Eat Smart Precision Pro Kitchen Scale

I was really quite excited when a package arrived a couple of weeks ago and I opened it to find an Eat Smart Precision Pro kitchen scale inside.

 

I have a long history with food scales.  I first started using one in the mid 90’s when I became a Weight Watcher.  In those days on the program, we were encouraged to weigh and measure every morsel that we consumed.

 

My first scale was a very small spring-loaded analog version and I had several variations on that theme, in succession, for about 16 or 17 years.  When we moved onto the boat in 2002  I had no room on my galley countertop to keep a scale out for use all the time, and these little analogs were easily stowed in a galley locker, with no real worry about breakage.   Like every other tool in my galley, I just got it out and used it when I needed to, and then promptly stowed it away afterward.

 

I cannot imagine not having a scale in my kitchen now, after all these years. I rely on them for:

• Portion Control
• Recipe Development
• Measurement Accuracy
• Calorie Counting/Nutrient Tracking

And this Eat Smart Precision Pro food scale certainly does all of those things, and more, with the simple push of a couple buttons.

 

 

 

 

The left button is used to turn the scale On and Off and it is also used to reset the weight measurement display to Zero.  It’s a very useful function because it allows you to keep adding items to the scale, but weigh them individually.

 

The right button allows you to select the Unit for your weight measurement.  It can be grams, kilograms, ounces, or pounds. 

 

And the scale accurately weighs up to 5kg or 11 pounds.

 

It automatically turns itself off if left idle for 3 minutes to save your battery power.

 

I like to carry a little package of nuts in my purse, or pocket or daypack whenever I leave home.  It’s an emergency snack that will be enough to get me to the next meal, should a case of the hangries attack.  I like to take 14grams, approximately half an ounce, in each container and my Eat Smart Precision Pro food scale helps me portion them out. 

 

Normally the scale sits on my counter between the fridge and the stove, but for the sake of these pictures, I moved it to the table.  I set out the scale and my containers and the bags of nuts.

 

 

 

 

Then I pushed the left button to turn the scale On, and placed some containers on the top.  Check out the easy to read display...

 

Now, I don’t care how much the containers weigh.  I just want to weigh the nuts, so I pushed the left button to Zero the display….

 

 

 

And added almonds to one of the containers till the display read 14g.

 

 

Then I pushed the TARE button again to Zero the display…

 

 

and filled the second container till the display read 14g.  And  then Zeroed the display again and I repeated the process until they were all done.  So easy!

When I am working with new recipes I want to keep track of accurate measurements. I don’t like to try to follow a new recipe where the author uses ‘a handful of’ spinach or tells you to use a ‘medium’ potato…. what does that mean? (I realize I have been guilty of that myself in the past.)   I would much rather read a precise ingredient list that I can easily duplicate, especially for recipes where I am not familiar with the outcome.  And I require that accuracy when I am calculating the nutritional information for my recipes. A food scale is needed here, obviously.

And yes, sometimes you can use measuring cups, but I do prefer those for liquid measures.  I like to use a scale for solid food measurements.  Why? 

Here is a good example.

This rolled oats package gives the nutritional information for 1/2 cup or 40 grams.  In Canada all our labels are in both English and French.

But when I  measure out 1/2 cup it actually weighs 53 grams not 40 (and yes, I did Zero out for the container).  That is a difference of 13 grams… almost half an ounce.  Does it matter?  Well, it does to me and if you are concerned enough to be checking the nutritional information in the first place, it likely does to you as well.

If you are into calorie counting,  or tracking your nutrients like I am, this scale is a really good tool.  I like to keep a diary of my food intake so I can make sure I am getting in my important vitamins and minerals each day, along with an appropriate number of calories… broken down into proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.

The Eat Smart Precision Pro comes with an added little tool to help you count calories.  It is a booklet that lists hundreds of foods, by category, and gives the USDA calculated number of calories per gram of food.

 

For example, an apple with the skin, is listed at .52  - so you would weigh the amount you are going to eat in grams, and multiply that number by .52 to find out how many calories are in your apple.

In most calorie guides I see medium apples listed at 80 calories so I would normally use that number.  Let’s see how many calories my apple really has.

I removed the core from the apple and sliced it up into a little bowl, and after Zeroing out the weight of the bowl, I determined that the weight of what I am going to actually eat is 138 grams.  When I multiply that by .52 I come up with 71.76 calories for this apple.  

This is a wonderful little added feature if this level of accuracy is important to you.

Overall I am very impressed with this little Eat Smart Precision Pro kitchen scale, and would definitely recommend it to anyone who already uses a food scale, or as a first-time purchase for anyone wanting to start using one.

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I was given the Eat Smart Precision Pro kitchen scale but all opinions are my own.