have a tare, most of the inexpensive ones go up to 10-11 pounds.

If you want "Best" home food scale it's likely the OXO one. It's $50 ...it would account for autumnblade's problem since it has a pull-out display so you could use it with larger plates and pots. I don't see the value in that since my little $15 one works fine. Mine is an Ozeri, but I don't think the brand is particularly important.

I have an Ozeri that I paid $15 years ago too!
I would just look for a digital scale with a flat weighing area (not a bowl), a tare function, and just picture your typical plates and bowls on it - will they balance on it and will you be able to see the readout at the time?
As others have said, it's hard to go wrong though

The "good" thing about the little clear bowl that comes with some of them is that you can balance larger plates and bowls on top of that clear bowl and that makes the display numbers visible instead of them being obscured by the plate. I just put a bowl on the scale and then put my large plate on top...

So as an example, mine came with a plastic bowl (but any bowl would do)

I set my plate on top of that (or my pot, or whatever is so large that it would hide the weight numbers.) You just need to get it up a few inches so you can view the display.

kimny72

Ooooh, okay a removable bowl is not a bad idea! Just avoid a fixed bowl then

cmriverside

kimny72 wrote: »

Ooooh, okay a removable bowl is not a bad idea! Just avoid a fixed bowl then

Lol, well, no. A fixed bowl would be an unfortunate "feature."

serindipte

I use this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A8RMWEW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I can set a plate or large pot on it and still see the display because it's angled down. Any of the flat ones, I have trouble with because the display gets obscured by anything larger set on it.

kshama2001

For the most part, I like the older version of OXO Good Grips 11 Pound Stainless Steel Food Scale with Pull-Out Display, which was the top choice of America's Test Kitchen when I bought it. It had some flaws that the newer version fixed. I left the old one at my Mom's and got another one in 2018. Unfortunately, the newer version is a crazy battery hog - I need 4 new batteries every 6 weeks. It's also harder to shut off and to see if it is in Snooze mode. I think Snooze is also lasting much longer than it should, which would contribute to the battery drain. For these reasons, I do not recommend it.

Oh, and it is also terrible with less than 4 grams, which is often where I want to be with oil.

sarahwinston2

Thanks guys!

ralphdenten

When choosing a kitchen scale, ask the sellers the maximum error of the unit you like. The maximum error of high-quality electronic scales should be no more than 0.1-10 g. I'm using this one https://www.amazon.com/Vont-Beautiful-Measurement-Stainless-Batteries/dp/B08SW6F5SZ for few months, no complaints. Buttons on a scale can be push-button or touch. Scales with a push-button control system are cheaper. Modern kitchen scales are mostly the same, except cheaper ones. By the way, electronic scales will be very useful not only in the kitchen but also for needlewomen for weighing, for example, the beads. Even jewelers use electronic scales.

futuresylph

ralphdenten wrote: »

I'm using this one https://www.amazon.com/Vont-Beautiful-Measurement-Stainless-Batteries/dp/B08SW6F5SZ for few months, no complaints.

That looks exactly like the one I just bought, with the sole exception of the brand name. I like the easy battery compartment (which I'll doubtless need soon, because I've been using the scale constantly).