Is there a coffee scale that stays "on" longer so that one does lose the "tare" setting?

[The Knize]

This is the issue I refer to in the thread of what did I learn from my coffee brewing method, where I conclude, yet again, that I am not a one trial learner.

I started brewing pour over much more "carefully" not all that long ago and I am finding the improvement in the brewed coffee much more than I expected. So one thing I am doing is weighing the water and coffee in grams on an inexpensive battery powered platform type kitchen scale. Pretty handy in that you can set a vessel of some sort of other on the scale and press the tare bottom, to zero the scale out so that you are weighing whatever you put into the vessel, be it water or coffee. My problem is that frequently enough I get delayed or distracted and the scale turns off automatically losing the tare setting so I do not know, for instance, how much water I have poured over the grounds.

I seem to do better at this having learned what happens if I do not stay on it, but is there a fairly inexpensive such scale that stays on for a much longer time, or has an adjustable time for the auto turn off or similar? I suppose I will learn eventually, but it would be handy to have a scale that either did not turn off, or, I suppose, retained its tare setting when one turned it back on. I cannot be the only one with this problem!! Thanks.

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

This is the issue I refer to in the thread of what did I learn from my coffee brewing method, where I conclude, yet again, that I am not a one trial learner.

I started brewing pour over much more "carefully" not all that long ago and I am finding the improvement in the brewed coffee much more than I expected. So one thing I am doing is weighing the water and coffee in grams on an inexpensive battery powered platform type kitchen scale. Pretty handy in that you can set a vessel of some sort of other on the scale and press the tare bottom, to zero the scale out so that you are weighing whatever you put into the vessel, be it water or coffee. My problem is that frequently enough I get delayed or distracted and the scale turns off automatically losing the tare setting so I do not know, for instance, how much water I have poured over the grounds.

I seem to do better at this having learned what happens if I do not stay on it, but is there a fairly inexpensive such scale that stays on for a much longer time, or has an adjustable time for the auto turn off or similar? I suppose I will learn eventually, but it would be handy to have a scale that either did not turn off, or, I suppose, retained its tare setting when one turned it back on. I cannot be the only one with this problem!! Thanks.

Hello @Knize!

Hmm, there is no battery operated scale that I am aware of, that will just stay on when not in use. The whole reason for the auto time to off, is to save on battery life. Even the most expensive coffee scales that you can get, have an auto off. My Timemore Black Mirror Nano scale has an auto time off when not in use, I think its 5-minutes, and there is no way to adjust it that I am aware of.

I have a shipping scale which plugs into the wall, and it will stay on until I turn it off, but it does not weigh in grams, it weighs in pounds and ounces, cause again, its for package weighing, and it maxes out at 50 pound capacity. Its not accurate enough to weigh coffee, so thats why I got the Timemore scale. Sorry I can't really help you there.

About the only advice I can give you, is either structure your life, so as not to be disturbed while making pour over. Or, you just might be a prime candidate for using an AUTO DRIP brewer, where you can set a pre-programmed auto start time, to simplify your life. And if your interested in that sort of thing, well, I can't recommend anything better, then my Behmore Brazen Plus 3.0 brewer.

Behmor Brazen Plus 3.0 Pulse Based Immersion Drip Brewer SCAA Certified! ( An SWCT Review )

I am happy to report, that I got a new brewer this week, a Behmor Brazen Plus 3.0 Pulse Based Immersion Drip Brewer, that I got from Sweet Maria's Coffee! It replaced a Hamilton Beach single serve unit, that failed to live up to my standards in the end. It began its journey by UPS, who...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[Legion]

I believe my scientific scales will stay on indefinitely, but that is when they are plugged in. I'm not sure if that happens on batteries as I have never used them that way.

 

[The Knize]

5 minutes might do it. I saw a rating of various scales for coffee on line somewhere that described one of the scales as staying on for a relatively long time, which was seen as a big plus. I can track that one down I suppose. Double AA batteries are cheap and I don't see that my keeping the scale on by jostling it every minute or so is using up a lot of them! Thanks everyone. It is a treat to have you all on B&B.

 

[Sam Hanwich]

I bought this one and I've been pretty happy with it. It has a timer as well. If you don't use the timer then the scale will shut off after 3 minutes (this may be a setting you can change) but if you start the timer, it will stay on until you turn it off.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084FBMV1D

 

[Phoenixkh]

I bought this one and I've been pretty happy with it. It has a timer as well. If you don't use the timer then the scale will shut off after 3 minutes (this may be a setting you can change) but if you start the timer, it will stay on until you turn it off.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084FBMV1D

I bought the same one but the “pro” model for a few dollars more just to give me a confidence boost. <eg>

 

[APBinNCA]

I would start out cheap, Sweet Maria's just got a load of their new scales in with permanent lithium battery. There really isn't an easy way to determine what will work for you even though I understand and have had the same problem. My older Hario scale, which is a ridiculous price for what it is, would turn off eventually, but never gave me any trouble. It's timer keeps going for literally hours when off, which I find hilarious! I just recently got two of the new Wacaco scales, haven't even had time to type up a review yet. They are cheap, but I am a bit disappointed that they take standard batteries instead of lithium. So far, it dims the display, but hasn't gone off on me. Both that and the Sweet Maria's one are 30 something bucks each! I do have a plug in scale, but the catch is that the tare will drift if left too long, but that doesn't matter as it's no longer made. My lab scale was probably $100 and it gets upset if you put too much weight on it, even temporarily. Let me know if you need some links, sorry for the rapid fire response!

 

[The Knize]

Thanks everyone for the excellent detailed responses. My scale at the office has a timer built in. I wonder if turning that on will keep the scale on?! Great advice! I really do not think it would be hard for a scale to be designed to hold whatever it was displaying after it turned off. That would preserve the battery power and keep the info needed.

Yikes, I find I have to apologize for putting folks through all this effort. This is the scale I have at the office, which I like a lot, although I do not find much of a need for a timer. https://www.amazon.com/KitchenTour-...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
However, in the Amazon description I see it says "It also features adjustable auto-off time function. (see instruction manual below for adjustment tutorial) (default 120 seconds)." So I seem to have had an adjustable shut off all along! Handy that Amazon provides the instruction manual on that page!

 

[mr_eleven]

I used to have the same exact problem you're having, until I got my espresso machine

Seriously though, if I knew I was going to get distracted I would gently touched the scale with my finger now and then to reset the auto timer off. Wasn't a 100% fix as you might imagine but it did help.

 

[The Knize]

Well, I tried to follow the instructions to reset the auto time off, and they did not seem to work as the instructions indicated they would. And the instructions seem to indicate that I need to go through an entire sequence of calibrating the scale to adjust the auto off figure. Unfortunately, I do not have a series of 500 gram, 1000 gram, 3000 gram weights sitting around to do that, if that is what they want me to do!

This is an edit of my original message. I found a You Tube video that seems to suggest that one does in fact have to calibrate in order to adjust the auto-off time. It suggests creating calibration weights by making containers of water of 500 g and 2000 grams by weighting on the scale before calibrating. See a little circular, but what the heck. At least the auto off is theorectically adjustable. Even if I personally cannot get to the calibration stage per the instructions.

Life is complex and it will get more and more complex until it kills us, but that is just the way it is!

 

[The Knize]

Seriously though, if I knew I was going to get distracted I would gently touched the scale with my finger now and then to reset the auto timer off. Wasn't a 100% fix as you might imagine but it did help.

Thanks. Yes, I figured out that is all I have to do. But knowing that and doing that seem to be different things. As indicated about the darn thing is actually supposed to be adjustable, but I apparently lack the intelligence to actually adjust it.

Oh, and I have an espresso machine, too! Not all that expensive an espresso machine, but I think it does okay. I have had a couple of better in the past, but they eventually broke. I pretty much like all coffee. I am into pour over these days, though. I find the process of coffee making in its many forms rather Zen. Of course than does not mean I want to be tied down to making coffee while I am making coffee!

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

I find the process of coffee making in its many forms rather Zen.

I do too, I especially have that feeling of zen while I am grinding coffee beans, and I especially love doing it manually.

Of course than does not mean I want to be tied down to making coffee while I am making coffee!

All you need, is a quality grinder, scale, and coffee brewer, to simplify your life.

1ZPresso K-MAX grinder
Timemore Black Mirror Nano scale
Behmore Brazen Plus 3.0 Brewer

This combination simplifies ones life, but still allows you to have fun with it. You like to calibrate? You can easily calibrate this brewer to your altitude level for supreme boiling point. You can set the brew temperature, you can set a pre-soak AKA bloom time, and you can set a pre-programmed automatic start up time, so this can brew after you wake up, or whenever you want. This arrangement is flexible, and doesn't lock you down, it provides you choice.

This arrangement delivers delicious coffee for me, maybe it will for you? Just something to think about.

 

[The Knize]

I do too, I especially have that feeling of zen while I am grinding coffee beans, and I especially love doing it manually.

So far, I am going have to take your word for the hand grinding! Frankly, and this is a big confession, I am not even freshly grinding coffee by any means for the most part. And, even though I have a flat burr grinder, I mostly use a blade grinder. I think my technique is good enough to get a good enough evenness of grind.

Like I think I said earlier, my older son has a hand grinder, I assume of decent quality, that I used when I was staying with him, and hand grinding coffee seemed like a lot of work! That said, many would argue my next step for higher quality coffee should be a conical burr grinder.

Thanks for the other tips. I may get there. So far, and I have not been doing this, at least with this much care for very long, I am really liking the "by hand" pour over process, including the weighing things out, wetting/rinsing the filter, using a swan neck kettle, etc. I think I would miss that with even an advanced automatic brewer like the Behmore Brazen. But I do like tools, so maybe I will go that way eventually! I suppose I shaved with a straight razor for a long time, too, and probably would have talked about the zen of that, before I decided it was feeling like more work and less zen!

 

[Phoenixkh]

I do too, I especially have that feeling of zen while I am grinding coffee beans, and I especially love doing it manually.



All you need, is a quality grinder, scale, and coffee brewer, to simplify your life.

1ZPresso K-MAX grinder
Timemore Black Mirror Nano scale
Behmore Brazen Plus 3.0 Brewer

This combination simplifies ones life, but still allows you to have fun with it. You like to calibrate? You can easily calibrate this brewer to your altitude level for supreme boiling point. You can set the brew temperature, you can set a pre-soak AKA bloom time, and you can set a pre-programmed automatic start up time, so this can brew after you wake up, or whenever you want. This arrangement is flexible, and doesn't lock you down, it provides you choice.

This arrangement delivers delicious coffee for me, maybe it will for you? Just something to think about.

Chris, that sure sounds like an amazing machine.

I’ve been enjoying French press coffee for a few months now. It isn’t mindless though. It isn’t complicated but does take longer.

 

[The Knize]

I am not sure anyone cares unless they own or are thinking about buying this particular scale, but I seem to have gotten the KitchenTour scale auto-off rest from the from the factory default of 120 seconds, up to the max for the unit of 240 seconds. I cannot remember the exact steps I ended up taking, but I will say they differed from the instructions in the link on the Amazon webpage. The scale simply did not do what those instructions said it would in response to various buttons. If someone needs to know, I can probably recreate what I did to get there. I did seem to have to calibrate the unit at 500, 1000, and 2000 grams in order to get the new auto off delay time to stick.

I tested whether turning on the timer extends the time of auto off (or even stops auto off altogether). It does not seem to on this unit.

So problem mitigated, at least to some extent. KitchenTour could do a better job on this units features and a better job of explaining how to use the features this unit already has.

I Googled adjusting automatic off delay on coffee scales and got a bunch of hits. Lots of folks out there are annoyed by short auto off times, and the advice was quite varied. Thanks again, everyone.

Wow! The 1ZPresso K-MAX grinder is not inexpensive!

 

[Mick]

This is the issue I refer to in the thread of what did I learn from my coffee brewing method, where I conclude, yet again, that I am not a one trial learner.

I started brewing pour over much more "carefully" not all that long ago and I am finding the improvement in the brewed coffee much more than I expected. So one thing I am doing is weighing the water and coffee in grams on an inexpensive battery powered platform type kitchen scale. Pretty handy in that you can set a vessel of some sort of other on the scale and press the tare bottom, to zero the scale out so that you are weighing whatever you put into the vessel, be it water or coffee. My problem is that frequently enough I get delayed or distracted and the scale turns off automatically losing the tare setting so I do not know, for instance, how much water I have poured over the grounds.

I seem to do better at this having learned what happens if I do not stay on it, but is there a fairly inexpensive such scale that stays on for a much longer time, or has an adjustable time for the auto turn off or similar? I suppose I will learn eventually, but it would be handy to have a scale that either did not turn off, or, I suppose, retained its tare setting when one turned it back on. I cannot be the only one with this problem!! Thanks.

Either of these. As a bonus thet are always within 2/10 gram (0.2) which is close enough for the espresso machine (or pour over) that I have down here.

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

KitchenTour could do a better job on this units features and a better job of explaining how to use the features this unit already has.

While its true that I have 0-intentions on buying anything from the KitchenTour brand, I do however, appreciate that you took the time to review it. Because at the end of the day, its our job to let folks know, the good, the bad, and the ugly, when it comes to products, so that we can help other's, make smart purchasing decisions. I think you did a good job demonstrating your experience here.

The troubles you had adjusting, because of its non-intuitive nature, also go hand in hand with the price you pay for it. The age old axium, you get what you pay for. Now, the Timemore Black Mirror Nano scale is certainly not cheap, your looking at 100 bucks for that flagship scale. Or, you could get Timemore's slim scale like @Phoenixkh has for around 60 bucks I think it costs.

I found mine easier to adjust then yours Knize, and mine even allowed me to turn off the annoying beep sound too, which was nice. And like I said, mine will stay on for like 5-minutes of not doing anything. I am glad you got the scale adjusted in the end, but pretty hard to calibrate a scale without the needed weights. I won't even attempt to re-calibrate my scale unless I get the weights first.

Wow! The 1ZPresso K-MAX grinder is not inexpensive!

The 1ZPresso K-MAX is a very high end grinder that is why. It uses a heptagonal stainless steel conical burr set, that produces a very uniform grind. All metal construction, including the thick aluminum chassy, structural supports, and has double bearings. The only piece of plastic is the opaque top to keep the beans in, while you are grinding. The crank handle is made out of thick steel rod, and the handle grip knob is made out of real wood.

The K-MAX has a wide adjustability range, which ranges between 1 for Turkish, 2 to 3 for Espresso, 4 to 6 for Areopress or Pour over. 6 to 8 for auto drip, and setting 9 through 11 for french press. You can fine tune anywhere in between that you need. But its an all around grinder that can do it all. And since I am making coffee for an auto drip, I am using setting number 8, which makes it really easy to grind beans.

With light roasted beans, you put in a little more effort of course. But for medium roasts, or dark roasts, it takes so little muscle on setting 8, that as your grinding, you just feel you lose yourself to the clouds, as all of lifes problems are pushed away, and your mind relaxes into a xen meditation. Ohhhhh, where was I? Oh right, the grinder costs a lot yes, but as you can see, you get serious quality for the money. You can read my review on these coffee toys here as well...

1ZPresso K-MAX Hand Grinder & Timemore Black Mirror Nano Scale & The Wonders Of Stirling Kenya Coffee (An SWCT Review)

Hello everyone, its been awhile since I posted in this forum, and since I got a couple new coffee toys to play with, I figured I'd let you all know what I thought about them. As some of you know, I own the Cuisinart DB-8 electric grinder, that I bought back in December of last year...

www.badgerandblade.com

If you have a lower budget, you could always get the Timemore C2 grinder for I think its 80 to 90 dollars right now. But with a lower cost, also comes, a lower quality unit. Yes the Timemore C2 also has a heptagonal stainless steel conical burr set. But there's more plastic this time around. The chassy is made out of aluminum sure, but its a thinner shell in comparison to the K-MAX. And unlike the K-MAX, the C2 has plastic structural supports for the burr shaft, which means, at some point, they will crack.

In my experience, when it comes to any kind of hand grinder that uses plastic structural supports, its not a matter of will it, its a matter of when it cracks. And when it does, your grinder is bust. Unlike the K-MAX that uses a real wooden knob, that fits in the palm of your hand well, ( At least it does for me! ) the C-2 uses a small plastic knob. I could see that plastic knob hurting your hand after awhile of dedicated use, such as grinding light roasted beans for example.

With my K-MAX, when my burr set wears out, I'll be able to order a new burr set from the company. The lifespan of the burr set is supposed to be around 200,000 grams worth of coffee grinding. So, its going to last be quite awhile. But who knows how long the C-2 would last, made with lower quality standards, tolerances a little looser and all that, probably would only last half as long at best. You get your money's worth.

So other then enjoying the very xen moment of grinding my own beans with a manual grinder, there is another reason why I chose a manual hand grinder, it was a financial decision. Now, I know your giving me the eye, cause your like, well, if you were worried about that, you shouldn't have paid over 200 dollars for the K-MAX lol! Well, everybody is used to electric grinders these days yes? Right! OK, in order to get the same quality burr set that my K-MAX uses in an electric grinder, you'd have to get something like the Baratza Vario units, which cost well over 300 dollars.

And many high end electric grinders, even push 600+ dollar level! So now you understand my financial choice, to pick a hand grinder. Now, I will recommend that you get away from a blade grinder. You may think your getting a uniform grind, because that has been all you have been used to using, but you are not. When it comes to how good coffee tastes, grind uniformity is king in this department, its actually even more important then the brewer that you use.

I came from a blade grinder, so yes, I do know. I suffered using that blade grinder for 12-years before it let out the smoke. Then I upgraded to an electric Cuisinart DBM-8 ceramic burr grinder. And while it produced a more uniform grind then a blade grinder, it just has too many other negatives about it that I don't like. So thats how I ended up with the 1ZPresso K-MAX grinder, because I wanted something high end, I didn't want to have to sell a kidney in order to get it, and I wanted something that would let me mind veer off to xen, and it does, every time I use it.

Some people love their beer, some people love their cars, some people love their sports, and some people love their woman. I, well, I love my coffee, and as long as I have coffee in my life, I don't need any of that other stuff. But hey, its something that I enjoy, and I think after this conversation, your going to be enjoying a whole heck of a lot more, in your near future.

 

[Elliot]

Acaia scales are considered sort of best-in-class for specialty coffee. The Pearl, which is the larger one, is what you’d want for filter coffee.

Coffee Scales

Precisely and accurately weigh your coffee

acaia.co

 

[The Knize]

SWCT,

You have given me a lot to think about and potentially respond to. But I am heading out of the country for a couple of weeks on Sunday, and just cannot take the time now to responds as I would normally like to. I much appreciate your taking the time to think about my posts and post your own thoughts.

I guess I will say that I understand and respect what you are saying about being willing to pay a lot for a hand grinder of great quality and longevity, and when you did not want to pay the much higher cost of an electric grinder of similar quality! Respect!

I very much respect you aficionado aesthete overall, too. It is a wonderful thing to have passion for things. To have passion for the quality of things. I may creep up over time to your level of equipment yet. In the meantime, I feel like I am drinking so much better coffee than I was that I regret having gone so many years drinking what I did!

On the other hand, I have something of my Mother's aesthete of liking a bargain. Of liking to do pretty well with less expensive stuff, that I have figure out through research and trial and error. Maybe of trying to maximize bang for the buck, although I also realize that coffee equipment is really not all that expensive, for the amount of use one gets out of it. I recall in a PM on B&B early on I mentioned to someone that straight razors seemed expensive. The response was "not as expensive as my other hobbies. Cessnas, Rolexes, 911s, and Bordeauxs. And i do seem to love a lot of different things. And sometimes my passion for them seems seriatim!

Thanks and Cheers!

 

[APBinNCA]

I know that response wasn't intended for me, but I very much enjoyed reading it! I withheld the heart emoji this time, but had to restrain myself in order to do so. I know SWCT well and you and him some common ground to say the least. I am always on here to offer advice and freely admit my preferences lean on the expensive side. In my defence I will say that it really takes using top level equipment to be able to appreciate bargains because you aren't left wondering what an extra $50 would get you(you know). I am frequently tempted to see how cheap I can go and not loose much!