[P H A T]

I'm thinking about purchasing a food/kitchen scale to more accurately portion my food. I think portion control is one of my problems that needs to be handled as soon as possible. I've read a few reviews on amazon about scales, but I'd rather hear from people here who have a kitchen scale about the benefits.. Is it an item that you use daily? What kinds of scales should I consider buying? Are digital scales better? Any kind of advice & tips would be great..

[TooManyDimples]

I have the biggest loser scale. I use it multiple times a day. I definitely think a digital scale is going to be the most accurate. I like the one I have because you can measure in ounces or grams.

[FitGirlyGirl]

I have a digital scale that I purchased from wal-mart for about $20 (I think). It measures in g, oz. kg, and lb. I think it is important to make sure you get one that measures with the various units. I would also only use a digital one for accuracy. I use my scale multiple times every day and could not do this without it.

[quiddkidd06]

Like TooManyDimples, I definitely recommend getting one with oz and grams. My first one only did grams, so I had to mentally convert grams to oz every time!

[MonicaM]

A scale is well worth it! I used mine for a few weeks; unitl I learned what is what. I now only use it when I try something new.

[P H A T]

Yes, I think I will end up getting one because I know it will be worth it to know exactly how many ounces something is instead of always eyeballing it..

[seagirl]

I use mine daily. I just bought whatever my local grocery had, with grams and oz. You don't need something fancy or to deliberate long.

[JessLess]

I need to buy one too.

[hpnodat]

I have the biggest loser one too. I like it because it weighs in oz, lbs(up to 5 lbs I think) and grams. It was $20 at bed bath & beyond. I love it.
It has a removable glass plate on it, so its easy to clean too.

I started weighing all my vegetables, typically 85g is 1/2 cup of veggies. I've come to learn what I thought a serving of veggies was 1/2 cup measured is actually a bigger serving than what I thought when I compare 1/2 cup measured to the serving in grams.
I weigh everything, my measuring cups and spoons have almost become obsolete. I just set my bowl or plate right on the scale and hit the tare button, it brings it back to 0, then I start to weigh my meal out. In the end, I have no cups or spoons to wash, only the plate I used to weigh my food with.

[Rana]

I love food scales, the investment is totally worth it.

I have TWO digital scales, one has grams/oz. and the other is oz/lbs.

I use them on a daily basis too... measuring cups are good for eyeballing stuff, but when I want to eat 1 serving of pita chips or 1 serving of almond butter, the scale is the only way to be accurate about it.

[OhMyDogs]

I have a $20 walmart one as well, and quite like it.

However, I would like to say to use caution. If you get one, and you start measuring and think "Oh wow, I can eat WAY more chicken than I thought" get something that has the weight listed right on it, and weigh it. I had this happen, a brand new scale I bought (from somewhere else) wasn't weighing properly, so an entire chicken thigh (no bone or skin) was coming up at 40g. Eventually I weighed a bag of microwave popcorn, which was supposed to be like 94g or something, and it weighed in at 56g. The scale was defective. When I bought my new scale, first thing I did was check it with something that had the weight listed right on it! LOL

[BeTrueToYou]

I have a scale, the spring loaded one for 12$ I think at Walmart. I don't use it for me...I use it for my dogs who eat a raw diet. It works very well and they get correct portions. It has a bowl type thing that sits on top that is very easy to clean. Come to think of it, maybe I should use it too :P

[JenMusic]

LOVE my digital scale and I use it multiple times a day. It's much easier/better than getting measuring cups and spoons dirty all the time, and generally more accurate, as well.

A couple of suggestions:
- Make sure it has a tare button, which zeroes out the amount you've put on, so you can just add more without having to take off what you've previously weighed. For example, last night I put on a bowl (tare); olive oil (tare); feta cheese (tare) - no math required!

- Make sure the weighing platform area is big enough to be practical. This is my only real complaint about my scale - if I use a dinner plate on it, I can't see the display. On the other hand, a bigger platform takes up more counter space. It's a trade-off.

[MariaMaria]

This is my only real complaint about my scale - if I use a dinner plate on it, I can't see the display.

Upside-down bowl or glass directly the scale, and tare it. Then sit your working surface on that.