Do You Use a Kitchen Scale? You Should!
If you’re a regular reader of SahmReviews, then you know how proud we are of our weight loss accomplishments. We’ve talked about healthy snacks, provided a fantastic low-calorie (and low-sodium) recipe for chili, and bragged about our use of MyFitnessPal in a number of posts. But one of the things we can’t ignore about our success was the simple fact that we accurately weighed EVERYTHING that went into our mouths. Without the knowledge of exactly how much we were eating, the calories on the label meant nothing. Just going over by 5% will cause the average person to gain over 12 pounds in the course of a year! Yikes!
There is another important tool that we used to combat this issue; an accurate kitchen scale. Our model did us well, but had one annoying feature that time-and-time again becomes a problem for us. It uses watch batteries. In an often-used item like a kitchen scale, those CR2032 discs just don’t last very long. And of course they go out in the middle of a recipe and you never have spares laying around. They’re super-expensive at retail, so I ended up buying them in lots of 5 or 10 off of eBay. Not very convenient.
Our new scale from Mira is their model ST85 and cures our headache by using (AND including) four AAA batteries! Now I don’t know about you, but with all the kids’ toys that use batteries, we are never in short supply of them. And I have no qualms about raiding an electronic barking dog for its batteries to make dinner if necessary.
Tonight we’re having ribeye steak cooked sous-vide. A recommended size is 3 ounces, which should be about the size of a deck of playing cards. Almost cut this piece perfectly!
Fresh asparagus from my mom’s garden. Really no limit on how much of this I can have since it is a vegetable (and cooked in a manner that doesn’t add many calories), but I still need to know exactly how much I am going to consume.
We don’t always have a starch with our dinner, but tonight are some simple pan-roasted potato wedges with sprayed-on oil & a tiny bit of salt for taste. Again, how much you eat is as important as what you eat.
Round out dinner with a serving of mandarin oranges and a small glass of milk for calcium and this is our typical meal. So much different than what we used to have. Previously the steak would have occupied a third of the plate with the vegetables taking up maybe a fifth.
If you are serious about taking off a few (or a lot of) pounds, then a good quality kitchen scale is a must. Not only were we happy with Mira’s inclusion of batteries (and picking the right type to use), but we found the screen super-easy to read and very quick responding. Switching between measurement units is a breeze and cleanup only took a wipe with a paper towel. Of course we used a plate by zeroing it out before adding the food – I don’t plan on wasting one ounce if I can afford it!
You can find one of these highly-rated scales on Amazon for under $25. If this isn’t a large enough version for your family (or you do large-batch cooking), be sure to see the other scales they have available, including one that will weigh up to 11 pounds! They’re also pretty active on Facebook and Twitter if you’d like to learn more. I’m sure they’d love to hear what you think!
Do you weigh your food when you cook? The finished product or just the ingredients for recipes?
I’ve considered using a kitchen scale for a while. Just for baking with more accurate measurements. Thanks for sharing the review 🙂
I bet it is so eye opening to weigh your food and see what you are really eating! Very cool.
I just started using a kitchen scale. It has been so helpful
This is a cool device. I think portions are very important, and you illustrated how we can easily be wrong judging what we are eating. The asparagus had me salivating, by the way!
Oh what an awesome kitchen scale! I used to use when when I was TTCing. It was helpful to balance my protein to carb intake.
My hubby is trying to lose weight and the plan he is on requires much weighing of food plus I am a baker so I have two kitchen scales ’cause I’m using them all the time.
i have the same scale and I love it! your meal looks fantastic!
I have a kitchen scale and it is a HUGE help! Look how healthy your meal is, with most of the plate being veg. Way to go!
PS: I also love my kitchen scale for weighing packages before I mail them out, lol! 🙂
Ah they look really sleek!
I’ve never considered using one but as I become more health concious this would be a good buy.
I need to get a kitchen scale, i always worry that im estimating weight/size incorrectly.
well I do have a scale but the battery doesn’t work and I couldn’t care to buy a new one even though I thought about it several times…
Now I really have to take action as I want to prepare a lot of healthy food for winter time!
i do not use a kitchen scale nor do i own one. i usually approximate it and eat as healthy as i can. i do see that it can help, but not sure if i would use it all the time even if i had it.
I don’t weigh my food, although I do want to get a kitchen scale for use when canning or baking. The Mira isn’t a brand I’m familiar with, so I appreciate your review.
I tried using a scale once upon a time and actually became so stressed out with measuring everything I ended up either not eating at all or eating too much!! I do agree that many people will love using one and it will be a great idea for them.
I need to get one like this because it can be used for many things. Thanks for sharing.
For baking I always use a scale .
If the weight is right the cake is going to be better.
Thank you
I have this scale and love it. This scale makes stuff so much easier in the kitchen
Looks to be a great item!
i have a kitchen scale but not that kind mine is the regular scale and i keep it by my fridge to make sure i dont eat too much and if i need a reason to have an excuse not to eat more i just step on it!
I have a digital scale, I haven’t been using it. I got it because I had started baking bread and wanted to use recipes that had ingredients by weight. I still want to do this, but haven’t been able to yet, but I see I could and should be using it to weigh preparations – probably would eat much less!
I recently just got a kitchen scale and they are phenomenal!