Advice on kitchen scales
1. Which type of kitchen scale do you need?
Flat scale
- Cleaning is easy, as you can simply wipe this flat scale with a cloth.
- You can place a bowl on it and set the weight to 0, or weigh separate products directly on the scale.
- You don't need a lot of space to store it, as you can easily store it in a kitchen drawer.
- A flat scale isn't an eye-catcher on your kitchen counter.
Kitchen scale with bowl
- A kitchen scale with a bowl is a nice eye-catcher in your kitchen.
- You always have a bowl on hand.
- With this scale, you only measure the content of the bowl, as the weight of the bowl is already included when the scale shows 0.
- A scale with a bowl takes up more space than a flat scale.
2. How does the weight have to be indicated?
Digital
- You can see the weight on the digital display right away.
- A digital scale is more accurate than an analog scale.
- Some digital scales have a liquid measurement function.
- A digital scale works on batteries.
Analog
- With an analog scale, you don't need batteries.
- An analog scale isn't as accurate as a digital scale.
3. How accurately should the measurements be rounded off?
Kitchen scales sometimes differ in how the weight is rounded off. Read what the different ways are used for below.
To 0.1g
A scale that rounds off the weight to 0.1g, is also known as a diet scale or letter scale and is usually digital. You can use this scale if you want to weigh ingredients very accurately. This makes the scale is very suitable for weighing herbs and powders as well. Keep in mind that some diet scales have a maximum weight they accurately round off to 0.1g, for example 200g.
To 1g
Most digital kitchen scales round off the weight to one gram. That's suitable for most recipes.
To 10g or more
An analog scale often weighs accurately up to 10g. That's fine for most recipes, but requires more intuition than with a more accurate scale. This way of rounding off is less suitable for weighing herbs or powders.
4. Does the scale need to have a liquid measurement function?
If a scale has a liquid measurement function, it means that the scale can measure the volume of liquids. You have to set the scale to millimeters. An analog scale is never suitable for weighing liquids.
5. What's a tare function?
Digital scales have a tare function. You can set the zero point with this, including a bowl. For example, place a bowl on the scale. It now indicates that the bowl weighs 800g. If you turn on the tare function, the scale now displays 0. If you add 500g of flour, the scale will actually show 500g. The 800g of the bowl aren't included. You can now set the scale to 0 again, so you can add a new ingredient without having to empty the bowl first.
6. What else can you keep in mind?
There are some other aspects to keep in mind when choosing a scale.
Battery
You need batteries to use a digital scale. This varies from a single button cell battery to AAA batteries. These need to be replaced every once in a while. An analog scale doesn't require batteries.
Maximum weighing range
Keep in mind that the maximum weighing range differs per scale. This varies from 250g to about 15kg. Do you only use the scale to weigh powders and letters? Choose a smaller range. If you like baking at home and have to weigh large amounts of flour and sugar, a scale with a range starting at 5kg is a good option.
