Accurate Scales. Digital and Otherwise

[skeptic7]

Does anyone have recommendations for scales to use in baking, and or chemistry making? I don't feel that I absolutely need scales for baking yet, but I've seen recipes for beeswax/oil combinations for wood finishes, and skin cream, and derusting solutions, and glue etc and think that some of these would be interesting. Most of these call for weighing the ingredients.
I would prefer something that plugs into the wall so I"m not dependent on batteries. I was almost looking into old fashion balance beams like in HS chemistry classes but these are more expensive.
An accurate scale would be also be useful for dividing dough for rolls or using weight based recipes.

Spread the word

      

  

  

[Mike Nolan]

I have at least 7 different digital scales, and I've cross-tested them several times and found them pretty consistent as long as you stay away from the high and low end of their respective ranges. I have 25 and 50 gram weights for testing the lower range ones, the bigger ones I usually test with a pound of butter.

The biggest of them can handle up to about 35 pounds, I find that useful for weighing large batches in the pot, like when I make 15 quarts of beef stock in a pot that weights over 8 pounds. (I usually have to put a 6 inch cake ring on the platform when weighing a big pot, or I can't see the display.)

Two of them can measure in 1/10th of a gram, I find them useful for baking because I often resize a recipe up or down, so 1 tsp of salt (around 6 grams) may become 4.8 grams. I've also been using one of them to measure out chemicals for the new hydroponic system.

The smallest of them can measure in milligrams. The thing I used it for most recently was to measure the specific gravity of a batch of tomato sauce. (I weight out 10 ml of sauce in a graduated cylinder, water will come out to almost exactly 10 grams, the sauce came out at about 11.5 grams, so it had a specific gravity of 1.15.

My wife prefers one scale that handles up to about 15 pounds, I mostly another than has a similar upper range. (The one she uses is an older MyWeigh KD-8000 that the on/off button has lost the cover over the switch, but it still works. I will probably replace it with another KD-8000 at some point.)

[BakerAunt]

I bought a small, inexpensive Salter platform scale at Ross over 15 years ago. It uses batteries. I have been pleased with it. I had a more expensive scale from King Arthur that lasted only a couple of years. Unlike my trusty Salter, the switch that allowed you to go from metric to English measurements was on the bottom. I like being able to toggle back and forth on the top.

I have a little scale for small, minute amounts. My husband has mostly used it for some of his solutions. As it is not used often, I do not keep the batteries in it. Bad batteries destroyed that more expensive scale from King Arthur. I use the Salter enough, and it uses button batteries, so battery leakage is not a problem.

I wish that I had room in my house for a plug-in scale, but the counter is crowded enough as it is in a kitchen that is definitely smaller than my dream kitchen.

[Author]

Posts