Brandt Ranj is a commerce reporter for The Verge, which means, he says, “I spend my time trying to find good deals and the best gear to recommend to our readers.” He also keeps The Verge’s wearables buyer’s guides up to date, but, he adds, “my role requires me to cover a little bit of everything,” including deals on subscriptions. “Products are constantly coming out, so every day it is a little different.”
He volunteered to tell us about his favorite kitchen scale: the OXO 11 lb Stainless Steel Food Scale with Pull out Display.
When (and why) did you get this kitchen scale?
I come from a long line of bakers who measure everything by feel because the recipes have been passed down from generation to generation. I’m the first person who’s nerdy enough to care about exact weight and ratios when baking, which has gotten me confused looks from my family rather than approval. But the results speak for themselves — my bakes are more consistent because the same amounts of ingredients are used every time. It’s not necessary, but I also weigh out portions of cookies so each one of them is the same size, which is admittedly pretty extra.
I’ve had this scale for many years, and I liked it enough to get another one to keep at my mom’s place when I bake there.
There are loads of kitchen scales out there. How did you choose?
I like OXO’s scale specifically because its magnetically attached digital display can be pulled away from the scale, which is very helpful when I’m measuring a bunch of ingredients in a big bowl. Rather than move the bowl, which could skew the measurements, I remove the display, which stays attached to the base with an admittedly thin cable (so I have to be a little gentle).
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve used the scale for years and it’s never let me down. Its display is large and easy to read. The buttons are tactile and depress with a satisfying click even if they’re covered in flour. It doesn’t have an IP rating, but liquid ingredients have splashed onto the top of the scale dozens of times, and I haven’t had any issues. In fact, it’s pretty low-maintenance and runs for several months before its batteries need to be replaced. It’s one of those “you only have one job” devices, and it performs admirably.
Is there anything that you’d improve if you could?
So, we’re getting into really nerdy territory here, but here’s the scenario when I use a different scale: pizza making. Some scales have two platforms: one for larger amounts of ingredients, and another that can precisely weigh very light amounts of ingredients (think one teaspoon’s worth of dry yeast). When you’re making pizza, all of your ingredients should be proportioned down to the gram relative to the amount of flour in the dough. (Homemade pizza dough is an incredibly deep rabbit hole — save yourself and start your homemade pizza journey with store-bought dough.)
I also think it would be interesting if the scale had a rechargeable battery, but only if it could be removed and replaced to avoid having to throw out the entire scale once the battery had degraded.
Any other cooking / measuring advice?
If you’re moving from using volumetric measurements (like cups of flour), it’s important to be able to convert that to grams or ounces if the recipe doesn’t provide that information. There’s conflicting information about how many grams is in a cup of flour, but the general consensus is around 120 to 130 grams. However, if the recipe wasn’t developed with weight measurements in mind, things can get a little funky.
My advice is to find recipes that list ingredients by weight, and to look around to see if the ingredient’s packaging or website offers guidance on converting from volumetric measurements. For instance, the King Arthur Baking Company says a cup of its flour converts to 120 grams (the info is actually printed on the bag, which is very helpful).
After a little while you’ll be able to convert measurements in your head, and get to tell people at cocktail parties that a stick of butter weighs about 113 grams. (I’m a really fun party guest, I swear.)
