baking scale

I want to purchase a digital scale for bread baking. I don't want to spend more than $70. What brand and model do you recommend?

[mudbug]

Here are two I would recommend for you:


Polder 3 In 1 Scale-Thermometer-Timer ($41.95)





Baker's Dream Scale ($59.95)



Click on the names to find more info.

[bouland]

I use an Accu-Lab, but it is a little more expensive than $70. Your use requirements will somewhat dictate what you purchase. Are you baking in small or large quanities? Do you need metric as well as English measurements? What is the smallest increment do you need to measure? How much accuracy do you need? Be sure to buy one with a "tare" ability. You can find more information on scales in an article I wrote last year about measuring.

[Jock]

Not to say a good scale isn't a handy tool to have, but what kind of bread are you baking that needs a scale? When I make bread, about the only thing I measure is the liquid.

Jock

[Suzanne]

When I was doing pastry I used the Salter scale shown above as "Bakers Dream." IT IS GREAT! It has both metric and English scales, and a tare feature. Goes up to 5 kilograms, if I remember correctly.

We got ours for about $32 from Bridge Kitchenware in NYC. A warning, though: don't drop a weight on the display screen, as I did -- didn't break it, but messed up the display beyond readability. Ooops.

[KyleW]

I ma also firmly in the Salter Camp. I have a Salter Aquatronic scale that I got @William & Sonoma. It is virtually the same as the Baker's Dream scale that cchiu listed, except that I thought the chrome looked cool 11LB capacity, english/metric, zeroing (tare) which lets you measure everything in one bowl. It even has a liquid/dry button. Believe it or not, there is a slight difference. I love this scale.

[mudbug]

KyleW,

That does look pretty sweeeet!





Jock,

What kind of bread to you make?

It would be difficult to make something like a brioche without accurately measuring the ingredients and weighing is more accurate than using measuring cups. (I don't have a scale myself, maybe someday.)

[Jock]

cchiu,
Well, using the brioche example, an egg is an egg is an egg (I only use "large"eggs.) I use however many the recipe calls for but actually they are part of the liquid ingredients. Similarly with butter, it comes in 4oz blocks easy to measure. I don't think a teaspoon of sugar one way or the other makes much difference. That just leaves the flour.
This is the one big variable in bread making. The amount of flour needed for a given volume of liquid will vary quite a lot depending upon how the flour is stored, the climate in your region on any given day, the humidity in your kitchen, amongst other things.
I use the quantity of flour in a recipe only as a guide. The actual amount is whatever is needed to give the right feel to the dough.
I have heard it said that cooking is an art but baking is a science. I rarely fool with a baker's formula because it is (if it is a good one) a finely balanced blend of ingredients. Breads on the other hand are generally very forgiving.
I do have a scale but not one of the dream machines shown in this thread unfortunately. It works well enough though for weighing ingredients for a pie crust for example.

[bouland]

Actually the contents of a large egg in the U.S. has an average weight of 50 grams whereas in France a large egg has an average weight of 62 grams. If all your recipes have American sources, this isn't a problem. I use a lot of French recipes and this can pose a problem without a good scale.

A cup of regular granulated sugar wieghs less than a cup of finely granulated sugar. Whether the difference is significant in most baking recipes? Probably not.

[bouland]

Actually the contents of a large egg in the U.S. has an average weight of 50 grams whereas in France a large egg has an average weight of 62 grams. If all your recipes have American sources, this isn't a problem. I use a lot of French recipes and this can pose a problem without a good scale.

A cup of regular granulated sugar wieghs less than a cup of finely granulated sugar. Whether the difference is significant in most baking recipes? Probably not.

[Jock]

So far as I am aware, the recipes I use are written for US measures. I've always had pretty good success with them. Thanks for the tid bit though, I did not know that.

cchiu,
As I read my last post, it sounds a bit pompous, not to say arrogant. I can be fairly accused of both these flaws but I don't mean to be. Sorry.

Jock