9 best kitchen scales that’ll help you master any recipe

Best: Overall

Rating: 10/10

• Size: 27 x 18.5 x 2.5cm
• Weight: 545g
• Features: Weighs up to 5kg/11lbs; two weighing platforms; weighs in lb, oz, fl oz, g and ml
• Accessories: None
• Pros: Weighs in fractions of a gram; a bargain for the price
• Cons: None that we could find

A dual platform scale might seem gimmicky but by covering all bases, and doing it brilliantly, this scale will remain a go-to gadget wherever your culinary curiosity takes you. The smaller of the two weighing platforms will register the tiniest pinch of an ingredient and we were impressed to be able to weigh out just 0.05g of sugar.

So, who needs a scale like this? Apart from the obvious nefarious characters, this will be ideal for serious bread bakers who follow recipes that call for tiny amounts of yeast and salt. Keen cooks that make charcuterie at home and need to measure out small quantities of curing salt will also benefit. And, more mainstream cooks will love this scale too. The large, bright and clear display is offset so that it won’t be obscured by whatever you use to weigh in and we were impressed by its lightning-quick response time, and that it registered every gram along the way.

Best: Budget buy

Rating: 7/10

• Size: 20.2 x 14.5 x 2cm
• Weight: 220g
• Features: Weighs up to 5kg/11lbs
• Accessories: 1 CR2032 3V coin battery
• Pros: Easy to use and to clean
• Cons: Weighs dry ingredients only; feels a little flimsy

If you’re a casual cook and occasional baker, then you can’t go wrong with these simple to use scales. Turn them on with one button, select gram or ounces with the other and away you go. The scale was responsive, displaying gram increments and settled quickly on a final weight, although it didn’t register until at least 4g of an ingredient had been added to the bowl.

The display could be a little brighter and larger but was still perfectly readable, and although the weighing area is limited, the display wasn’t obscured even by our largest mixing bowl. The flat stainless-steel surface also wiped clean with a damp cloth. It’s the lightest and smallest of all the scales we tested, you’ll hardly know you own them, and they will easily store away in any drawer or cupboard until the next time they are needed for a straightforward baking task.

Best: For batch cooks

Rating: 8/10

• Size: 24.50 x 18.80 x 2cm
• Weight: 600g
• Features: Weighs up to 10kg/22lbs, runs on a rechargeable battery
• Accessories: Charging cable
• Pros: Rechargeable, large weighing surface
• Cons: Only weighs dry ingredients

With its sleek mirror finish, this rechargeable scale wouldn’t look out of place in the swankiest of modern kitchens. The large surface is generous enough so that whatever you choose to weigh in won’t obscure the bright and clear digital display.

We were able to weigh out one gram of sugar on the scale, which also registered every subsequent increment and settled quickly on a final weight. The generous 10kg maximum weight makes this a good choice for batch cooking. However, we didn’t love that it only weighs in grams or ounces and that the unit selector switch is located on the underside of the scale.

Best: For eco warriors

Rating: 6/10

• Size: 20 x 20 x 4.5cm
• Weight: 600g
• Features: Powered by a wind-up mechanism; weighs up to 5kg/11lbs; weighs in g, lbs and oz and ml with separate settings for water and milk
• Accessories: None
• Pros: Battery-free operation, easy to clean
• Cons: Limited space on weighing surface

With just a few twists of a dial, this battery-free scale is powered up for about 3.5 minutes of continual weighing, making it as sustainably green as its eye-catching jade hue. The dial surrounds a large, bright and clear digital display housed in a raised knob on the bottom right of the scale, making it easy to read.

The knob does encroach slightly on the weighing area so just make sure your weighing vessel is small enough to sit squarely on the centre of the scale as we found that we had to offset our largest mixing bowl which affected the accuracy of the reading, but only by a few grams. Although we noticed a minor delay in the scale’s response time, and that it didn’t always register every incremental additional gram by gram, the fact that it can weigh both wet and dry ingredients outweighed the scale’s slight shortcomings. Never having to buy a battery is also a major plus.

Best: For dedicated home cooks

Rating: 8/10

• Size: 27 x 18 x 5cm
• Weight: 581g
• Features: Weighs up to 3kg/6.6lbs; micro mode for weighing in increments of 0.1g; weighs in ml and fl oz (with separate settings for milk and water) as well as g and oz.
• Accessories: 2 AA batteries included
• Pros: Great for accurate measurement of small quantities
• Cons: 3kg weight capacity is limited compared to the more usual 5kg

The cream colour won’t appeal to everyone and the 3kg weight limit means you might need to be careful about what vessel you use to weigh in – a ceramic mixing bowl used up half the weight allocation by itself. But there is still much about this scale that keen home cooks will love.

The large digital display was easy to read and wasn’t obscured even when weighing directly into large pots and pans. We loved the micro mode setting which weighs in increments of 0.1g up to 300g, then increments of 0.5g up to 1.5kg and increments of 1g up to 3kg. This came in extremely useful when weighing out small amounts of spices for a masala mix or curry recipe or making sure we had the precise amount of beans for a morning cup of coffee.

Plus, the scale was very responsive in all modes, making accurate weighing a breeze. Although the weighing platform stands proud of the base, the scale is still slim enough to store in a drawer or cupboard and the sleek design with buttons hidden beneath the control console and display makes it easy to clean.

Best: For casual cooks

Rating: 6/10

• Size: 19.7 x 13.3 x 18cm
• Weight: 670g
• Features: 5kg/11lbs capacity; measures g, oz, fl oz and ml; easy to clean
• Accessories: 1.9l stainless steel bowl
• Pros: Weighing bowl fits over scale for ease of storage
• Cons: Digital display difficult to read

It’s fairly unusual for digital scales to come supplied with their own bowl and at first sight it might seem excessive to requirements (every cook is going to own at least one mixing bowl, right?). But it does mean that the bowl fits snugly on the weighing platform which will help ensure an accurate reading. On the downside, the capacity is only 1.9l meaning you’re going to need a bigger bowl anyway if you’re going to use the scale’s maximum capacity of 5kg.

Whatever size bowl you use, it won’t obscure the front located and angled digital display but you will probably need to bend down when selecting the required unit measurement, which is in tiny letters at the top of the display and not visible from a fully upright standing position. The scale’s response time was inconsistent and didn’t always register gram increments, even when ingredients, including liquids, were added slowly, making precise measurements tricky.

Best: For fashionistas

Rating: 7/10

• Size: 24.8 x 19 x 1.8cm
• Weight: 600g
• Features: 5kg/11lbs capacity; g, kg, ml (water) and ml (milk) weighing units
• Accessories: 1 CR2032 3V coin battery
• Pros: Looks great, easy to clean
• Cons: Not ideal for accurate measurement of small amounts

This colourful coral pink and purple digital scale, decorated with a seashell and sea plant design will brighten up any kitchen. But it’s not just a pretty face. The completely flat toughened glass, stain-resistant surface is durable and very easy to clean with just the wipe of a damp cloth with no awkward nooks and crannies for stray ingredients to collect in. Its slim profile means it’s easy to store away if you haven’t got room to keep it on display.

The digital display panel may not have been the biggest or brightest we’ve seen but we still had no problem reading it. And the weighing surface area is big enough so that the display wasn’t obscured even by a large mixing bowl. Scrolling through the gram, kilogram, pounds and ounces and milk millilitre and water millilitre settings was a simple matter of pressing the unit button too. The display was reasonably responsive but didn’t register dry or wet ingredients until 4g/4ml and didn’t always display each additional gram, even when added slowly, making precise measurement tricky.

Best: For practical minded cooks

Rating: 7/10

• Size: 24.3 x 18 x 3.1cm
• Weight: 699g
• Features: Weighs up to 5kg/11lbs; pull out digital display
• Accessories: 4 AAA batteries
• Pros: easy to read pull out display
• Cons: Dull, utilitarian design; weighs dry ingredients only

This scale isn’t going to win any beauty contests. Its utilitarian stainless-steel design is reminiscent of a mini-version of the weigh-your-own scales in a supermarket fruit and veg aisle. But it does the job well enough that its lack of looks won’t bother you too much, and it’s compact enough to store away when you don’t need it so you won’t have to look at it.

With just two buttons – an off/zero (or tare) and an lb/kg selector – it couldn’t be simpler to use. Although the makers claim it weighs from zero to 5kg in 1g increments, in our test it failed to register any weight under 2 grams. However, the display was the best of all the scales tested with large, clear, easy to read figures. We particularly liked the capacity indicator which made it easy to keep track of the total weight on the scale when using the tare feature.

The scale was very responsive, although we did notice a minor delay before settling on a final weight. The display also pulls out which makes it useful if you are using a large vessel to weigh in, but also creates a space where stray ingredients could collect and makes it easier for particles of flour etc to collect beneath the weighing platform, which is difficult to access for cleaning purposes. The cable connecting the display to the scale doesn’t feel particularly robust either and could prove a point of weakness over the long term.

Best: For messy cooks

Rating: 7/10

• Size: 22 x 14.5 x 0.5cm
• Weight: 458g
• Features: Touchless tare function; weighs up to 5kg/11lbs
• Accessories: None
• Pros: Fun to use and easy to clean
• Cons: Annoying beep

Pass your downturned palm above this scale while pronouncing “these aren’t the ingredients you’re looking for” and it will automatically zero or tare. You don’t actually have to say the Obi-Wan-like line, but it does help block out the annoying high pitch bleep the scale emits every time you zero it. The makers say that “it prevents cross-contamination and removes the need for multiple hand washing for clean and efficient measuring”. That might be true, except that you still have to press the unit button if, for example, you want to switch from measuring flour in grams to water in millilitres when preparing a bread recipe.

Illogical annoyances aside, this is a compact, easy to use, responsive and simple to clean scale. You might even tempt the kids into helping out with the cooking with the Star Wars related fun.