Salter Stainless Steel 1035 SSBKDR Platform Electronic Kitchen Scale

This is a great kitchen scale. Small, slim, lightweight, stylish and very easy to use. I love it, it's perfect!

Accurate
* To 1g/0.1oz/1ml/0.1fl.oz
* Accurately measures fluids, I've measured water and milk and it was pretty much spot on
* Allows you to switch between different measures at any time and it remembers your last choice

Practical
* No need for any additional bowls, just place your own bowl/plate on it and press a button to set it to zero
* Re-set it to zero for each additional ingredient you add (in a second)
* The round plate is slightly raised so it allows you to put any size bowl/plate on the scale

Quick
* Takes just a second turn on and display the weight
* It turns itself off after you've used it but you can also turn it off yourself to save battery

**Nov 2010: I've used this kitchen scale quite frequently for nearly two years now and it works like new. I can't fault it.**

I had several Salter electronic kitchen scales over the years. This one's the best of the lot.

Compact - but not too small. Even with a large mixing bowl on the scales, the display is still easy to read.

Light - but not too light. Just under 400g, it's easy to get out and put away, but is substantial enough to stay put on the working surface, and sits solidly on a flat surface.

An excellent LCD display. The figures are large and clear - the LCD isn't very far below the top of the display area, so it's easily visible and shadows from the bezel do not obscure it. The digits are 13mm high

Quick to start - less than two seconds from pressing the on switch to being ready to weigh things.

Good keys - the on/off/zero and the units keys have a good positive click when pressed.

The range - 5kg in 1g divisions / 11lb in 1/8oz divisions. That's as good as you could want in kitchen scales.

The weighing platform is a pleasingly smooth, brushed, single piece of stainless steel.

Power: One CR2032 button cell. I don't know how long this lasts, but it's a readily available size.

Oh - and it has a mounting point on the underside. With a suitable flat-head screw in the wall, the scales could be easily stored hanging flat against the wall.

I've only had it for three or four days, so I can't comment on the longevity of this model, but so far it's brilliant - the best I've had.

Update: 2nd May 2010
I've now had these scales for a month, using them every day. I'm still very, very pleased with them. Excellent Kitchen scales in every way. Hey - I'm pleased enough to have come back to find this review and update it!

Update: 22nd July 2010
Yes, the scales are still going strong. I'm still very pleased with them.

There's also a feature I now use frequently which I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere. If you have a bowl full of stuff on the scales, and reset the display to zero, it will accurately show negative weights as you remove stuff from the bowl.

I make bread at home - usually in a breadmaker. Sometimes I want to make rolls. For rolls, I get the breadmaker to mix the dough and give it its first rise, but then I need to split it into equal sized lumps, shape them, and leave them for their second rise before baking. So, I put a clean bowl on the scales and reset to zero. Then I empty the dough from the breadmaker into the bowl. This gives me the weight of dough I have. I divide that weight by the number of rolls I want to make (e.g. 800g divided by 8 = 100g), and reset the scale. I take out some dough until the scales show -100g. Reset scale to zero. Repeat. Result: beautifully even rolls.

Update: 1st September 2010
A couple of days ago, the scales stopped working. The display would come on as usual, but instead of resetting to 0, it would just display "unSt". I tried a new battery, but that did no good. I contacted Salter, who said that that sounded like a permanent fault and that I should contact Amazon. When I went to do that this morning, I thought to give the scales one more try. They're currently working perfectly again (with the old battery). Most mysterious. Despite this fault, I still rate these scales as the best kitchen scales I've had. I'll update again if there are any further problems.

Update: 10 August 2011.
The scales are still working fine. My best guess is that some moisture got inside, but eventually evaporated.

I used these scales for my final assessment for the Diploma Patisserie at Le Cordon Bleu London, and they are just fantastic. Accurate, which you need in a professional kitchen, lightweight to carry around and really easy to store in a drawer. I weigh pretty much everything in grams, but for recipes with imperial measures, they're fantastic. Highly recommend them - there's no need to spend a fortune on electronic scales!