Wirecutter staffer Beth Niegelsky has used hers regularly for about a year and has yet to have durability issues, but we’ll continue to test for the long term. However, if you want to be more accurate with all your ingredients, look for a scale that will also measure in millilitres and fluid ounces (some also have separate settings for milk and water). Unfortunately we found it easy to accidentally touch the wrong controls or even knock them unintentionally, which meant the scales got reset a few times during testing. If the battery compartment does not close securely, stop using the product and keep it away from children.

The best kitchen scales are accurate and only deviate by a few grams or less — these discrepancies aren't going to make much difference to a recipe unless you're cooking up a minuscule amount or using an ingredient where precise quantities are a must, such as yeast. A pocket scale like this might also be useful for weighing tiny amounts of ingredients like leavener for baking (though in most cases, a set of good measuring spoons will do fine.We assess how easy each set of scales is to use, noting useful features such as a clear display, easy navigation, sensitive buttons and rubber feet.

gram increments: Most digital food scales weigh in whole grams (or eighths of an ounce), and that level of accuracy is fine for most recipes. Some of the slimmer scales in our test group, such as the Greater Goods Nourish Digital Precision Kitchen Scale, were difficult to read when we used large, oversized bowls. Tanita provide a range of digital weighing scales which are perfect for use in the jewellery industry. This wasn’t the case with our former top pick, the Jennings CJ4000, which required frequent battery replacements.The Tomiba 3000g Digital Touch Pocket Scale Small has touch controls that were really difficult to work with. While most performed well, a few were off by as much as 20 grams, and one scale could not even complete the test, repeatedly timing out before all the salt was measured. Although nothing can substitute for skilled intuition—add a dash of this and a handful of that, cook until golden brown and delicious—there are times when the precision a scale can provide is vital. And with fewer grooves than some of the other models we tested, the Escali scale was one of the easiest to wipe clean.

Also, since this scale doesn’t have an elevated weigh platform, we had difficulty reading the screen when using an oversized bowl to measure ingredients.Using reverse osmosis water as a base point, you will undoubtedly be adjusting your water profile to suit your style or region. For nearly half the cost of our top pick, the Ozeri Pronto delivers the same level of accuracy but has a much shorter auto-off time. Its two minute auto-off feature is plenty long enough to account for pouring pauses found in most popular pour-over coffee recipes. According to pastry chef Jürgen David, the Escali scale has been the model issued in the toolkits for the pastry students at New York’s International Culinary Center for the past three years or so.