The 5 Best Kitchen Scales, According to Our Tests

Our Favorite

The Escali Primo Precision Kitchen Food Scale earned our top spot for its lightweight but durable design and consistent results. If you want a scale with a few extra convenient features, we recommend the OXO Good Grips Food Scale with Pull-Out Display for its unique design and user-friendliness.

Factors to Consider

Accuracy

The most important function of any scale is accuracy. While the average cook may eyeball cups and tablespoons regularly, some projects require consistently accurate measurements. An important way to maintain accuracy is to keep ingredients below the maximum weight. Exceeding the weight limit can offset the internal balance and require an entire recalibration of the machine. Test your scale before each use, and always keep the batteries fully charged, as low power can lead to machine inconsistencies.

Ease of Use

A good scale is the one you'll use over and over again. That often means certain features will be more important than others. Newer models with sleek digital LCD screens can be helpful to a home cook, while additional features like motion sensor tare functions can save you time. A backlit screen can help with visibility, as does a single-click unit change button. Decide if you need precise decimals or if fractions will do. Many models provide both.

Care and Cleaning

While a clean and sanitized scale is a great tool to have, take a tip from the pros and put a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap on the base. Not only will this help with keeping its surface clean but it also makes transferring ingredients easier. Some parts may be removable, but in general, wiping the scale down with a wet cloth or sponge does the trick. When storing, a good choice is to stack your scale vertically. That way, objects can't accidentally rest on the scale causing it to get off balance, which can lead to inaccurate readings. If the numbers seem off, it's likely time to replace the batteries.

How We Tested Kitchen Scales

To thoroughly vet scales, we put them through three tests. The first was the sugar test, meant to assess accuracy. We tared the scale with a large bowl and then filled the bowl with a 4-pound bag of sugar to test the scale's accuracy against a known weight. 

Then, we performed a salt test meant to assess the scale’s consistency and ability to recognize minimal changes in weight. We tared the scale with a small bowl and added 40 grams of kosher salt. We then removed the bowl and all the salt from the weighing platform a pinch at a time until all 40 grams were on the scale, recording how long it took the scale to register the weight and if the final product matched the original 40-gram weight. 

Finally, we performed the flour test to measure how easy the scales were to clean. We fully covered the scale with 1 cup of flour and followed the manufacturer's cleaning instructions. After the tests, we assessed attributes like design, performance, storage, ease of cleaning, and values, which we used to determine our top picks.

Other Kitchen Scales We Tested

Strong Contenders 

Escali Digital Food Scale ($30 at Amazon) 

This scale didn’t make the cut because it can be difficult to store since nothing can be placed on top of it. We were also less than impressed with its performance in our sensitivity test.

KitchenAid Glass 11-lb. Digital Top Kitchen Scale ($30 at Amazon)  

While we found the dial easy to turn and the screen is easy to read if you are looking directly down onto the scale, the dial makes it hard to read the display if you are looking at it from any other angle.

KitchenAid Dual Platform Scale ($47 at Amazon) 

After our tests, we realized that the design of this scale made it challenging to clean with flour getting stuck under the buttons, which could ruin the scale over time.

Zwilling Enfinigy Wireless Charging Kitchen Scale ($100 at Zwilling) 

For the high price tag, we just weren’t impressed with the lack of precision from this scale. 

What Didn't Make the List 

In addition to our top picks and strong contenders, we tested three other scales that didn’t measure up, including another Zwilling model and scales from Taylor and Etekcity. These three scales failed in design and function. We had issues with the readability of the screens and issues with the measurement surfaces, which are major design flaws that we just couldn’t look past. Additionally, the most important feature of a scale is accurate measurement, and these three fell short in our precision and accuracy tests. With other scales excelling in these metrics, we couldn’t justify recommending these models. 

Our Expertise

Alissa Fitzgerald is a chef, recipe developer, and food writer with over 15 years of experience in the food industry. For this piece, she interviewed Erin Kanagy-Loux, Executive Pastry Chef, Pastry, and Baking Operations Specialist, to find out what the pros look for in food scales. 

Nick DeSimone, a food writer and former restaurant cook with nearly a decade of professional cooking experience, updated this piece. During their time in the industry, Nick has used many food scales in restaurant environments where quality, consistency, and durability are put to the test. For this piece, Nick used insights from Food & Wine’s team of testers. Each of us testers is committed to thorough and accurate testing for the best possible quality of data. Nick used our quantitative data and insights to compile this list.