I tried this designer kitchen scale and was disappointed at first — but the dual lid makes it worth it

There’s little doubt that if you look behind any kitchen cupboard doors, you’ll find some kitchen scales. They are an inevitable piece of basic kitchen kit that even the most novice of cooks will need.

So, even if your most extravagant meal is cooking pasta with a pre-made sauce, you’ll need to rely on a kitchen scale to measure the correct amount of rigatoni. If not, you could face a meal swimming in sauce without the carbs or a plate full of pasta without much sauce.

I’ve been putting a range of the best kitchen scales through their paces to see which ones weigh up with the goods. Discover how I got on when I tested Joseph Joseph’s SwitchScale.

Joseph Joseph SwitchScale: Price and Availability

Your heart won’t skip quite the same beat as if buying Smeg’s Contemporary Kitchen Scales, but Joseph Joseph’s SwitchScale will still set you back a few dollars.
You can pick them up for $40 (£59) at Amazon, and they are also $40 at Wayfair, but this is a discounted price. Elsewhere, you can find them at Bed Bath & Beyond for $49.

Joseph Joseph SwitchScale: Design

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Joseph Joseph is a U.K. company that’s known for its innovative and design-led homeware, which is why I was excited to test the SwitchScale. It’s a brand that we’re very familiar with at Tom’s Guide, with two of the company’s products featuring in our best cutting boards guide.

And, when I think of Joseph Joseph I always think of kitchenware that is bright and colorful, such as the company’s Food Preparation Set, ($37 at Amazon), although this is not always the case, and most of the brand's products are on the neutral side. However, I was disappointed to discover that the SwitchScale is only available in one colorway — gray.

The design of this kitchen scale is less flamboyant than Smeg’s, which has the brand name emblazoned on the front of the product. Here, you’ll find Joseph Joseph’s brand name indented on the reverse of the rubber-based bowl. Then, once the bowl is flipped for ease of storage, the name appears on the top. There’s certainly a subtlety in the design.

While I won’t keep this kitchen scale on my countertop when not in use, it has an ingenious functionality, which other kitchen scales lack. The clue is in the name — SwitchScale.

You can weigh your ingredients within the bowl, which is ideal when measuring baking ingredients such as flour, dried fruit and liquids, or flip the bowl over for a flat base. This allows you to weigh more solid objects that won’t escape, such as tomatoes and hard cheese. The base of the bowl is also rubber, which means that your ingredients won't slip and slide off the flat base, and when flipped, the bowl stays steady within the base.

Joseph Joseph SwitchScale: Ease of Use

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Powering up
This kitchen scale is fairly easy to use but requires 3 x AAA batteries. One of my pet hates is having to find a tiny screwdriver to access the battery store. However, in this case, the battery cover is simple to remove. The scale features a low battery indicator, but since I haven’t been using the SwitchScales for long, it didn’t appear. But when they run low, you’ll see an icon at the top right of the LED display.

Controls and measurements
The scale is controlled by two main push button controls on either side of the LED display. It’s turned on and off by pressing the button on the right for about two seconds, and the unit of measurement is changed by pressing the button on the left. The change of measurement gives you the option to use metric or imperial and to measure wet and dry ingredients, and for ease of use, you can change the measurement while you are using the scale.

When weighing multiple ingredients without removing them from the scale, you can use the tare function, displayed as ‘Zero,’ to revert the measurement to naught. I found this to be quick and responsive. Plus, to save power, the scale turns off automatically after five minutes.

Display
The main downside I find with this scale is the angle of the display. Although the display is clear, when weighing ingredients, I had to stand back to see the display. You are normally standing when using a scale, so unless you are seated, you'll have to change your position. It's a slight annoyance that interrupts the ease of use.

Storage
This SwitchScale has a slimline design, making it easy to store. Although the bowl flips over and sits on the rim of the base rather than clicking into place, I didn’t find this too much of an issue. You’ll just need to hold onto the base and lid when taking them out of a cupboard.

Joseph Joseph SwitchScale: Accuracy

The user instructions state that the scale measures 1g-5kg, so I tested it to see how it performed. Very much like the Smeg scale, I found the SwitchScale didn’t register a 1g weight, and when I added 3g, it switched between a reading of 1, 2, and 3 g, but it wasn’t consistent. However, it stayed consistent and accurate when I got to 5 g.

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I then added a combination of weights to measure 171g, and the result was accurate. But, to see how it would perform if the weights weren’t placed in the center, I arranged them around the measuring bowl’s outer edge. On one occasion, the scale gave a reading of 172g, but on my second attempt, they were spot on.

This scale also has a weight limit and will display an error message when it's overloaded, which is anything above 5250g. This is ample for domestic use, but if you are planning any grand bakes, you might need to up the capacity.

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I also took a teaspoon of dried yeast to see how the scale would respond to a small amount of ingredients. Here, they registered at 3g, which is a little under what I would expect.

Although I would recommend this scale, I wouldn't rely on it for minute ingredients, such as weighing fine amounts of coffee, spices or yeast. Instead, I would chose a scale designed specifically for precision, such as one of the best coffee scales.

Joseph Joseph SwitchScale: Cleaning

The scale is fairly simple to clean, but you will notice the nature of the polished stainless bowl means it will get covered in fingerprints. However, this can soon been remedied with a wash in hot soapy water and drying with a microfiber cloth.

The neat design of the base unit, leaves it free of any awkward gaps where ingredients can get wedged in, making it quick to wipe over with a damp cloth.

Joseph Joseph SwitchScale: Verdict

I wasn't quite sure what to make of this scale at the start, but after testing it and using it during my usual cooking routine, it's grown on me. I love the flexibility of being able to flip the bowl and use the flat base, although on most occasions I need to use the bowl the right way up to measure dry ingredients.

Nonetheless, it's a reliable and intuitive scale to use, that's lightweight and easy to store, and despite not being accurate at measurements below 5g, it performed well.

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