Recommendation for electronic scale

[trockyh]

Simple, what is recommended?

Thanks,
Tom

[texassourdough]

Re: Recommendation for electronic scale

Hi Tom!

From what I can tell they are mostly equivalent but there are some things to watch out for/consider.

First question is how big are your batches, i.e. how much do you want to weigh. Most home scales seem to have a 5 kg capacity (about 11 pounds). They are good for all around use but usually have a 5 gram sensitivity which is a bit crude for smaller batches and particularly for smaller additions (like yeast or salt). I have a Salter scale that fits that category. I also have a Soehnle Ultra 2.0 scale that weighs up to about a pound with .1 gram accuracy which I use for smaller amounts. Salter has a 5 pound scale you can find online for about $60 that has 2 gram accuracy which is probably adequate for most home bakers.

I have seen scales mentioned on this and other sites that have 11 pound capacity and are supposedly accurate to a gram or less but I don't have details. A quick search revealed Target sells Excali Pennon scales for $38 that are 11 pound capacity with 1 gram accuracy. That sounds like winner!

Hope this is helpful!
Jay

BTW, I really like the Soehnle Ultra for tiny amounts. It comes with a calibration weight which helps keep it "accurate"

[trockyh]

Re: Recommendation for electronic scale

Jay, thank you for your quick response. I'm new to making bread with a starter, in fact a friend gave me his starter and in reading about making bread then researching wfo's I found FB.
Sheesh, a simple plan to bake bread, and now I'm mixing cement instead of batter.
I don't know how much bread I will make at a time, but 11 LB.'s didn't seem like much, but if that is what most people are using, then it must be ok.
Hopefully I will get the bread making down by the time my oven is done. I will bake on a stone in the kitchen oven, till then.

Tom

[texassourdough]

Re: Recommendation for electronic scale

Hi Tom!

I find that it takes about 15 pounds of dough to give me enough humidity in the oven to get the kind of crust I want. Be sure to use humidification techniques in your oven. The norm is to put a pan of ice in about five minutes before baking, load the oven, and spray with water for five seconds or so before closing. (Watch out for your oven glass for it will almost certainly crack if you get it wet).

Another choice is a small cast iron skillet heated in the oven with the stone. Usually they put ice in first as above. Then pour boiling water in the skillet after the bread is loaded (again be careful...)

The most popular method of late is much as above but with the skillet full of lava rock which increases the mass and boiling and gives even more humidity.

You will probably find that 3 to 6 pounds is all you want to do in your oven. About three pounds at a time is generally the max for most commercial home ovens.

Good Luck!
Jay

[Pdiff]

Re: Recommendation for electronic scale

I have one of those 11 lb scales (Taylor, 1g accuracy). The total amount is not really a problem for me as I rarely bake that much and my mixer (standard KA) couldn't handle that anyway. I'd have to do batches (I did today, for example, 4 batches @ 2 lbs each). Things I'd watch are: Can you see the display with a wide container on the scale? Does it automatically shut off and how soon? That later one drives me nuts. If I don't move quick enough, it shuts off. Can the platform be removed for cleaning?

On the electric oven steaming, Peter Reinhart has a good video on his new Artisian bread book Amazon site:
Reinhart video . And yes, wish I'd seen the towel trick earlier. The glass in our door is completely shattered .

Pdiff

[Jed]

Re: Recommendation for electronic scale

Tom,

I bought one of the scales from the Forno Bravo store, and have been very happy with the scale.

Digital Scale for Pizza and Bread Dough :: Pizza Making & Serving Accessories :: Forno Bravo Store

JED

[texassourdough]

Re: Recommendation for electronic scale

Thanks, Jed!

I had forgotton to check FB. That was where I first found the Excali scales but I couldn't recall where I had seen them. I don't have experience with them but they should be quite satisfactory and a good value. (and less frustrating than the 5 gram minimm scales).

So...do check out FB!
Jay

[trockyh]

Re: Recommendation for electronic scale

Tom,

I bought one of the scales from the Forno Bravo store, and have been very happy with the scale.

Digital Scale for Pizza and Bread Dough :: Pizza Making & Serving Accessories :: Forno Bravo Store

JED

Thanks Jed,
Does it have the tare feature?

Tom

[Jed]

Re: Recommendation for electronic scale

Thanks Jed,
Does it have the tare feature?

Tom

Yes, it does the tare function; add one ingredient, push the tare button, and the scale zero's to the current weight, add another ingredient, push tare, and the read - out goes back to zero (or zed if you prefer..).

And, I had wondered about the 11 pound limit in this scale.. What if I want to do a larger batch of bread???

Turns out I don't have any bowls big enough to mix even this amount of dough, so if I want to do larger amounts of bread, I will 'decide' to do two recipes, a whole grain and a white or some combination. So the only anticipated limit of this scale for my use turns out to be a 'non - issue'..

And the 1 gram accuracy has been helpful, and has me converting most of my other recipes to weight and away from volume measures. Just easier for most things.

JED

[trockyh]

Re: Recommendation for electronic scale

Yes, it does the tare function; add one ingredient, push the tare button, and the scale zero's to the current weight, add another ingredient, push tare, and the read - out goes back to zero (or zed if you prefer..).

And, I had wondered about the 11 pound limit in this scale.. What if I want to do a larger batch of bread???

Turns out I don't have any bowls big enough to mix even this amount of dough, so if I want to do larger amounts of bread, I will 'decide' to do two recipes, a whole grain and a white or some combination. So the only anticipated limit of this scale for my use turns out to be a 'non - issue'..

And the 1 gram accuracy has been helpful, and has me converting most of my other recipes to weight and away from volume measures. Just easier for most things.

JED

Thanks again Jed,

I will order from FB. Need to support them for the plans and the forum. I wouldn't be this far with out all the help. Poured the hearth structure this morning, going to pick up perlite to pour tomorrow. Next comes the bricks.

Tom