I treated myself to a new piece of equipment in the kitchen – a digital food scale.
About six years ago I picked up a 1-pound kitchen scale for the sole purpose of weighing my son’s car in the Boy Scouts “Pinewood Derby.” This was a simple (and inexpensive, the box still has its $5.99 price tag) pan scale that met my needs. Truly, after the boy left the scouting program, the scale sat unused in the pantry for several years.
Then last summer I started canning, which requires precise weighing of ingredients; scary words and phrases like pH balance, acidic ratio, and botulism had me pulling out the scale again. Here’s what I found – it’s a pain in the neck to measure 5 pounds of chopped tomatoes using a 1-pound pan scale! It takes several passes, requires me to keep a scratch pad of notes (7 oz plus 12 oz plus 11 oz …. argh!) and is messy to transfer the tomatoes from the cutting board to the pan to the stockpot.
Still, I’m a frugal New Englander, so I persevered. Chopping. Transferring. Weighing. Note-taking. Transferring (again!).
After anther summer of canning using this laborious method, I decided “I’m worth it!”, grabbed my Bed, Bath and Beyond 20% off coupon, and headed to the store.
I think I’m in love.
The scale can accommodate up to 11 pounds (I can double the recipe for Tomato Jam!), and has a “tare” button to make things super easy. Put the bowl on the scale and hit Zero (of course!) to zero it out, then add the first ingredient until you get to the desired weight. Hit Zero again, it resets to zero, then add the next ingredient, etc. So much simpler than my note paper and math skills!
The display pulls out for ease of reading (no worries about the bowl overlapping or shadowing the readout), then retracts for storage.
I’ve used the scale several times in the past month – it was a pleasure to weigh my two pounds of squash for soup (I was using up CSA bounty and had a mix of butternut, acorn, and delicata … very tricky to eyeball the weights of these). And I’ve twice made bread, weighing the ingredients instead of using dry measuring cups; my family and I agree that the “crumb” of the bread is less dense and more appealing (perhaps I was packing too much flour into the measuring cups?).
Now I’m wondering what else I can/should upgrade in my kitchen. Maybe it’s time for the coveted La Creuset stockpot. After all, I’m worth it! 
Head over to Beth Fish Reads’ Weekend Cooking, where other bloggers have linked up their own food-related posts. You may find recipes, kitchen tips, cookbook reviews, food-themed novels or movies … if it’s vaguely foodie, you’ll find it there!
I have this exact same scale and I LOVE it. Makes life so much easier — especially if you buy in bulk. Now I know I really have 1 pound of spit peas instead of kind of guessing.
Oh and when you buy your La Creuset stockpot, remember your friend in PA; she likes blue.
I have my dad’s old kitchen scale and would really like a new digital one.
You bought a cheap scale for the Pinewood Derby? The Derby was serious business with Vance’s pack and they had a state of the art scale that everyone used.
I have had several incarnations of the kitchen scale. I currently am between models, and am looking for a good reliable one. Thanks for the info on this. I’m going to look for it next time I’m in Bed Bath and Beyond. I find that I really miss having this; particularly when I’m baking, as measuring the ingredients in weight really seemed to make a difference in my finished baked goods.
I too have a digital kitchen scale but mine doesn’t look nearly as fancy as yours!
I would love to try my hand at canning, but yes, those words that are scary definitely scare me!
My sister-in-law uses her scale all the time. I’m thinking it’s time to invest in one as well, thanks for the informative post. (I’d like a La Creuset stockpot too!)
Great idea. Of course, you’re worth it. I think I’m worth one too. There are so many recipes that call for ingredients by pounds.
I have a digital scale and it is amazing how often I use it. LOVE that ‘tare’ button! Besides accounting for a container, you can zero it out, add something else and just go on…
We have several apple trees in the yard. I used to can with my mom but in more recent years I seem to have become busy with other thinsg and then feel bad each year when the apples lay on the ground in late fall.
Next year I plan to get back to my canning roots…. liking the scale…Bed Bath and Body you say?
I love my digital scale. I will say that you will NEVER regret buying a Le Creuset stock pot! I had a Dutch oven for 15 years and a piece of the enamel came out of the bottom. They replaced it with a new one, no questions asked! I am hoping Santa brings me their covered roaster this year!
Congratulations with your new digital scale
I can’t live without mine anymore and that’s not a very fancy model, I think it’ll give me ERROR messages when I try to weigh anything heavier than 5 pounds 
A Le Creuset pan sounds like a perfect new project, they seem to last forever and they come in pretty colours too!
I use what i am sure is a non-precise scale which I use mostly for weighing my pups food. each dog gets 1 lb raw chicken necks for breakfast (you read that post, right?) but I also use it for weighing pkgs to mail. The USPS.com prepaid labels printed online is the BEST. LOVE it.
be sure to go to TJMaxx for your stockpot or? Does Le Cr have a store at Wrentham? Shall we meet there finally and can we wait til after Holiday shop crazies?
Glad to hear you treated yourself to something so useful. Enjoy it.
Oh man! Anything that doesn’t require my poorly honed math skills is a winner for me. I’m glad you’ve found a tool that helps make things that much easier.
I’ll keep this model in mind when I feel the need to upgrade my kitchen scale. I’ve been using a regular old mechanical one that goes up to 4 lbs., but so far it serves its purpose.
Now as for that La Creuset stock pot, I say go for it! This is the perfect time of year to treat yourself. Good luck choosing the color.
Ooooo…nice! I have a digital scale, too, and I love it. I use it so much, but I’ve never used it for weighing flour. I’ll have to give it a try. Thanks!
[...] said that this is the year of kitchen equipment upgrades for us (note the kitchen scale, my first Le Creuset French oven, and finally a stand mixer!), so I’ve decided to upgrade the [...]