When Ina Garten says a food scale is essential, you know it's worth having in your kitchen. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)(Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
Ina Garten makes cooking look so easy, doesn't she? It's one of the things we love most about her — an easygoing yet elevated approach to food that results in something delicious and home-cook-friendly. Of course, foolproof recipes necessitate thorough testing, and one tool that helps with consistency? A kitchen scale. But not just any scale will do for the Barefoot Contessa: The Oxo Good Grips 11-Pound Food Scale is her measurement medium of choice.
Whether you'd like to improve your cooking and baking with more accuracy or want to portion out ingredients and meals with ease, this is one gadget worth adding to your collection (just like 3,000-plus Amazon shoppers have in the past month).
One of the best parts of having a kitchen scale? Not having a zillion measuring cups to clean.
Sometimes, the worst part of cooking has nothing to do with preparing food and everything to do with wrapping up the leftovers. This nifty invention changes all of that. On the Contessa's website, Garten says, "I have used a Stretch-Tite 7500 plastic wrap dispenser for years and absolutely love it." And in a video about her favorite kitchen items for the New York Times, she adds, "Instead of fighting with that box, all you do is just pull [the plastic wrap] out ... just cut it off, and you have a really simple piece of plastic wrap. I use it all the time. Just great."
In a New York Times video, Garten gives viewers a peek into her kitchen, pointing out her food-prep essentials — including the Oxo scale. "I use it all the time," she says. "If something says 'five ounces,' and you want it to be really five ounces, it's really helpful to have a kitchen scale."
While many recipes include both volume and weight measurements, you'll get much more accuracy going by weight. For example, measuring something like flour using a cup can yield wildly different results depending on how loosely or tightly packed it is; not so with a scale.
What sets this one apart from most others is the pull-out display, which means you'll be able to place large bowls and cookware vessels on it without them blocking the reading. (As a former professional baker who still spends a ton of time in the kitchen, I've already added it to my cart for this reason alone.)
Made of stainless steel, it's sleek enough that you could leave it out on the counter, but also compact if you'd rather store it in a drawer or cabinet, as Garten does. You'll be able to effortlessly switch between ounce, pound, gram or kilogram measurements, depending on what you're making, and its 11-pound weight limit means you could plop a whole tin of brownies on it.
If you're looking to measure multiple ingredients as they go into a bowl, the tare, or "zero" function will be your best friend — just press it, and the display will go back down to zero, even if there's weight already on the scale. Now you'll be able to measure just the ingredient you're adding next without needing to do any math. (Phew!)
In the rare event that an Ina Garten endorsement isn't enough to convince you this scale belongs in your cart, take it from the 6,300-plus Amazon reviewers who have given it a perfect rating.
"[This] scale is very accurate," assured one satisfied shopper. "I tested it using items I knew the weight of. [The] display is large and toggling between various units of measure is easily performed with a touch of the lb/kg button. The tare function is super handy."
"First, the pull-out display helps when measuring with a large plate or bowl," raved another. "Second, [the] display stays lit for extended periods of time, allowing me to delay measuring while working elsewhere. Like most Oxo products, it’s well-thought-out."
"Works perfectly," said a third. "This scale is super handy for me to weigh my portions. It is attractive and looks good in our kitchen. The display works rapidly and is very easy to see."
"My only complaint about this scale is that I wish the feet were taller so it was elevated above wet countertops," explained a generally content customer. "The Oxo scale is actually built to last. I bought one 10 years ago and it only just died after I accidentally left it in a puddle on my countertop. I'm investing in another one just like it because it's easy to use, works like a champ and the Oxo customer service is top-notch."
"The only negative is that the pull-out feature (which is great) makes it a little harder to clean," wrote a final fan, adding, "From making bread to measuring coffee beans, this is a great scale. It is easy to use and easy to read."
Another smart Ina Garten find? This plastic wrap dispenser:
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The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.
