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If you’re becoming a serious baker — one Paul Hollywood would offer a handshake to — then you absolutely need a home baking scale. The art of creating fluffy breads and flaky pastries is really more of a science, and using measuring cups and spoons (i.e., measuring by volume) can be tricky. The best way to ensure baking success is to measure by weight, to the ounce or the gram, and to do that, you’ll need one of the best baking scales.
With the quest for the best kitchen scale for baking in mind, I worked with Meggan to put together this list of our favorites, covering the digital scales we use to bake like the pros. Below, you’ll find scales for every budget that can help produce perfect bread, muffins, cupcakes, and more.
Table of Contents
Our Top Picks:
- What’s in Meggan’s Kitchen: Nutra Track Food and Nutrition Scale – $39.95 at Amazon
- Best Splurge Scale for Baking: OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Food Scale – $55.95 at Amazon
- Best Budget Scale: Ozeri Pronto Digital Multifunction Kitchen Scale – $9.98 at Home Depot
- Best Scale for Baking Bread: Greater Goods High Capacity Kitchen Scale – $24.99 at Amazon
- Best Gram Scale: Etekcity Food Scale with detachable bowl – $16.99 at Amazon
Reviews of The Best Baking Scales
1. What’s in Meggan’s Kitchen: Nutra Track Food and Nutrition Scale
Meggan bought the Nutra Track Food and Nutriton Scale a couple years back when her previous scale stopped working and it’s since become one of her kitchen staples. “Some baking recipes require ingredients in weight rather than volume,” she explains. “ This gives a higher accuracy of the amount of the ingredient. In some cases, such as with macarons, the disparity between weight and volume makes a big difference.”
Meggan says the Nutra Track is easy to use and works well, switching nimbly among scale units like ounces, fluid ounces, and grams and easily “taring,” or resetting to zero with a bowl on top, so you can weigh just the ingredient you need to add.
Unlike some of the other scales on the list, it also has a lot of nutritional info built into the scale’s structure — something Meggan says she doesn’t necessarily use — but it could be useful for people following specific eating plans. It also comes in two colors: gray and turquoise.
The Specs:
- Dimensions: 9.75 by 6 by 0.7 inches
- Capacity: 11 pounds
- Weight Units: Ounces, pounds, grams, fluid ounces, and milliliters
The Pros:
- Compact and easy to clean
- Designed and engineered in the USA
- Can sync measurements with each type of food, yielding quick and accurate nutritional info
The Cons:
- Nutritional info may not be necessary for all users
- Busy design
What Others are Saying:
Men’s Health named it the best multi-function food scale, and AOL says it’s a great nutritional calculator. The Nutra Track scale is a favorite of some YouTubers, who call it “elegant,” hail its “pinpoint accuracy,” and use it to support their Keto diets.
Buy the Nutra Track Food and Nutrition Scale:
2. Best Splurge Scale for Baking: OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Food Scale
The OXO stainless steel food scale is a bit of a splurge, but it’s absolutely worth it. Sleek and stylish, this digital scale has a pull-out display, so you don’t have to crane your neck when you’re weighing something in a big bowl or that might be awkwardly shaped.
Its backlit digital display is easy to read, and the stainless steel finish is smudge and fingerprint-resistant. Plus, OXO is known to stand behind their products with an excellent warranty policy should something go wrong.
The Specs:
- Dimensions: 9.5 by 7.13 by 1.25 inches
- Capacity: 11 pounds
- Weight Units: Ounces, pounds, grams, and kilograms
The Pros:
- Removable platform makes it easy to clean
- Pull-out display is simple to read when weighing oversized items
- OXO has a great warranty policy
The Cons:
- More expensive than other scales on this list
- Weights can take a second to register, depending on where you plate the item
What Others are Saying:
Food & Wine named this scale its favorite for baking bread, while CNN Underscored gave props to the product’s lifetime warranty. Eating Well called this scale its best overall in testing and Serious Eats dubbed it a “tried and true favorite.”
Buy the OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Food Scale:
3. Best Budget Scale: Ozeri Pronto Digital Multifunction Kitchen Scale
A favorite of another Culinary Hill staffer, Anna, the Ozeri Pronto Digital Multifunction Kitchen Scale is a good choice for a baker on a budget.
You can simply switch between units of measurement by clicking a button, which means you won’t have to spend any more time wondering how many grams are in an ounce or what a pound is equivalent to in milliliters. The scale itself is small, weighing just 12 ounces, and it comes in a wide range of colors to match any kitchen decor. Finally, it cleans and stores easily, too.
The Specs:
- Dimensions: 8.25 by 1.75 by 6 inches
- Capacity: 11.24 pounds
- Weight Units: Grams, pounds, ounces, milliliters, and kilograms
The Pros:
- Great price for a functional baking scale
- Small size for easy storage
- Auto shut-off feature
The Cons:
- Screen can be hard to see when weighing larger bowls
- Some users complain that the numbers aren’t 100% accurate down to single grams
What Others are Saying:
Epicurious calls the Ozeri scale a great budget alternative and Food & Wine says the scale’s precision and accuracy is impressive. CNN Underscored chose it as the best overall kitchen scale. It also has a 4.7-star rating from more than 92,000 Amazon shoppers.
Buy the Ozeri Pronto Digital Multifunction Kitchen Scale:
4. Best Scale for Baking Bread: Greater Goods High Capacity Kitchen Scale
Capable of weighing up to 22 pounds, the Greater Goods scale is great for bakers who bake multiple loaves of bread at a time or use heavy mixing bowls or containers.
It can handle light weights just as well since it tracks objects down to a single gram. The hi-definition LCD display is easy to read while the scale’s streamlined, industrial look is modern and cool — and it comes in a dozen colors. Its middle-of-the-road price is nice bonus, too.
The Specs:
- Dimensions: 7.87 by 6.1 by 1.46 inches
- Capacity: 22 pounds
- Weight Units: Grams, milliliters, ounces, and pounds
The Pros:
- Weighs up to 22 pounds
- Very lightweight
- Easy to clean
The Cons:
- Power/zero button can be a little finicky
What Others Are Saying:
This baking scale has a 4.6-star rating from more than 148,000 Amazon shoppers.
Buy the Greater Goods High Capacity Kitchen Scale:
5. Best Gram Scale: Etekcity Food Scale with Detachable Bowl
More than a few scales claim to measure items down a single gram, but Etekcity’s food scale goes above and beyond even that, measuring foods down to a tenth of a gram! These high-precision measurements allow for wildly accurate bakes, meaning your macarons will be très parfait.
The scale’s detachable bowl makes weighing loose items like berries or chocolate chips easier, and it also offers users the option to switch between milk and water density — something that’s incredibly handy if you’re a pro or semi-pro baker. The scale itself comes in a handful of colors, too.
The Specs:
- Dimensions: 8.4 by 6.7 by 1.3 inches
- Capacity: 11 pounds
- Weight Units: Ounces, pounds, grams, fluid ounces, and milliliters
The Pros:
- Precise weights to the tenth of a gram
- Big back-lit display is easy to read
- Having the option of the removable bowl makes the scale easier to use and clean
The Cons:
- Some users report issues with scale sensitivity
What Others are Saying:
It has a 4.7-star rating from more than 55,800 Amazon shoppers. Men’s Health also named it the best food scale with a bowl.
Buy the Etekcity Food Scale with Detachable Bowl:
Other Baking Scales to Consider
KitchenAid Dual Platform Digital Kitchen Scale
This scale stands out for its dual platform layout, which allows you to weigh two items at the exact same time, even if you want to know what one is in ounces and the other in grams. It’s a cool idea, but the more we think about it, we’re just not sure how often we’d actually use it. Most bakers can make do with a single platform scale just as well. The KitchenAid Dual Platform Digital Kitchen Scale is available at Amazon for $30.49.
Ultrean Food Scale
It’s tempting to want to pick up this scale, especially since more than 10,000 Amazon reviewers seem to be on board. If we were familiar with the brand, we might give it a shot, but so far, Ultrean isn’t exactly a household name. We’ll pony up the same cash for our budget pick from Ozeri or a couple extra bucks for something else instead. The Ultrean Food Scale is available at Amazon for $9.99.
Amazon Basics Digital Kitchen Scale
While people clearly seem to like the Amazon Basics brand — and for good reason, as some of the megaretailer’s self-branded stuff is great — this scale is nice enough to look at, and it works just fine, according to reviewers. We just liked the other options better. The Amazon Basics Digital Kitchen Scale is available at Amazon for $11.49.
Why You Can Trust Us
Hi! I’m Marah, a longtime food and commerce reporter who’s contributed to online publications like Reviewed and and AllRecipes, for whom I’ve tested and reviewed tons of kitchen products. I’ve been an avid baker for decades, so I know the value of a good kitchen scale, especially if I’m trying to master some finicky pastry or hone a recipe I’ll want to repeat over and over again.
As a classically trained chef and blogger, Meggan Hill is a food and product expert as well. She operates Culinary Hill with an eye toward developing easy and delicious recipes.
That’s why when we pulled together our list of the best baking scales, we started with what we knew and owned ourselves. From there, we expanded out, checking out what other buyers liked, what our baking friends owned, and what we felt was tried-and-true. We evaluated each scale on price, available features, and durability, choosing options we thought were good all-around choices for any level of baker.
Everything to Know Before Buying a Baking Scale
What to Consider Before Buying a Baking Scale
When buying a baking scale, consider:
- The measurement precision: Are you a buttoned-up baker extraordinaire who wants to get every macaron measurement perfect to the tenth of a gram, or are you more concerned with just trying to get your meatballs to be roughly the same size? If you’re the former, choose a scale that can get you more precise figures.
- Cleanability: As with anything you use in the kitchen, you’ll want a scale that’s easy to clean. You might not always be sloshing things around on top, but that doesn’t mean you won’t want to give it a good wipe down after every single use.
- Size: Where do you want to keep your scale? If, like Meggan, you want to slip it in a drawer, you’ll want to make sure you pick one that doesn’t sit higher than your drawer’s rise. If you’re more likely to turn it sideways and slip it into a cabinet, you’ll want to match your scale’s width with your shelf heights.
How to Use a Kitchen Scale for Baking
- First, turn the scale on using the power button. Set your scale to the measurement unit your recipe calls for, whether it’s pounds, ounces, grams, or something else.
- Place your chosen container on top of the scale, whether it’s an empty measuring bowl or small ramekin. The scale will register and display the weight of the bowl.
- Press the “zero” or “tare” button to remove the weight of the bowl and bring the display back to zero. Add your first ingredient according to recipe instructions.
- Then, either move that ingredient to another container or implement — a stand mixer, for instance — or hit the “zero” or “tare” button to start over, adding another ingredient in the appropriate amount.
How to Read One Gram on a Scale
When you weigh a gram on a digital scale, the display should show “1 g” or “1.000 g.” If your scale reads “.01 gram” or “.1 gram,” then you’ve measured a hundredth or a tenth of a gram, respectively, and you need to keep going.
How to Measure Baking Ingredients Without a Scale
Most home bakers grow up using measuring cups and spoons to measure baking ingredients. That’s fine for cookies and brownies that don’t rely on the science of leavening, especially considering it’s what most everyday cookbooks use in recipes. But measuring cups measure by volume, or how much physical space a substance occupies, rather than by weight or mass, like a kitchen scale. If you’re trying to execute something more high-level, you’ll definitely want a kitchen scale for baking.
Do You Need a Kitchen Scale for Bread Baking?
You don’t NEED a kitchen scale for bread baking, but it sure can save a lot of time (and dishwasher space!). With a scale, you can just add each ingredient to your mixing bowl, zeroing it out between each item. That way, you won’t make extra dirty dishes.
It also makes it quick and easy to double and triple recipes — assuming you have a high-capacity scale — which means you can make a couple of loaves for friends or neighbors, too.
The Best Recipes Using a Baking Scale
You can use a scale to make all sorts of baked goods. Here are some of our favorites!
Prices were accurate at time of publication.
