Customer Reviews

Salter 5-Pound Microtronic Kitchen Scale, White

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I love this compact, flat little scale. Living in a very small city apartment with a tiny kitchen, I hang the scale on the wall when I'm not using it -- it has a key-hole shaped hole in the back so it goes right on a wall hook. That keeps it where I can find it in an instant and its low profile means it doesn't protrude when hanging.

Especially great is its simple control design. One button turns it on and zeroes it out. I can put any container on it, such as a bowl, a cup, a measuring pitcher, or a sheet of waxed paper or a paper towel, press the on/zero button and then add the ingredient I'm weighing until I get the desired amount.

One thing I really like is the other button that toggles between grams and ounces. These days, nutrition information on foods is given in set portions on the package -- and the portion size is always accurately given in grams. Therefore, when following the Weight Watchers program and I've decided how much of some dry ingredient I want to consume, I can determine the portion size in grams and weigh it accurately. That's true for something like a frozen dessert -- the weight of a portion of ice cream, for example, reduced fat or otherwise, is easy when spooning it into a bowl on this scale, but to measure 1/2 cup by volume is difficult, and approximate to begin with.

Some other, similar, scales, have a grams/ounces slide switch on the bottom and that makes switching back and forth between grams and ounces a chore. This one does it with one touch.

With recipes, if the weight of dry ingredients is given in ounces or grams, it's way easier and more accurate to weigh them than to try to measure them by volume and this scale makes that process a breeze.

This scale also works perfectly for weighing outgoing mail to determine extra postage.

The scale has a time-out feature that turns it off after a short period of non-use. So you don't have to turn it off when you're done -- in 30 seconds it will shut itself off. If you're weighing some ingredients, each addition of weight will keep it on, so rarely will it time out during use.

Battery life is lengthy -- I've had mine for almost two years and the batteries are still working. I use it all the time and couldn't be happier with the product.

I purchased this unit several months ago from a home store. After a few weeks it started acting up. I would turn it on and the numbers would start jumping around randomly before I put anything on it. I would have to remove the batteries and re-insert them to get it to stop, but even that didn't always work. I purchased new batteries, same problem.

I use it all the time and when it works I love it. But there have been times I've been so frustrated at it not working that I've wanted to chuck it against the wall!

I took it back to exchange it and my new one does the same thing. I read in the directions to hold the "on" button until the screen comes on, I do that and it still acts up.

EDIT: I learned it is the microwave that was causing my problem. If there is a microwave nearby running that somehow interferes with the unit and causes the problem I described above. If my microwave is not running it works like a dream. I think Salter should do a better job of informing the customer of this, like a little insert taped to the top of the item that alerts us to the issue, would have saved me time, frustration and gas. I'm taking off one star as it was a major PITA until I figured this out.

Overall this is a fine scale. One "convenient" feature is an auto zero function. If the scale has been tared and the tare weight removed, rather than displaying a negative weight, the scale automatically re-zeros. This may be handy most of the time, but sometimes it's a pain. With my old scale, I could tare a partially filled bowl, remove the bowl from the scale, add more goodies, and place it back on the scale to determine the weight of the additional material. That doesn't work with this scale--it rezeros when a tared weight is removed.

I am completely satisfied with this scale. It turns on quickly, measures accurately and stays on long enough (I've never had the turn-off problem the other reviewer complains about).

I will never go back to mechanical scales, the added precision and convenience is well worth the extra 15-20 bucks.

I had a dial type scale before this electronic one and I just LOVE this one so much!! It switches easily from grams to ounces and the read out is immediate and accurate. The best feature is that you can put a bowl or cup on the scale and reset the scale to zero. Then you can add your items and measure just the weight of the item added! If you need to add more items to the same bowl, simply reset to zero again and it will only measure the additional items. No more measuring in one dish and putting it into another. Saves on additional dishes to wash! I am on Weight Watchers and it has made measuring so much easier and more exact. No more guessing if I have a cup of something, I can simply measure the exact gram weight and know I haven't "rounded up" with the traditional measuring cup! This item was definitely worth the money. I LOVE it.

I can understand one bad unit slipping through and into the hands of consumers.

But I'm on my second one now, and it's about to be returned too.

First unit kept turning off while I was measuring ingredients, about 15 minutes out of the box.

Second unit also has a tendency to turn off WHILE MEASURING ingredients. Not good. Ever try fishing out baking powder from flour, since your scale turned off while watching the display INCREASE it's measurements?

So, weigh ingredients seperately as a work around. But now the scale won't tare correctly. Goes from zero to 1 to zero to one on a flat surface. And finally it decided to really go bananas and start hunting and pecking all over the range!

It's being returned for yet another replacement, since I need something this weekend... but I believe I'll be ordering up a different unit and returning this one after I get it.

I was using a cheap dial scale for a few weeks, and leaning down each time to see if I was at one or two ounces was very frustrating. I love this scale because there's no question if I'm at 1 oz or 1 1/4 oz. It give a very precise measurement.

I also love that you can zero out the scale. I use this feature all the time, especially when making salads or wraps. It saves me extra dishes that I was using to measure each ingredient. Instead, after I add the turkey, I zero it out and add the cheese. It's so simple a child could do it. It's very helpful since I've been doing Weight Watchers and am trying to really watch my portion size and be aware of how much I'm eating.

The sleek and small design is perfect. I hang it on a nail under my cabinet in the keyhole in the back of the scale so it's easily accessible but out of the way.

Overall, it's a great scale for the price. I've had it for about a month now with no complaints. If I had to do it all over again, I'd buy the same scale.

I've owned four different food scales over the years and this one is my favorite. It is easy to use and the display is large. You can change it from grams to ounces without having to reweigh the item. It measures small amounts accurately, something lesser quality scales have a hard time with. The only negative is that the plastic has some raised portions, making it harder to clean if you spill liquids or tomato sauce on it. If you are working with a messy recipe or a child who is learning portion control, you may want to put the scale in a plastic bag.

I generally like this Salter scale. The accuracy, ease of use and ease of cleanup all are great. But I don't like the price per measurement due to the costs and duration of a set of batteries. I don't use the unit too often, maybe once every week or two, but the batteries only last about six months. They are pretty expensive lithium ion button batteries--two of them. For the infrequency of use, I would expect the batteries to last several years. Otherwise it is a good scale.

I love this scale. It is thin and fits into a kitchen drawer on top of some utensils I don't use very often. It is accurate and easy to use. I like the fact that it turns itself off so I don't have to worry about turning it off after use or the batteries wearing out. I am truly surprised how many uses I have for this scale.