That $35 'kitchen scale' I bought from Amazon was a total joke for bread baking

I picked up this cheap digital scale thinking it would be fine for measuring flour and water. The whole thing felt flimsy right out of the box, but I figured how bad could it be. First time I tried to measure 500 grams of bread flour for a sourdough batch, the display kept jumping between 480 and 520. I thought I was going crazy, so I weighed the same cup of flour three times and got three different numbers. Turned out the scale had no consistency at all, and my dough came out way too sticky because I was adding extra flour to hit the target. I tossed that thing in the trash after two loaves and ordered a proper OXO scale for $45 instead. Has anyone else dealt with those dirt cheap Amazon scales that just lie to you?

3 comments

3 Comments

julia_patel22d ago

Had the exact same problem with a brand called "Etekcity" or whatever. The readings would drift even when nothing was on the plate. Put a 500g weight on it, watched it slowly creep up to 510 over 30 seconds. Totally useless for bread. You need consistent measurements for hydration ratios. One off reading and your dough turns into a mess. OXO is the way to go, that scale actually holds steady. Also check that your counter is perfectly level next time.

xena37321d ago

Yeah but I gotta disagree on the OXO thing... I had one of those and it started acting weird after like 6 months, wouldn't zero out right. Those Etacity scales are hit or miss for sure, but I've had a cheap Amazon one for like 4 years now that's rock solid. Maybe you just got a bad batch or something. And honestly level counter thing is real, I put a piece of folded paper under one corner and it fixed all my drift issues.

iris_davis9021d ago

Ha, the level thing is so real. I had a buddy who was losing his mind over his scale being all over the place, like it would read 100g, then 105, then 98 without him touching it. He was about to throw it in the trash. Finally he noticed his counter had a tiny warp in it, like a millimeter off. He slid a coaster under one foot and boom, perfectly steady ever since. It's crazy how sensitive these things are.