The best kitchen scales

A closer look: Pop the mixing bowl on first, press tare, then add each ingredient and zero it again before the next, so a whole cake comes together in one bowl with less washing up. It registers amounts as small as 2g, which helps with yeast, spices and baking powder, where a little too much really shows.

A closer look: Switching between metric and imperial makes it handy for older recipe books and handwritten family recipes still written in ounces. It’s slim enough to slide into a drawer or a narrow gap beside the toaster, and the stainless steel disc just needs a wipe with a damp cloth after a floury baking session.

A closer look: In millilitre mode, you can pour milk, water or stock straight into a jug on the scale, which is often more accurate than squinting at the markings on the side. The screen warns you when the batteries are running low, and it turns itself off if you’re called away halfway through a recipe.

A closer look: Its bowl holds 0.8 litres, plenty for sugar, flour or milk, but a big batch of bread dough will need a larger bowl of your own on the platform. It powers down after two minutes of sitting idle, so keep adding ingredients steadily, and the batteries come already fitted, which means it works straight out of the box on Christmas morning.

A closer look: With a footprint of 18 by 14cm, it takes up less room than a chopping board, so it suits a student kitchen, a caravan or a first flat. Mixing bowls wider than the platform will overhang a little, so set them down in the middle, and the backlit screen helps when the only light is from the cooker hood.