Kitchen scales

How to choose kitchen scales

Kitchen scales are the cheapest way to make baking repeatable: 250 g of flour is 250 g every time, not “about two cups”. Four things matter when choosing — accuracy, capacity, the display and how convenient the scale is to pull out every day.

• Accuracy. A 1 g step is the kitchen standard and works from flour to yeast. If you measure coffee, spices or baking powder in fractions of a gram, look at the 0.01 g precision scale (Adler AD 3168) — but its capacity is only a few hundred grams.
• Capacity. 5 kg covers ordinary baking and weighing in a bowl. 10 kg (Adler AD 3181) suits preserves, big batches of dough and a full pot; 15 kg (Caso L 15) handles parcels and harvest as well.
• Tare. A zeroing function is essential: put the bowl on, press tare and add ingredients one by one into the same dish. Check that tare works several times in a row.
• Display. LCD is the norm and readable in daylight; a backlit LED (Caso KitchenDuo, Adler AD 3181) is visible in a dim kitchen and when a large bowl partly shadows the screen. Make sure the digits stay clear of a big bowl.
• Shape and material. A flat glass platform (Caso Slim) fits in a drawer and wipes clean in a second; a bowl scale (Mesko MS 3164, ETA Mari) is handy if you often weigh liquids and grains. A stainless-steel surface shrugs off fat and acids.
• Units and power. Besides g/kg, an ml mode for water and milk and lb/oz for foreign recipes. Most scales run on AAA or CR2032 batteries; auto-off keeps them going longer.

Kitchen scales in our range

Most of the range is flat 5 kg digital scales with 1 g accuracy: Adler AD 3138 and AD 3183 (black, red, copper), Caso Design, KitchenEcostyle and Slim, Mesko MS 3152, ETA Popi, Lori and Dori, and TEFAL Optiss and Essential. Bowl scales — Mesko MS 3164 and ETA Mari — suit liquids and dry goods. Higher-capacity models are the Adler AD 3181 (10 kg, LED display, white or grey) and Caso L 15 (15 kg). The precision scale Adler AD 3168 measures in 0.01 g steps, while the Caso KitchenDuo pairs an LED display with a stainless surface. Use the filter on the left to narrow by capacity, accuracy and colour.

Brands

Caso is a German brand whose scales stand out for design, glass and steel surfaces and higher capacity — Design, Slim, KitchenDuo and L 15. TEFAL Optiss and Essential are simple, dependable and have a good LCD. ETA, a Czech brand, offers good value and a bowl model. Adler and Mesko are the budget end: 5–10 kg scales for around twenty euros, several colours and the only 0.01 g precision scale.

Related products

Next to the scale belong hand mixers and blenders for dough and smoothies, and food processors for bigger jobs. For weighing yourself, see body scales. All food-prep appliances are under food prep, with the wider selection in kitchen appliances.

Frequently asked questions

Do the scales measure liquids? Yes, in ml mode — the scale converts by the density of water, so water and milk read accurately while oil and honey are approximate. Weigh those in grams instead.

Why does the reading vary between uses? Usually an uneven surface or a fading battery. Place the scale on a hard, level worktop rather than a mat, and change the battery when the display starts to dim.

5 or 10 kg? 5 kg is enough for everyday baking — bowl and ingredients stay within the limit. Choose 10 kg if you weigh full pots, preserves or large joints of meat.

Is 1 g accuracy enough? For baking, yes. A 0.01 g precision scale is for dosing coffee and spices, not flour — its maximum is small.

How quickly will the scale arrive? It is a small parcel: an Omniva, DPD or Venipak locker delivery takes 1–2 working days.