Digital food scale reviews

by Dan Dascalescu - 2008-Nov-03

This is a meta-review of digital kitchen scales selected from Amazon's top seller lists in Measuring Tools & Scales and other food scales top seller lists. A digital food scale meta-review means that I have not personally tested all of these devices, but I have gone through most (if not all) of the Amazon (and other) user reviews for each.

Education

Food scales can be mechanical or digital. Obviously, mechanical scales are out. All scales support metric measurements, as well as the stupid imperial system used in the US.

The maximum weight tends to be in three classes:

• under 1 kilogram - precision can be as good as 0.1g
• under 5kg (11lb) - precision is 1g or 2g. In this class, precision can degrade to 5g after the weight exceeds 2kg
• under 25kg - this is a combination of food/shipping scale too bulky to consider

Among manufacturers, British manufacturer Salter seems to have mixed reviews, while German manufacturer Soehnle has rave reviews from users who have owned a digital scale for 5 or 10 years. Other manufacturers are either not specialized on scales (e.g. Oxo), or have a narrow range of food weight measurement products.

Food scales reviewed

Below are the scales I have reviewed, from the most likely to buy, to the least likely.

Soehnle Page Digital Kitchen Scale

• 1g/5Kg (manufacturer)
• sleek thin (17mm) look
• smooth tempered glass surface, easy to clean
• tare feature
• $40
• 3 AAA batteries (ref)
• available in lots of colors from http://www.cheftools.com (white would hide bread crumbs; green would show anything)
• I ended up buying this scale. It is WAY smaller than it looks. In reality, it's about as wide as a CD. If you place a regular plate on it, the plate will cover the scale's display and likely the entire scale completely.

Terraillon Sub 11-Pound Kitchen Scale, White-light brown

• looks like a cutting board
• unknown accuracy

American Weigh 600g x 0.1 Digital Gram Coin Pocket Scale Mini

• extremely accurate (0.1g)
• portable
• limited to 600g, but you'll only weigh more if you cook

Oxo Good Grips Food Scale with Pull-Out Display

• 11lb, 1-g increments
• idiotic fraction instead of decimal display (5/8 instead of 0.6) (ref)
• can remove the plate for cleanup (ref)

Soehnle Digital Kitchen Scale, Silver

• durable (5+ years)
• 1.5 gram precision (Amazon), 1-gram precision (manufacturer)
• cantilever design seems to defeat the purpose of accuracy (ref)

Soehnle Triple Digital Food Scale

• $75
• looks cool but odd
• washable plate
• 2-gram precision
• durable (10+ years)

American Weigh AMW-1000 Digital Bench Jewelry Postage Kitchen Food Scale 1000 Gram x 0.1g

• 0.1g precision
• 1kg limit but you'll only weigh more food if you actually cook cakes
• 9V battery
• plate not washable?

Escali Primo Digital Multifunctional Scale, Chrome

• some units are not accurate, others are
• flimsy, plastic
• can't read weight of bowls that cover the display

Salter 11-Pound Square Stainless-Steel Digital Kitchen Scale

• 2-gram precision when Oxo has 1-gram precision for weighing 11lb
• looks sleek

Salter 1006 11-Pound Electronic Kitchen Scale with Stainless-Steel Surface

• looks nifty
• accuracy issues

EatSmart Digital Nutrition Scale - Professional Food and Nutrient Calculator

• use a real nutrition database: www.thedailyplate.com

Salter Digital Nutritional Scale for Dry and Liquid Measure

• use a real nutrition database: www.thedailyplate.com

Salter 5-Pound Microtronic Kitchen Scale, White

• tends to be dead on arrival
• $30 but looks cheap

Soehnle Level Digital Kitchen Scale, Silver/Black

• bad design

NewLine Space Saver Digital Glass Kitchen Scale

• stability issues
• thermometer is significantly off
• seems fragile

Salter Aquatronic Glass Kitchen Scale

• looks cool
• bad design prevents tare feature from working (ref)