Favorite Kitchen Item?

[aporigine]

Yes...I'd forgot a peeler.
Definitely up there with a scale and Thermapen for me.
I'm a Kuhn Rikon Classic Swiss Peeler kinda guy

I struggled for years with a no-name ceramic swivel peeler whose edge was 100% chips. Not a millimeter of original edge left.

Finally got a Kuhn Rikon coupla years ago to push my order past the magical $100 mark. Soooo much better.

[Kerneldrop]

The Kuhn's are good.
I really like the Rada peeler, too.
Until getting the Kuhn, I was all Rada.
Different style.
I use either one every day for my green smoothies.

The board scraper is another excellent add on.

[Jeff B]

What scales are people using here? Mine (Taylor I think) don't seem to want to accurately weigh the small additions, like 10 grams of salt, yeast, whatever. So annoying. I'd buy a new one, but the ones people have recommended to me are discontinued. Sigh. Woo is me. Do I want some cheese to go with that whine?

12 years old and never missed a beat. I have 3 weights(5-50-100gms) I check it with and always dead on.

[trancher]

What scales are people using here? Mine (Taylor I think) don't seem to want to accurately weigh the small additions, like 10 grams of salt, yeast, whatever. So annoying. I'd buy a new one, but the ones people have recommended to me are discontinued. Sigh. Woo is me. Do I want some cheese to go with that whine?

My dedicated kitchen scale is an old Precision, with a cross mark '+' through the 'o'. I didn't see them anywhere though, not even on e-bay. Might be 10-15 year old scale.

I also have a small portable milligram scale that sees occasional use, AWS Gemini-20. Has always been extremely accurate, and this one also has the fancy 10g weights for calibration that Jeff was referring too. This unit is too small for regular kitchen tasks though, Xexo.

[Kerneldrop]

Most, if not all kitchen scales will be strain-gauged load cell scales.
How it basically works is resistance is measured as the weight "strains" bends a wire and the change in resistance is calculated into a weight.
They will all be pretty much be the same until you get into the pricier scales.
Most will drift and change measurements as the units heat up as that affects resistance, or when the batteries weaken...but I can't imagine cooking requiring that level of precision.
The only way to avoid that is to go to an electromagnet force restoration scale, and that would be silly b\c that kind of money is better spent on food, knives and sharpening

My favorite was the pull-out OXO. When it quit, I switched to a $25 Escali Primo. I just place everything on top of a bowl so i can see the readout.
I use a nickel to measure the accuracy at various places on the scale plate.
A nickel will always weigh 5.000 grams/.176 ounces.
A dime dated after 65 will always weigh 2.268 grams/.080 ounces
A penny after 1983 is 2.50 grams.
If you want to test the upper end like to mimic weighing 4 cups of flour....then just measure a bunch of coins.
Generally, strain gauge scales lose accuracy at the beginning and end of their operating range.

Other main thing is to pick one that has the resolution you want. My Escali weighs in 1g increments, so a penny that weighs 2.5grams will show as 3. I have a Taylor "High precision" that will weigh a penny at 2.5 grams. I think the Taylor was $25 at Walmart.

[ex1580]

I have 3 weights(5-50-100gms) I check it with and always dead on.

I do the same! I have an Ozeri and an old Weightwatchers branded one (EatSmart Precision Pro) and they are always dead on.

[STPepper9]

First the answer to the original post..
For me, Trancher hit it with a good digital scale or a chef knife.
Honorable mention for wooden spoon, peeler, whisk, kitchenaid too. *edit, i want to add thread snips / herb shears that CKTG sells. great for masking tape labels at work. and an EDC pocketknife*

What scales are people using here? Mine (Taylor I think) don't seem to want to accurately weigh the small additions, like 10 grams of salt, yeast, whatever. So annoying. I'd buy a new one, but the ones people have recommended to me are discontinued. Sigh. Woo is me. Do I want some cheese to go with that whine?

My answer for XexoX is the KD-8000 (brand: My Weigh)
https://hbitech.com/product/kd-8000/
It's not as svelte as ones you'll find in sur la table or whatever, but very practical. I've usually paid $35-45 for one.
They last a long time if you treat them right. I've never replaced the one at home, and at work they get dropped and beat up by careless cooks & they will still last years, even then. (I bought my first one probably in 2010 and haven't found better yet.)

Some positives for me:
Max weight 8000gr (17.6 lb) with 1gr. increments (accuracy)
modes include; pounds:ounces, pounds, ounces, kilograms, grams, bakers percentages (for you bread makers)
negative weight (so you can scale what is removed from a container.)
Runs on AA batteries or optional power adapter (raid the remote control in a pinch)
optional backlight, optional beep for button press.
options for auto shutoff time, defeat auto shutoff
removable tray for easy cleaning.

hope that helps.