Kitched scales - digital or not?

JennieAL · June 2011

I have a cheap little scale in my kitchen that's so light and flimsy I can barely use it. Does anyone have a great set of scales they recommend for weighing food? And should I go digital or stick to old fashioned? I am not excited about weighing food... I am a foodie with over 60 cookbooks and I've always approached cooking as an art form... not a science. This is a huge switch for me, to imagine weighing each and every item. I love cooking off the cuff... just slinging food together. Weighing is so anti-intuitive for me. Help.

oops... edit title to read "Kitchen scales"

ChristinaRamos · June 2011

Either one is fine. the digital needs to have the battery replaced sometimes. You don't have to weigh every single thing, some things can still be measured in cups and spoons, and you will start to become familiar with eyeballing the correct amount!

Sunshine_Girlie · June 2011

I have just a simple one...guess it's old fashioned. It comes with a clear cup with the measurements and the scale itself. I think I paid around five bucks for at Walmart a few years ago.

sam456 · June 2011

I bought a Biggest Loser digital scale and *love* it-- I've had it for about a year and have no complaints

I bought mine from Bed Bath and Beyond for $10-$15

-sam456
http://happyheartrecipes.blogspot.com

Thriceshy · June 2011

About 10 years ago, we took to measuring our foods and counting out servings. I lost 72 lbs. Then we stopped. And I gained it all back--plus 80 (!) of its friends. Now, I have other issues--a debilitating back injury which makes all but recumbent bike riding an impossibility as far as strenuous exercise goes. But the food weighing makes such a difference.

Just as importantly, it doesn't have to ruin the joy of being a "foodie." Just the other night, we made homemade tiropita (with feta, gruyere, and spinach) and sambusa with home-ground lamb, cardamom, cumin, leek, and fresh ground white pepper. Both enveloped in phyllo dough. Dipped in homemade tzatsiki. And I knew, ounce for ounce and calorie for calorie what I was eating, because we weighed and measured every ingredient. It was so good it's making my mouth water, just thinking about it, and because we did measure and weigh, I didn't have to worry about my blood sugar or feel guilty about eating so much (and it was a lot of food).

We've gone with a digital scale, it goes metric or standard, and it's the best. I totally recommend one, and I promise, it doesn't ruin your food life. It just takes a little while to get in the habit.

Kris

evonday · June 2011

I got a 10 lb digital scale about 4 days ago. it was about 20 bucks and totally worth it.

JennieAL · June 2011

About 10 years ago, we took to measuring our foods and counting out servings. I lost 72 lbs. Then we stopped. And I gained it all back--plus 80 (!) of its friends. Now, I have other issues--a debilitating back injury which makes all but recumbent bike riding an impossibility as far as strenuous exercise goes. But the food weighing makes such a difference.

Just as importantly, it doesn't have to ruin the joy of being a "foodie." Just the other night, we made homemade tiropita (with feta, gruyere, and spinach) and sambusa with home-ground lamb, cardamom, cumin, leek, and fresh ground white pepper. Both enveloped in phyllo dough. Dipped in homemade tzatsiki. And I knew, ounce for ounce and calorie for calorie what I was eating, because we weighed and measured every ingredient. It was so good it's making my mouth water, just thinking about it, and because we did measure and weigh, I didn't have to worry about my blood sugar or feel guilty about eating so much (and it was a lot of food).

We've gone with a digital scale, it goes metric or standard, and it's the best. I totally recommend one, and I promise, it doesn't ruin your food life. It just takes a little while to get in the habit.

Kris

Nice to know! Thanks

LauraKety · June 2011

I spent the $30 bucks to go for the digital one in hopes of it being more accurate (therefore, not letting me cheat). I bought this one at Target (link below).... It is small and sits on my counter all of the time. It lets you zero out the scale, allowing you to weigh things in bowls, etc. I love it.

Hope this helped.
Laura

http://www.target.com/Taylor-Digital-Food-Scale/dp/B001GD3EB2/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&keywords=kitchen scale&fromGsearch=true&sr=1-14&qid=1308373713&rh=&searchRank=target104545&id=Taylor Digital Food Scale&node=1038576|1287991011&searchSize=30&searchPage=1&searchNodeID=1038576|1287991011&searchBinNameList=subjectbin,price,target_com_primary_color-bin,target_com_size-bin,target_com_brand-bin&frombrowse=0

Thriceshy · June 2011

I spent the $30 bucks to go for the digital one in hopes of it being more accurate (therefore, not letting me cheat). I bought this one at Target (link below).... It is small and sits on my counter all of the time. It lets you zero out the scale, allowing you to weigh things in bowls, etc. I love it.

Hope this helped.
Laura

http://www.target.com/Taylor-Digital-Food-Scale/dp/B001GD3EB2/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&keywords=kitchen scale&fromGsearch=true&sr=1-14&qid=1308373713&rh=&searchRank=target104545&id=Taylor Digital Food Scale&node=1038576|1287991011&searchSize=30&searchPage=1&searchNodeID=1038576|1287991011&searchBinNameList=subjectbin,price,target_com_primary_color-bin,target_com_size-bin,target_com_brand-bin&frombrowse=0

That looks a lot like ours: http://www.amazon.com/iFits-Digital-Kitchen-Scale-EK3450/dp/B003BKT3L8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308374081&sr=8-1

They're probably quite similar in practice. I'm glad you're happy with it!

Kris

simplysara9 · June 2011

I have the Biggest Loser digital scale from Bed Bath and Beyond. It was around $20 and worth every penny.

JennieAL · June 2011

I spent the $30 bucks to go for the digital one in hopes of it being more accurate (therefore, not letting me cheat). I bought this one at Target (link below).... It is small and sits on my counter all of the time. It lets you zero out the scale, allowing you to weigh things in bowls, etc. I love it.

Hope this helped.
Laura

http://www.target.com/Taylor-Digital-Food-Scale/dp/B001GD3EB2/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&keywords=kitchen scale&fromGsearch=true&sr=1-14&qid=1308373713&rh=&searchRank=target104545&id=Taylor Digital Food Scale&node=1038576|1287991011&searchSize=30&searchPage=1&searchNodeID=1038576|1287991011&searchBinNameList=subjectbin,price,target_com_primary_color-bin,target_com_size-bin,target_com_brand-bin&frombrowse=0

I'm checking this one out now. Thanks!

hayleymc3 · June 2011

EDIT: Just realized this was about kitchen scales. lol

JennieAL · June 2011

EDIT: Just realized this was about kitchen scales. lol

Haha!

mowu · June 2011

I am not excited about weighing food... I am a foodie with over 60 cookbooks and I've always approached cooking as an art form... not a science. This is a huge switch for me, to imagine weighing each and every item. I love cooking off the cuff... just slinging food together. Weighing is so anti-intuitive for me. Help.

I love cooking too and have the same approach - I only got around the weighing of ingredients when I shifted my perspective.

Instead of weighing the ingredients to scale the amount of calories I put in the food, I weigh them to be able to re-produce whatever impromptu dishes I've made on the fly that turned out to be great.

That way it doesn't feel as much as a chore but more as away to get my own dishes documented (I often write them down in a notebook) and as a way to improve or experiment with dishes that were good but not perfect......and then the calorie counting and fat/carb/protein composition is just a positive side effect.

Personally I'm using a digital weight where I just put my ordinary measuring tools on and tare before I weigh that way I can wigh in directly on plates, in cups, i pans or bowls making the weighing very easy.

Dahamac · June 2011

I use a non-digital scale and really wish that I had a digital scale so that I could zero out for different containers. I bought the scales years ago though and I'm too frugal to spring for the digital at the moment.

Do scales make a difference? You bet. Last week my wife insisted that we have Dorito chips. So finally she gets to the bottom of the bag before she realizes it and puts them up (She's under her goal weight :ohwell: ). So the next day she brings the bag up to me and asks, "Hey is this one serving that is left?" Since I am standing at the scale, I dump the remainding crumbs on the scale and discover that it is in fact TWO servings instead of one. We'd never have known without the scales.

Many people claim to be able to accurately eye-ball these measurements. Since I was 180lbs overweight as of last Christmas, I know that I cannot eyeball measurements and thus use scales.

MissRose888 · June 2011

I have an OXO Digital scale and I LOVE it! It's about $25.00 at Target and is slim and easy to store. Nice because it's flat and you can actually put a plate or dish on it.

http://www.target.com/s?keywords=OXO+Digital+Scale&searchNodeID=1038576|1287991011&ref=sr_bx_1_1

Kitched scales - digital or not?

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