BrianMDelaney Posted October 10, 2015 Report Share Posted October 10, 2015 American Weigh Scales AWS-600-BLK Digital Personal Nutrition Scale, Pocket Size, Black. $7.69 plus shipping at Amazon. The capacity is only 600 g, but it's still really, really useful for measuring things like powdered glycine and spices (big difference between 1 and 1.9 or so of some spices when it comes to minerals, like Mn..., one might want to avoid, or at least keep track of). Where my EatSmart reads, say, 30 g (for a bit of carrot), but keeps "bouncing" up to 31, then down to 30, the AWS will always say 30.X, where X will usually be between 5 and 7. - Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Pomerleau Posted October 10, 2015 Report Share Posted October 10, 2015 Brian and all, I've used this same model scale for weighing really light things for years. I can highly recommend it. And you can't beat the price! And while I'm endorsing useful inexpensive gadgets, I really like this Etekcity non-contact temperature probe, aka thermometer, available for $9.95 on Amazon. I use it to measure the water temperature when brewing tea or coffee. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DTXRU5S?psc=1 Dean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianMDelaney Posted October 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2015 Dean, thanks for the tip about the temp. probe. A question: when measuring the temperature of water, do you get what you judge to be accurate readings? I bought the larger, more expensive Nubee Temperature Gun Non-contact Digital Laser Infrared IR Thermometer, and have found that the beam doesn't "focus" on water very well. - Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Pomerleau Posted October 10, 2015 Report Share Posted October 10, 2015 Brian, A question: when measuring the temperature of water, do you get what you judge to be accurate readings? While a few of the reviewers of the Etekcity model complained on the accuracy, I just did the experiment you suggested to find out for myself. I brought two cups of water to a rolling boil in a mason jar using my microwave. I then took it out and pointed the temperature sensor at the water through the mouth of the jar from about 2" away. It read 213.4 DegF, which is obviously quite close to the 212 DegF that it should read for boiling water. So at least this one data point suggests the Etekcity temperature probe is reasonably accurate. And you can't beat the price! --Dean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianMDelaney Posted October 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2015 Dean, thanks. I just ordered it. I'll take it back to Europe with me and do a comparison with the other one and report on the results (this won't be for at least a few weeks). - Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianMDelaney Posted November 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Dean, for the life of me I cannot get a reading higher than around 85 C° on boiling water (at sea level) with the Etekcity IR probe. It's like the beam isn't focusing anywhere on or in the water. The outside of the mug registered 94 C°, though, which seemed perfectly accurate. I'll try again later, aiming it at different angles, from different distances. - Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Pomerleau Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Dean, for the life of me I cannot get a reading higher than around 85 C° on boiling water (at sea level) with the Etekcity IR probe. It's like the beam isn't focusing anywhere on or in the water. The outside of the mug registered 94 C°, though, which seemed perfectly accurate. I'll try again later, aiming it at different angles, from different distances. Brian, I repeated my experiment with a pyrex measuring cup filled with boiling water, and got similar results as you now are reporting . The reading I get (from different angles and distances) is around 90C (194F), rather than the more accurate ~100C (~212F) I reported earlier. I'm at a loss to fully explain the discrepancy. The only explanation I can see is that in the earlier experiment I was using a taller, narrower mason jar to heat the water in, and I was sticking the non-contact IR probe into the mouth of the jar for the measurement. Perhaps the water vapor was dense enough inside the jar for the probe to register. [Note - I switched from the mason jars to the pyrex measuring cup because the mason jars kept cracking on me due to rapid temperature changes when I'd rinse them out after heating my coffee/tea.] The other interesting two data points about the Etekcity measuring water temperature is that I measured water direct from my fridge and it registered 35F, which is within a degree or two of the steady state temperature of the fridge's interior. Then I measured room temperature water straight from the glass dispenser I store my distilled water in, and it measured 67F, which is quite close to the ambient temperature of my basement kitchen. So maybe the Etekcity is only inaccurate for measuring water at high temperatures... Regardless of the finer points, I apologize that my earlier experiment and glowing report encouraged you to buy the Etekcity probe to measure hot water temperature . I still think it is a good little gadget, but I no longer have the confidence I did previously in its accuracy for measuring the temperature of clear liquids, especially at high temperatures. I'll update the 'cool tools' entry for the Etekcity probe to reflect this shortcoming / reservation. --Dean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianMDelaney Posted November 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Dean, thanks, and, really, no need to apologize! It cost next to nothing and is indeed still a good little gadget. I'm going to continue to try to figure out how to measure the temp. of clear liquids. Will report back if I have any success.... - Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael R Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 By coincidence, I also have a slightly earlier version of the AWS-600 digital scale. I'm pretty satisfied with it, tho' it's too small for regular use IMO: I throw it in my carr-on for emergencies (with the batteries taped over so they don't run down). I have, and use, a Smart Weigh CSB2KG Digital Kitchen Scale, 2kg by 0.1g, which has good Amazon reviews, and used to have an excellent review on the curated "meta-review" site ConsumerSearch (which I recommend), but for whatever reason the entire category seems to have been dropped from the site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianMDelaney Posted November 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2015 Michael, the Smart Weigh has good, but not excellent reviews at Amazon. One of the complaints in some of the neg. reviews is that it isn't truly accurate beyond 1 g. Have you experienced inconsistent readings, as some of the (possibly clueless, of course) reviewers say they have? The AWS-600-BLK Digital Personal Nutrition Scale I bought is extremely consistent. A little measure I use for turmeric filled to a certain level always reads "1.2 g". If I add a touch more: 1.3. A touch less: 1.1. But its capacity is only 600 g. It would great to have a 2000 g capacity scale with (true) 0.1 g accuracy. - Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael R Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 Hi Brian, Right, sorry: I meant "for regular use," not for the purposes you lay out in your opener. I do have a scale that I determined was accurate for tiny weights, but was only using it for (pure, uncut) artificial sweeteners, which I gave up several years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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