Picking the Best Food Scale

I love using a food scale. Whether you’re using it to weigh ingredients for a recipe, or keeping track of how much you eat, it is an essential tool in any kitchen. Knowing which is the best food scale to buy can be difficult if you haven’t had much experience with them. I’ve had some that have been really good, and I’ve had some that have showed different weights based on where the ingredients were put on the scale. Those were returned right away because an inaccurate scale is useless. I’m hoping you can learn from my mistakes, and get the best food scale to fit your needs the first time around!

I remember being a young kid and going to my Grandma’s house. She always had a loaf of homemade bread for us grandkids to have peanut butter and jelly, or grilled cheese sandwiches. My mom told me grandma used to make bread every day when she was growing up. I loved the taste of that bread, and the smell of it still takes me back to my childhood. 

When I was in highschool, I spent a day with my grandma and she showed me how to make it. She didn’t have a recipe written down. It was all in her head. I took meticulous notes on what ingredients she used, how much she added, how she kneaded it, how long she let it rise, and at what temperature she cooked the loaves. She had a small kitchen, and it made quite a mess. There were measuring cups, bowls, and lots of dirty dishes left over. But I really loved that bread. 

Fast forward 20 years and I’m still using her recipe and making bread weekly. A couple loaves usually last us a week, so most every weekend I made a couple more. It’s a family tradition that I love continuing, and hope my kids feel the same way. 

Things have changed a lot since my grandma made her bread in her kitchen. It took me several tries to figure out exactly how to make the recipe. Flour is difficult to work with by volume, and much easier to work with by weight. A cup of flour can change weight drastically depending on how packed it is. That made it difficult to have a consistent dough to work with. I always had to add more flour, or more milk to get the right consistency. 

One day I decided to start measuring by weight, so I had to buy a food scale. That decision completely changed the way I cook! I am now changing nearly all of my recipes to be by weight, instead of volume. The consistency and speed of cooking have both greatly improved since I started using a food scale.

Now every time I make bread, the dough always turns out the same. Not too wet, not too dry, just perfect. And delicious. I also purchased a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, (the bigger, more powerful version)  which makes kneading the dough effortless. I have included my grandma’s bread recipe (in grams, of course!) at the bottom of the page, in case you want to try it! 

Having been through several scales, and doing a lot of research, and reading a lot of reviews, I have come up with a short list of good food scales. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. Below are my recommendations, along with a link to the KitchenAid Stand Mixer I have in case you want to see what I’m working with. 

Decisions, Simplified!

The Best Food Scale under $20

Ozeri ZK14-S Pronto Digital Multifunction Kitchen and Food Scale (affiliate link)

This is the most versatile, inexpensive scale I have used. It is accurate, and easy to read. It also comes in multiple colors, so you’ll easily be able to match your kitchen decor. We currently have two of these scales for when we’re making more than one thing at a time. It only has two buttons, so operation could not be any simpler.

After the scale is turned on, it will show zero. Simply place your bowl on top of the scale, hit the power/tare button to re-zero it, and start adding your ingredients! After each ingredient is added, press the power/tare button again to re-zero it and start adding your next ingredient. It has an 11.24 lb capacity, in .05 oz increments (5100 gram capacity with 1 gram increments). The platform is raised slightly above the LCD screen, so it’s easy to see when a bowl is being used.

The Best Food Scale over $20

Mackie Food Scale (affiliate link)

If you want to start keeping track of what food you eat, this is the perfect scale for you. It will do everything the Ozeri scale above will do, but it has a lot more to offer. It It will show not only the calories, but the nutrition information of what you are weighing so you know exactly what you’re eating, which helps tremendously if you’re trying to lose weight, or trying to keep an eye on what you eat.

The thing I love about this scale is that it has the necessary food codes printed directly on the scale, so you don’t have to look it up in a separate booklet, or worry about losing the list. It will tell you how much salt, protein, fat, calories, carbs, cholesterol, and fiber is in what you’re weighing. And the best part is that it’s thin enough to be taken with you when you leave home so you can keep track of everything you eat, all day! It also features the ability to add up to 999 custom foods, so if something is not on their already huge list of included foods, you can add it!

Stand Mixer

KitchenAid KP26M1XOB 6 Qt. Professional 600 Series Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer – Onyx Black (affiliate link)

This is another one of those things I didn’t know how much I wanted it until I had one. The motor is more than powerful enough to knead my bread dough, and the bowl is more than big enough to fit all of the ingredients. This is an invaluable tool for anyone who wants to make cooking easier and fun!

Grandma’s White Bread Recipe

As promised, here’s my grandma’s bread recipe. I hope you enjoy baking and eating it as much as my family has!

• Milk – 560 grams
• Butter – 57 grams (1/2 stick)
• Salt – 23 grams
• Sugar – 50 grams
• Yeast – 20 grams
• Flour – 985 grams

Melt butter in pot. Place pot with melted butter on scale and zero the scale. Add milk. Heat to 125 degrees. Any hotter may kill the yeast.

Add dry ingredients to KitchenAid mixer bowl. Then add the milk mixture. With the dough hook, knead on speed 2 for 5 minutes. After this time, the dough should be formed enough to pull away from the sides of the bowl, and not stick to your hands when removed. Remove the dough from the bowl and spray the bowl with Pam Cooking Spray (any cooking spray, or butter will work, also). Add dough back to the bowl, and spray the top of the dough with your cooking spray of choice. Cover the bowl. (I actually use a shower cap. It works perfectly!) Place in warm oven (90-115F) for 1 hour to rise.

Remove dough from bowl. Cut in 2 equal parts. Use scale to make sure they’re equal. Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough and wrap it into a cylinder. Place dough into bread pan. Fold in ends. Cut 3 small slits in top, about 1/2 deep. Let raise until they get almost full size. Cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes until nice and brown. Remove from pans immediately, and rub butter over the top crust. Slice, and enjoy!

Don’t forget to check out our Best Food Dehydrators!