Unfortunately in today's society most people that have any type of eating problem or dietary restrictions with regards to amount of food have very little to go on as to what is a healthy portion. Restaurants, fast food chains and even home cooked meals are often served in portions that are simply too large to allow for weight loss or weight maintenance.

Since portion control is invaluable in counting calories, carbohydrates and even fat, knowing the precise weight of what you are eating in order to do the calculations is a must. What is the largest and smallest weight that most digital food weight scales will measure?

Each digital food weight scale will differ slightly as to the minimum amount it can weigh accurately as well as the maximum. Some of the more expensive or deluxe models can typically weigh up to 11 pounds and weight smaller amounts of more than 1/8 ounce. There are also some scales that only weigh up to 5.5 pounds and also weigh a slightly larger low end amount of ¼ ounce.

Understanding what types of measurements you need to make as well as the types of foods and ingredients you will be measuring is an important consideration when selecting digital food weight scales that will meet your dietary requirements.

What scales are good for measuring multiple items for cooking, baking and food preparation?

Almost all digital food weight scales that are good quality will have a tare function. This allows you to measure multiple ingredients into the same bowl by just pressing the tare button function between each ingredient. The one thing to look for in addition to the tare feature is the automatic time out feature. In some models it is only a few minutes until the machine automatically shuts off to conserve energy or battery life. If this happens in the middle of a recipe you may need to start over again. Some models have variable settings for automatic shut off while others don't have an adjustment feature.

How long does it take to read digital food weight scales and what are some possible concerns?

Most digital food weight scales have a fairly quick LED read-out display that should give a final and true weight within a few seconds. Some scales will have more bouncing around of the numbers which does mean you have to wait to confirm that the numbers aren't still adjusting. Quality and price does influence this factor as the cheaper scales tend to be more problematic in this regard.

Another feature to consider with regards to the readout is the location of the display as well as the actual size of the display. LED panels can easily be hidden by the shape of larger bowls, so a pull out display or one that is clearly visible and not overshadowed by the rim of a bowl is important.