![IMG_5484[1]](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2492/4380943940_f2cc3973e6.jpg)
(The unit comes in many colors and is perfectly sized. The two simple buttons are large and easy to use. The LCD screen is huge and there's no guessing the amount when scrambling in your kitchen preparing a dinner party)
![IMG_5485[1]](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4380944674_c23348f1cf.jpg)
Update: Congrats to Ami for winning the contest. The giveaway is now closed.
For years, I've used a Salter metal body kitchen scale to measure everything from pasta portions to cups of flour for baking (well, my wife is the baker so she uses the scale for measuring flour for sweets). We also use our scale to measure cereal and oatmeal amounts so we don't overeat (especially when we're consuming Cheerios!) The Salter is a practical enough kitchen tool but I've always had a secret dislike for the product because it 1. is large and takes up valuable countertop space and 2. is not precise. I do like the industrial design of the tool and if our kitchen was a museum I would indeed leave it out for guests to admire, but a home kitchen is first and foremost a practical space where the user (or home cook) completes tasks (that is, makes food)!
In turn, I've been looking for a replacement for our Salter for years and it looks like I just found an elegant and cheap solution, namely the EatSmart kitchen scale. The EatSmart takes up a fraction of the space my old Salter occupied and is also more precise; kind of like an old Model T being replaced by a modern vehicle with a turbo engine and electronic stability control! The electronic kitchen scale can also measure in ounces, lbs, grams, and kgs. It also has a handy tare feature which eliminates the weight of whatever item your flour, pasta, etc. is being held in (a bowl or measuring cup, for example). The scale is easy to use (a big plus for someone who takes ergonomics seriously) and has an auto off button so you don't go wasting battery life! I can't talk to reliability as of yet as I've only been using the scale for a few weeks, but I can say that I've had no significant problems thus far. One thing I was concerned about was moving from a device that didn't require batteries or electricity to another "powered" kitchen item (in the case of the EatSmart, 2 AAA batteries). And while batteries are needed I think the accuracy and functionality of the digital scale outweigh the use of batteries (just a Green acknowledgement). The device retails for $27.99.
One of the other reasons I get excited about kitchen scales is that they are great mediums to keep calories and portion sizes top of mind when cooking. For example, even though I've grown up with dry pasta and can pretty much tell you how many grams of linguine fine I'm holding in my hand, I occasionally guess wrong and cook too much pasta for one sitting. And what ends up happening inevitably is that I consume a larger amount of pasta (usually with a dish like Alio e Olio) than I would like (especially given that I include pasta as a primo or starter at home between 1-2 nights per week).
Kitchen Scale Giveaway!
Kitchen Scale Giveaway!
(Kind of looks like a space ship from Star Trek Generations)
In an effort to control the world wide problem of eating too much pasta (or any food for that matter!) I'll be giving away a single EatSmart digital kitchen scale to one lucky Scordo.com reader. Here's what you need to do to enter:
- 1. leave a comment under this post on how you use your kitchen scale or an incident on eating too much of one food and not really being aware of it (for example, pasta, potato chips, Cheerios, etc.) and 2. sign up as a fan of Scordo.com on Facebook here or Scordo.com newsletter, it doesn't need to be both). If you've done both already, then I'll ask you if you can please re-tweet the article URL (http://bit.ly/b6wR9u) on Twitter and include the article URL and and @scordo in your tweet)
In an effort to control the world wide problem of eating too much pasta (or any food for that matter!) I'll be giving away a single EatSmart digital kitchen scale to one lucky Scordo.com reader. Here's what you need to do to enter:
- 1. leave a comment under this post on how you use your kitchen scale or an incident on eating too much of one food and not really being aware of it (for example, pasta, potato chips, Cheerios, etc.) and 2. sign up as a fan of Scordo.com on Facebook here or Scordo.com newsletter, it doesn't need to be both). If you've done both already, then I'll ask you if you can please re-tweet the article URL (http://bit.ly/b6wR9u) on Twitter and include the article URL and and @scordo in your tweet)
- Only one entry per person please.
- The contest is open until 12 midnight on 2/27 and a single random user will be picked via Random.org. The winner will be announced immediately on Twitter (so please follow me) and on Scordo.com by 5PM on Monday, 3/1.
- Please use a valid email address when leaving a comment so I can contact you just in case you're the lucky winner (I'll need your shipping address).
- EatSmart will send out the digital scale to a single contest winner during the week of 3/1 (you should receive it within 7-10 business days).
That's it, so please sign up for a chance to win a kitchen product that all home cooks should own and use! If you can't wait to use the EatSmart kitchen scale, you can buy it online via the OpenSky Project (proceeds go towards supporting Scordo.com). If you don't see the product on my page right away, come back tomorrow in the AM.
By the way, here's my recipe for my favorite pasta dish of all time.
Italian
