February 7, 2025

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Cooking Is My World

The 10 Best Food Scales for Every Purpose

Most seasoned chefs and amateur home cooks agree that a reliable food scale is essential if you want to achieve consistent results in your culinary pursuits.

Keeping a kitchen scale handy is also an excellent way to accurately track your nutrition intake so you can reach your health or performance goals more efficiently.

If you’ve ever shopped for a kitchen scale, you know the sheer number of options can feel overwhelming, but this is where Healthline can help.

Each product on this list was chosen based on the type of scale, ease of use, presence of unique and practical features, price, and weight capacity.

Here are the 10 best food scales for every purpose.

A note on price

General price ranges with dollar signs ($ to $$$) are indicated below. One dollar sign means the product is rather affordable, whereas three dollar signs indicate a higher price range.

Pricing guide:

  • $ = under $15
  • $$ = $15–$30
  • $$$ = over $30
Healthline

Best compact digital

If you’re in the market for a basic food scale that travels well and suits small kitchen spaces, look no further.

INEVIFIT

Price: $$

The INEVIFIT digital kitchen scale is a compact, battery-powered scale that comes with all the features you need to accurately weigh your food.

It features a backlit LCD display with five unit settings, including grams, pounds, ounces, and milliliters. The weight platform is made from stainless steel, which means it’s durable and easy to clean.

It has a maximum weight limit of 13 pounds (6 kg) and is small enough to store in a drawer or cupboard if you’re short on counter space. It also has a convenient automatic turnoff feature to help maximize battery life.

Nicewell

Price: $$

Nicewell’s digital food scale features a sleek yet practical design that’s sure to meet all of your cooking and baking needs.

This scale has a 22-pound (10-kg) weight limit, which is significantly higher than other similar models. It also features a comparably large weight platform for added convenience.

Despite its larger surface area and high weight capacity, it’s remarkably thin and easy to store and transport. The weight platform is made from tempered glass for easy cleaning, and the scale comes with five unit options for measuring a variety of foods.

The Nicewell digital scale is battery-powered and will automatically turn off after 120 seconds to help maximize battery life. It’s also equipped with a feature that will alert you when your battery is running low or you’ve exceeded the weight capacity.

KOIOS USB Rechargeable

Price: $$
The KOIOS rechargeable food scale is a lightweight digital scale that can help you accurately weigh a variety of foods.

It comes with six unit measuring options, which you can switch between with the touch of a button. It’s equipped with an easy-to-read backlit LCD display and waterproof, tempered glass weighing platform that can hold up to 11 pounds (5 kg).

The feature that really sets the KOIOS scale apart is its rechargeable battery.

Each full charge lasts up to 3 months, and it can be easily recharged using any USB-compatible charging device. If you’re tired of always keeping disposable batteries on hand, the KOIOS just might be the best scale for you.

Best high capacity digital

Levin

Price: $$

If you’re looking for a digital scale with a compact design that can handle a heavy load, the Levin digital scale is a great option.

This battery-operated scale can weigh up to 33 pounds (15 kg) of food at a time and comes with five unit options, including grams, kilograms, pounds, fluid ounces, and milliliters.

The LCD display and weight platform are made from a combination of durable stainless steel and tempered glass to make cleanup a breeze.

It’s simple to use and has only two buttons to access each setting. It’s also equipped with a feature that’ll alert you when your battery is running low.

Best mechanical

Mechanical — or analog — scales tend to be slightly less precise than digital scales, but they’re considerably more durable and don’t require batteries or power cords.

If you’re looking for a mechanical food scale, you can’t go wrong with any of these options.

Taylor Precision 38804016T

Price: $$

Taylor Precision is well known for crafting quality products, and the 38804016T analog food scale is no exception.

It has a simple, low profile design that’s suitable for large and small spaces alike. It has a 22-pound (10-kg) weight capacity, and the oversized weighing tray is made from durable and dishwasher-safe stainless steel.

It features large, easy-to-read graphics and measures in imperial or metric units.

Escali DS115B

Price: $$$

The Escali DS115B has a retro body style that’s as functional as it is attractive.

Made entirely from stainless steel, this scale is durable and easy to clean. It has an 11-pound (5-kg) weight capacity, and the weighing bowl is removable and dishwasher safe.

It’s capable of measuring in pounds, ounces, grams, or kilograms and comes with a limited lifetime warranty.

San Jamar SCMDL50

Price: $$$

The San Jamar SCMDL50 mechanical scale is a no-frills, high capacity, commercial-grade scale that has all of the essential features you need — and none of the ones you don’t.

It’s has a sturdy, stainless steel design and weight capacity of 50 pounds (22.6 kg), so it’s a great choice for anyone looking for a scale that can handle a heavy load. It’s simple to use, and the number graphics are bold and easy to read.

One potential drawback is that it only measures in ounces and pounds. If you need to work in metric units, this is not the product for you.

Best for nutrition tracking

If you’re planning to use your food scale to help you track your nutrition intake, each of these scales comes with special features that can help you reach your goals.

Greater Goods Nourish

Price: $$$

Greater Goods’ Nourish food scale is battery-operated and comes with a built-in database of over 2,000 foods, which you can use to track your intake of total carbs, fiber, sugar, protein, fat, sodium, and cholesterol.

If you can’t find a particular food in the database, you can manually add up to 99 of your personal favorites. The scale is also equipped with a feature that allows you to add multiple foods together to determine the nutritional content of a meal or entire day of meals.

It’s made with an easy-to-clean tempered glass weighing platform that can hold up to 11 pounds (5 kg). It also allows you to switch between grams, pounds, and ounces.

It’s a little more expensive than other similar scales. However, it comes with a 2-year warranty.

Phansra Digital

Price: $$

The Phansra digital scale is a high quality, high precision food scale with Bluetooth capabilities that allow you to track your nutritional intake using your smartphone.

Sync all of your scale-measured meals and snacks directly to your phone using the free Foodiet app, or use the app to manually enter foods when you don’t have your scale handy. The app also has a barcode scanner to simplify tracking your favorite grocery store finds.

If you don’t want to use the app, the Phansra scale likewise comes equipped with a variety of practical features, such as an LCD display, tempered glass weighing platform, and five unit measurement options.

It holds up to 11 pounds (5 kg), and its compact, lightweight design makes it suitable for travel, so you can stick to your dietary goals even when you’re on the road.

Best budget option

ZERLA digital

Price: $

If you’re looking for a high quality food scale that’s as affordable as it is functional, the ZERLA digital is a great option.

The ZERLA scale holds up to 11 pounds (5 kg) and is equipped with 4 unit measurement settings, including pounds, ounces, grams, and milliliters.

To help maximize battery life, it turns off automatically after 2 minutes of no use, and you’ll be notified whenever your batteries are running low.

When you begin the process of selecting a food scale, the first thing you’ll want to consider is how you plan to use it.

If you’re using it for simple home cooking and baking projects, any of the compact digital options would be a good fit.

If you plan on weighing larger quantities of food or other items, such as whole produce, meat, or even mail, a sturdy mechanical scale might be more suitable.

If your primary goal is to track your nutritional intake, a scale with added nutrition-tracking features might be most appealing.

Next, you’ll want to think about your budget. If you don’t want to spend a lot, compact digital scales tend to be more budget-friendly. Yet, they still offer all of the essential weighing features. Remember, a higher price tag isn’t necessarily indicative of higher quality.

Finally, you should consider a scale’s overall functionality.

If you need a scale with a high weight capacity but don’t want to deal with batteries or power cords, a high capacity mechanical scale might the best choice. Conversely, if you prefer the ease and precision of a digital scale, a high capacity digital scale might be more appropriate.

Food scales can make tasks like cooking, baking, portioning, and nutrition tracking simpler and more accurate.

A variety of affordable and functional food scales are available.

Before selecting a scale, consider how you plan to use it, your budget, and which features are most appealing to you.

Whether you prefer digital or analog, low or high capacity, or compact or heavy duty, there’s a suitable option for everyone.