The Best Kitchen Scales
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It’s hard to overstate the convenience of a solid kitchen scale. Digital scales open up a new world of possibilities when it comes to upping your cooking or baking game, allowing precision in measuring ingredients, consistency in recipes, and efficiency in the kitchen. As more and more recipes are converted to grams (my favorite measuring metric), there’s no reason to put off investing in a digital scale, especially with how affordable they can be.
Most come with AA or AAA batteries and are a breeze to use. Unlike a mechanical scale, a digital scale allows you to tare (we explain what this means further below) the weight to 0 when weighing an ingredient. You don't need multiple spoons and measuring cups, so a scale cuts down on dishes. The biggest benefit is the ability to measure ingredients by weight instead of volume. This is particularly important with baking. Ask a group of bakers to scoop and level a cup of flour and the results will vary. Ask them to measure 120 grams of flour—the equivalent of one cup—and each will yield the same amount. A kitchen scale is useful for everyone, baker or not, and these are my favorites.
Be sure to read our other kitchen guides, including the Best Chef's Knives, Best Cookware and Tools for Small Kitchens, Best Food Processors, and Best Stand Mixers.
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How We Tested Kitchen Scales
As a former chocolatier for seven years, I’m a big proponent of measuring recipes by weight. Even for basic recipe conversion needs, like doubling or halving, a kitchen scale can come to the rescue. Don’t want to strain your brain to figure out how to halve 3⅓ cups of flour by volume? Just weigh the amount on your scale and divide by two.
I tested several digital scales while baking my family's tried-and-true banana bread recipe (which I converted to grams). If I was weighing flour, for example, I weighed the same amount on multiple scales to see just how down-to-the-gram each was. I also measured ingredients in various bowls and ramekins to test their convenience and durability. For each, I note their special functions and what circumstances they’re ideal for.
Best Overall
In almost all of the professional kitchens I’ve worked in, there is an Escali. The reason it’s popular isn’t because it’s the most advanced on the market; its success lies in its simplicity and compactness.
It may not look like this small and incredibly lightweight plastic scale can get the job done, but it manages to weigh up to 11 pounds. Its no-fuss design features a simple two-button system with the ability to measure in pounds, ounces, or grams. The small surface plate is slightly raised, making it easier to see the scale’s screen when scaling ingredients in larger containers. Escali’s oval shape also doesn’t take up too much space on your kitchen counter, so it’s easy to store away in a drawer if needed.
Best for Baking
I'm a baker with 10 years' experience in the industry, and my preferred kitchen scale is the My Weigh. It's larger and bulkier than any other on this list, with a large, bright LCD display screen and the ability to weigh up to 17 pounds. With a height of just over 7 inches, the My Weigh has a base that's angled toward the viewer, so the display is bright and easy to read. Because the scale is raised, you can conveniently scale ingredients into large bowls without them hiding the display.
The display screen is protected by a plastic shield, making for easy cleanup. It also prevents food from gathering in the cracks surrounding the screen. The metal stainless steel plate is removable for easy cleanup as well. Despite its large size, the scale is still fairly lightweight, so it’s accessible wherever you need it in your kitchen. My Weigh delivers a fast, accurate read, but you can adjust the response settings to determine how long your screen stays on before powering off by itself. Although it’s battery-powered, it comes with an adapter as well. I’ve personally used my My Weigh for more than five years now and have only had to change the batteries a couple times.
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Most Sleek Design
If you're looking for something with a modern edge, OXO’s Good Grips scale is a stylish alternative to the many plastic and bulkier options. It's made of glass and consists of a single platform surface for a slim aesthetic that's also convenient for storage. It can also weigh up to 11 pounds.
But it’s not all about appearances with this one. A two-button system makes it incredibly easy to use with metric options including pounds, ounces, grams, and kilograms. However, the Good Grips stands out from others with the option to weigh in milliliters as well. A large digital display makes for easy reading. With other scales, cleaning may involve digging into the nooks and crannies of the surface plate or display screen, but OXO’s glass surface scale is clean with a single wipe.
Best Budget Scale
If you’re looking for a safe bet, you can’t go wrong with Ozeri Pronto’s scale. The model is comparable to the Escali—lightweight, oval-shaped, and compact—but available at a modest price.
This simple scale reacts quickly and accurately to any weight being measured. The unit button converts between pounds, grams, ounces milliliters, and kilograms and can read precisely down to a single gram. The entire scale can weigh up to slightly more than 11 pounds. To help with the scale’s shelf life, the auto-off setting allows it to turn off by itself. The digital display is easy and crisp to read. Overall, it’s convenient and gets the job done, making it a great starter scale.
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Best Dual-Platform Kitchen Scale
If you’re looking to revolutionize your kitchen experience, it may be time to invest in a dual platform scale. This two-in-one model combines two weighing platforms—one that can weigh up to 11 pounds in units of pounds, ounces, and grams, and a smaller one that can weigh up to 1 pound in grams and ounces. KitchenAid’s model maintains the compactness of a single platform scale while offering two.
The duality of this scale is hard to beat because you can weigh two things at the same time. The incredibly accurate smaller scale, which can weigh down to 0.01 grams, I particularly enjoyed for weighing ingredients like vanilla extract and baking powders in smaller increments. The display is easy to navigate with a button designated for each scale to tare. Another button changes the measuring units on both. The large display screen is clearly defined for easy navigation. It’s backlit as well, making it easy to read. The stainless steel platforms are easy to clean and provide a polished look to your kitchen. While I was scaling for my banana bread, it felt like a stunner piece of equipment that took my baking game to an advanced level.
What Does Tare Mean?
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Photograph: bobmadbob/Getty ImagesThings to Know About Your Scale
Many baking recipes mention the need to “tare” a scale before weighing ingredients, and many scales feature a tare button, but what does this word mean, and where did it come from? “Tare” derives from the Middle French word tare through the Italian word tara, and before that, the Arabic word tarha, which means “that which is removed.” Today, tare specifically means to “adjust a scale on which an empty container has been placed,” to reduce the displayed weight to zero. In other words, if you're weighing an ingredient into a measuring cup, pressing the “tare” button on a scale automatically deducts the weight of the cup and sets the scale to zero, so that only the ingredient is measured.
When you're done using your scale, keep in mind that most are not waterproof. Do not submerge a scale in water or run it through the dishwasher. Just wipe the scale down with a damp cloth, unless the manufacturer's instructions state otherwise.
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