Pana & Primo Digital Models

Baking is precise, and accurate and consistent  measurement  is essential  to the success of the finished product.  All measuring utensils are not created equal and methods of how we measure ingredients vary.  Even the weight of different brands of flour can affect the measurement and the outcome of a cake. If the gravy is too thick or too thin, the home cook can usually remedy the problem.  We can add a little extra "this" or "that" and  "fix" the crisis. With baking for example, that luxury is not an option.

In the world of professional baking, accurate measuring is assured by using a scale. Some cookbook recipes also give measurements in both volume (cups, teaspoons, etc.) and weight (grams, ounces, etc.).  KosherEye wanted to enter the "world of accurate ingredient measurement!"

Escali is the producer of scales for both home and professional use. The small privately owned company, located in Burnsville, MN, was founded in 1999 by Theo Prins, CEO and owner. Prior to starting the company, Mr. Prins spent 20 years, mostly in Europe, in the professional digital scale industry.  He felt that improvement was needed in the manufacturing and design of digital scales and he based the Escali design on that premise. Initially, the product line was for professional and restaurant chefs.  Mr. Prins next concentrated on developing scales for the consumer. Using the professional design as a basis, he developed a scale that incorporated the same functionally and design but was geared for home usage.  

The Pana Digital kitchen scale is the newest addition to the Escali line and was developed in conjunction with King Arthur Flour. The Pana has a patented feature and is the first kitchen scale to provide measurements in cups and tablespoons and, also by weight.  This high precision scale is pre-programmed for precise volume measurements of more than 150 ingredients.

Frankly, the Pana scale fascinated us and we couldn't wait to try it. KosherEye spoke with Jane Gaither, Nashville Tennessee, Sales Representative for Escali scales. Jane fascinated us just as much as the scales! She has a love for baking, regularly appears on a local Nashville CBS affiliate television program as the Gourmet Gadget Gal and worked in a bakery where they weighed ingredients instead of measuring them. She shared her recipe for Friday Night Chocolate Cake, which lists the ingredients by weight, and we used it to test the Pana scale.

A fabulous feature of the Pana is the Tare option. This feature allows you to set the scale back to zero. When using a container, it subtracts the containers weight to obtain the weight of its contents. This feature allows you to add consecutive ingredients to the container, and weigh each ingredient individually. Translated