Kitchen Scales information

What about manual kitchen scales?

Balance scales requires you to move weighted objects along a beam until they reach the same weight as the object being weighed, and the two sides balance. Not only is this process time-consuming, balance scales have several moving parts and are thus harder to clean than digital scales. Still, these scales look elegant on the countertop, so if aesthetics are more important to you, you might consider a balance scale. You can find antique replicas online, or try eBay for an actual antique.

Mechanical scales are built by placing a platform over a spring. Over time, such springs become less and less accurate. Spring scales are often cheaply made and lightweight. While they are usually inexpensive, they are often inaccurate, particularly with small quantities of light ingredients. Bread bakers should steer clear of mechanical scales. As baking expert Maggie Glezer writes, "Spring scales are either finely calibrated with small capacities or coarsely calibrated with large capacities, neither of which is very useful for bread baking."

Using a food scale

Cooking for Engineers describes the various types of scales and their features.

There's a short article on eHow.com on "How to Use a Food Scale."

There's a good hands-on review of the EatSmart scale by Monica Reinagel on a website called NutritionalData.com.

This forum thread on Calorie Count includes comments from owners on advantages of using a food scale as a way to manage their diet. (Note that Calorie Count is owned by About.com, which also owns ConsumerSearch, but the two sites do not share an editorial affiliation.)

Manufacturer websites:

EatSmart

Escali

OXO

Salter