Budget espresso scale find - Page 4

Want to talk espresso but not sure which forum? If so, this is the right one.
edgndg
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#31: Post by edgndg »

Yeah, I don't actually anticipate measuring my espresso to that degree of accuracy. If there are people that do, I'm impressed!

jpender
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#32: Post by jpender »

My 500gx.01g pocket scale ($22) is precise to 0.02g. It's accuracy matches that over the range I typically use it for espresso. It's accuracy over the full 500g range is contingent upon my taking the time to calibrate it.

I would expect something similar from the Sweet Maria's scale. But maybe it's better or maybe it's worse. Who knows without testing one?

edgndg
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#33: Post by edgndg »

And there are people that can stop their extraction within .01 of a gram on a repeated basis? That's way more skill than I have...

jpender
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#34: Post by jpender »

Nobody can stop a shot within 0.01g.

A 0.1g resolution scale will work fine for shots. But the extra resolution of a centigram scale doesn't hurt. And it's easy enough to find an inexpensive scale with a 500g range that reliably resolves to 0.02g. So why not?

The thing is with most of these scales the precision is often something like twice the resolution. So a 0.1g scale often gives you ±0.2g. That's fine for pulling a shot but it's not as good when weighing out a dose when a coffee bean weighs less than 0.2g. If you're going to have one scale for espresso a 0.01g version makes more sense, at least to me.

But whatever. It won't make or break your coffee either way.

boren
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#35: Post by boren »

For weighing beans (dosage) I prefer 0.01 gram resolution. For weighing extraction I prefer 0.1 gram resolution. It's about time digital scales would sense the difference and adjust the display accordingly ;-)

jpender
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#36: Post by jpender »

One of my scales is 0.01g resolution from 0-100g and 0.1g resolution from 100-500g. I don't find that particularly helpful.

The main thing with shot weight isn't the resolution so much as the response time. Fast and accurate is harder to achieve with an inexpensive scale. I have learned to stop the shot a little ahead of time as my scale takes a moment to catch up. But I'd prefer a faster scale -- that is, if it didn't cost too much.

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