Etekcity Food Kitchen Scale, Digital Grams and Ounces, 11lb

Why it's worth it

The Etekcity EK6015 does the basics well: 11-pound capacity, 1-gram steps, five units, and a stainless face that wipes clean. It's three quarters of an inch thick, so it lives in a drawer instead of on your counter.

This is the scale to buy if you're not sure you'll stick with weighing. It costs a fraction of the upgrade pick and does the thing that actually matters — consistent gram readings for flour, water, sugar and butter. Millions of these are in circulation, and the owner feedback is remarkably consistent about accuracy holding up over ordinary home use.

Its best trick is that it disappears. At about three quarters of an inch thick and under half a pound, it slides behind a stack of cutting boards. If your counter space is the reason you've never bought a scale, this removes the objection. The 304 stainless top wipes down in one pass, with no textured plastic to trap flour.

From our review of 7 digital kitchen scales for precision baking, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +This is the scale to buy if you're not sure you'll stick with weighing
• +Its best trick is that it disappears
• +Five units — grams, ounces, pounds-and-ounces, fluid ounces and milliliters — cover baking and liquid measuring
• +The tradeoffs are the ones you'd expect at this price

What to know

• –Several owners flag a short auto-off
• –The 1-gram resolution is the same ceiling as the other big-platform scales here
• –The thin body means it's light enough to slide on a slick counter when you set a heavy bowl down off-center