I was so spoiled playing around at Clive coffee in Portland using their new grinders with built in scales. I have been dosing by volume, but when I got home I broke out my old Saltzer scale and saw an improvement in consistency. However, it died! I really can't justify a new grinder right now. My La Cimbali is an excellent grinder. There are many things I don't like about it. However, I am not talking about my grinder right now.

I am looking for a good scale that I can tare with my PF basket to measure the weight of my dose. Any recommendations? I would like it to measure down to a tenth of a gram.

Les

I originally used the AWS-2KG scale, https://www.amazon.com/American-Weigh-S ... ds=AWS+2Kg. It measures to the 1/10th of a gram. I 3D printed a plate to hold a PF on the scale. But even without the plate, the PF will fit on the scale when you put it there diagonally.

What annoyed me about the AWS-2KG scale was that it didn't re-measure quickly if I would scoop a little coffee out of the basket. It would often take several seconds before it noticed that there was a change in weight.

So I bought the Etekcity 500g scale, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QFCG5ZQ/re ... kcity+500g. It measures to the 1/100th of a gram. When I adjust the amount of grinds in the basket, it almost instantly re-measures the weight. It's weight limit is 500g, ~ 1.1lbs, but thats really 500g over the TARE weight. I've been able to TARE more than 500g. Its been working great for me.

Thanks for the advice. I had credit at Amazon so I got one for less that 15 bucks! It is just what I was looking for.

Les

For consistency, always weigh in the same direction. ie: weigh going up. If I need to remove a bit of weight, I take it out then lift the product being weighed and set it back on the weigh table. You will find this is much more repeatable. One of the food science lab techs at the place I used to work showed me this trick and it is required practice for QC testing at that facility.

Thats an interesting behavior. I'll have to keep it in mind when I weigh stuff on the scale. Thanks!

bettysnephew wrote:For consistency, always weigh in the same direction. ie: weigh going up. If I need to remove a bit of weight, I take it out then lift the product being weighed and set it back on the weigh table. You will find this is much more repeatable. One of the food science lab techs at the place I used to work showed me this trick and it is required practice for QC testing at that facility.

Thanks for the tip, I didn't know this. I often get measuring errors when I remove some beans during weighing. Just tought my scales were bad... (even my brewista scale suffers from this).

The weighing in the same direction of change even holds true for multi thousand dollar lab grade scales that are shielded in plastic boxes so air currents do not affect them. Same for kiss beam load cells weighing batch kettles that hold hundreds of liters but are accurate to hundredths of a kilogram. I used to have to repair and calibrate both types in our production facility. The strain gauges themselves will easily detect in either direction but friction and spring effect of the supporting substructure causes hysteresis variations.

Thanks for the great info!

Thanks for the lessons in weighing! I continue to be amazed at all that can be learned on this forum.

Les

jchung wrote: So I bought the Etekcity 500g scale, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QFCG5ZQ/re ... kcity+500g. It measures to the 1/100th of a gram. When I adjust the amount of grinds in the basket, it almost instantly re-measures the weight. It's weight limit is 500g, ~ 1.1lbs, but thats really 500g over the TARE weight. I've been able to TARE more than 500g. Its been working great for me.

Thanks for the recommendation. I got my scale yesterday and shots have improved dramatically this morning. I am pulling a fussy S.O. Sumatran this morning. I got a nice mouse tail and great crema. The shot was complex earthy with just a touch of fruitiness. Just the way I like it.

Les