Product Reviewed
Rösle Digital Kitchen Scale
I spend a lot of time in the kitchen developing and testing recipes, but when I’m cooking for fun, I cook based on instinct: a handful of this and a pinch of whatever. And yet, the ultimate recipe I dream of perfecting at home is French macarons: a gluten-free and fat-free — and delicious — desert. Doesn’t it just figure macarons are one of the most tedious things to cook?
My chance to try French macarons once more (after many attempts at home using cup-based recipes and a dash of Virginia humidity) came with this review of the Rösle Digital Kitchen Scale. I’ve used a traditional, non-digital food scale in the past that was bulky, awkward to store and has since been disposed of. Unlike that one, the Rösle scale is sleek. With an easy-to-clean stainless steel exterior and slim profile, it is not only aesthetically pleasing and professional looking, but also easy-to-store by either hanging on the wall or sliding into a cabinet. And when not functioning as a scale, the digital face shows the time.
Set up was easy. Since the scale uses normal batteries, three triple A’s later I was ready to begin. Thankfully, it’s simple to shift between pounds and grams with the slide of a switch on the back of the scale, and to fluid ounces on the digital read out. For the macarons I was easily able to tare the scale to account for various container weights with a touch of the large format screen that also becomes illuminated in dim areas.
The Rösle digital scale has a read out accuracy of 1g/1 mL and can read up to 11 pounds or 175 fl oz, eliminating the need for a larger scale in the kitchen. After weighing the necessary sugar, almond flour and egg whites, my only complaint about the scale was that it sometimes became “touchy” until I understood exactly where and how hard to press on the screen. One or two times I had the scale shut off on me while I was tediously weighing and separating egg whites. Although frustrating, I feel this is realistically user error and, with practice, the scale timing will become easier to use.
This scale is an excellent tool for gluten-free cooks who often need to weigh various ingredients for baking. It’s also a necessity for those using European or Australian cook books, or for dietitians who need exact numbers for recipe development. Within the consumer world, the Rösle easily fills the role of portion control education.
So how did my macarons turn out? While no means perfect, they are the best batch yet which goes to show that precision wins.
