Kitchen scales are pretty much essential for any nerdy cooking pursuits but in particular, baking calls for the precision measurements offered by digital kitchen scales. There are dozens of styles, brands and models out there and today I spent a good hour researching before I bought myself a new set of scales to replace a worn set. Here’s what you will want to consider when buying:
Durability
I bought a cheaper set of scales which had a circular glass tray that screwed into the base. I wouldn’t get these again or recommend them as the plastic screw holding the tray down was subjected to regular strain and broke in a few places. Better are the flat trays that are secured to the body of the scales.
Here's my last set of scales. Note the weak point in this design - a loaded tray stresses the attachment point
Cleaning your scales
If you are weighing flour or anything else messy, you will want to be able to clean your scales easily. When choosing scales, look for cracks or crevices around the tray. Any gap will get filled with food, and if not removable this will build up and jam the scale – not to mention it will look disgusting.
Accuracy & increments
All decent digital scales should have a choice of weighing in grams, ounces, etc, but the precision of the reading varies. 1 gram increments are common for good kitchen scales and in most cases are all you need. For fractions of a gram, more specialised scales are needed. I use a small set of scales like these ones that measure in 0.1g increments for measuring things that need to be very precise or have strong flavours.You might see scales marked like 100g x 0.1g or 5000g x 1g. The larger number is the maximum capacity and the smaller number is the increments used.
While on accuracy, consider the placement of the digital display. Some scales place the display close to the tray, so if you are weighing a large bowl it is hard to see underneath to read the weight. If you are likely to weigh items like large mixing bowls, look for scales with the display on the front of the scale rather than the top so it’s easy to read.
Minimum/maximum capacity
Consider how much you will want to be weighing often. Many models offer a maximum weight of up to 5kg. I mix very large batches of dough sometimes so looked for a 10kg capacity scale. Scales have a minimum weight too, but this is most often 1 or 2 grams for a normal kitchen scale.
Batteries
Not a major consideration but I always find it a bit harder to find those small round batteries in the size I want. If you buy scales with the little round lithium batteries as opposed to AAAs, stock up with a bulk pack so you don’t get stuck without batteries during a late night baking session (been there).
So what did I choose? After a lot of deliberation I got a set of Salter digital scales, the Aquatronics model. Salter is a pretty good name in scales, and mine came with a 15 year warranty – which sounds good but I don’t know how likely I am to not lose the receipt until 2026. The key features of these scales for me were:
- Quick power on – some scales I looked at had a lot of features like kitchen timer, temperature and so on but took a long time to actually power on.
- Location of display – the front display isn’t hidden by a large bowl
- Easy to clean – flat stainless tray (There’s also a glass tray model in the range) is easy to wipe down. There’s a gap under the front of the tray so you can clean there more easily too.
- High capacity – they can measure up to 10kg in 1g increments.
Salter Aquatronics Scales - excuse fingerprints