The SmartWeigh Kitchen Digital Scale is a food scale that lets you know easily the weight of the things you're eating. How well does it work?

First, I want to say that every kitchen should have a scale of some kind. So the basic concept of HAVING a scale is definitely important. We currently have four scales and have probably gone through ten others over the years. So we are well sold on the value of having a scale in the first place. The question is whether this scale is better than the other ones on the market.

I like that it's sleek and easy to clean. Other scales we own have nooks and crannies which, being in a kitchen, quickly attract grime and crumbs. This is solid-surface and perfect for wiping down.

There's a hole for hanging this up, but I don't know anybody who does that to their scales and who cooks a lot. A scale is like a stovetop. It needs to be out and easy to use on the spur of the moment. So I find that a bit of a waste.

It has the standard basics of tare/on, unit switch, and then two dealing with the timer. The timer is a bit annoying to use. You have a MIN and SEC button but you either have to sit there punching them to move up one by one or you can press-and-hold to move up by increments of ten. Either way it's a bit of a pain in a world where every microwave has easy to use buttons that you punch, are done, and go on with life. I'd never use this timer over my microwave timer that's right there. Never mind all the SmartPhone apps out there that are even better.

It doesn't have all the calorie calculating functions that many kitchen scales have, so if you're looking for those options, you'll have to look elsewhere.

Also, the small design is a bit of a pain for larger items. I use my kitchen scale to weigh mail that I'm sending out. With some of my other models, the higher "scale area" means I can still see the numbers of the readout. With this layout all being flat, often the thing I'm measuring covers up the readout. I have to balance the item on the back part of the scale to be able to see what the weight is. I know they were aiming for compact here, but even many mixing bowls are bigger than this design. So I think either a raised central area or a beveled front readout, like many of the other scales have, would be preferable here.

Still, a good, solid mini-scale that does its job well.

rating: 4/5

Buy the SmartWeigh Kitchen Digital Scale from Amazon.com

I was sent a review copy of this scale.


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