Best Budget Digital Kitchen Scale: Our Honest Review

If you only buy one new kitchen tool this year, make it a scale. Measuring flour by weight instead of cups is the single biggest upgrade you can make to your baking. A cup of flour can weigh anywhere from 120 to 160 grams depending on how you scoop it. That difference is the gap between a soft cake and a dry one.

What we tested

We used this scale for six weeks for bread, cakes, coffee, portioning and everyday cooking. We looked at accuracy, how fast it responds, how easy it is to clean and how it behaves with a heavy mixing bowl on top.

Accuracy

We checked it against calibration weights and found it accurate to within 1 gram all the way up to 5 kg. It responds quickly and does not drift. That matters when you are weighing 5 grams of yeast.

Everyday use

• Tare button: place a bowl, press tare, and add ingredients one by one. One bowl, fewer dishes.
• Units: switches between grams, ounces, pounds and milliliters.
• Auto-off: turns off after two minutes. A little short if you are waiting for something to proof, but you can turn it back on instantly.
• Size: it is thin enough to store in a drawer.

What we did not love

The display is not backlit, so it can be hard to read in a dim kitchen. It also runs on button batteries that are not included in some versions.

Verdict

A reliable, accurate tool at a fair price. You will use it every time you bake.