I finally purchased "LA Patisserie De Pierre Herme" and I'm most excited to start working some of his recipes. Up until now I haven't done enough baking using grams as measurements to purchase a gram scale (just did the math instead). Anyway it's time to buy one and since I'm not totally happy with my current scales I thought I'd ask if anyone has a recommendation of a brand and contact name for buying a new gram scale?

By tj on Tuesday, June 06, 2000 - 10:44 am: Edit

i like DORAN scales (model 7000x,acurate to 2 grams),and i like most of all the MATLER scales from france. they are super acurate in 1 gram range,with capacity of 20 kilo (44 pounds)or even more (or less) .
good luck with herme`s book.it is a good example of what good french modern patisserie is like.and to the contrary of what unacoplished "pastry chefs" think ,i know that every single item in his book (which i have) can be mass produced successfuly.its all a matter of organization and time managment.

By Ramodeo (Ramodeo) on Tuesday, June 06, 2000 - 05:02 pm: Edit

The scales tj mentions are indeed wonderful. I used them both in my days in product development. However, as I recall they are extremely expensive. Don't know what your budget is, but on the other end of the spectrum..... At home I use a Terralion model. It only goes up to 2000 grams, but it is convertable to oz/lbs, tares out quickly and is accurate to 2 grams I believe. It works well for me in single batch recipes. I believe I paid about $45 about 7-8 years ago. Good service from the company, too. I got my first one thru mail order, and it quit on me in the middle of a consulting job. I took it to a kitchen store in the mall to see if they carried the same model, figuring I'd be buying a new one. They surprised me by taking my broken one and giving me a new one! They said the company would take the broken one back, no questions asked! They didn't even care about where or when I bought it. Course, that coulda been a not-too-bright employee who later got fired for giving away a $45 scale, but it worked for me! :)

Also, I think Cooks magazine did a review of electronic scales a while ago. It'd be worth looking up, I bet. Good Luck!

By Yankee on Tuesday, June 06, 2000 - 10:32 pm: Edit

Peloze makes a small, digital model that I get a lot of use out of. I don't know the product number off hand, but you can pick one up at Office Max or Office Depot for about $80. Look in the postal scale section.

It maxes out at about 10# or 5kg., at .2oz and 5gr. increments. It works great for the quatities we use at work. It's not too accurate below 50 gr. or so, but for those things I just use teaspoons or tablespoons. I've gotten 18 months of daily use out my of last one and it just keeps on going.

They have a similar model with a stainless steel top, it's about twice as expensive and maxes out at 5#. There is also a much larger one for about $300. I had one for a while, but I found the smaller one to be much easier to use (you know, for those Easy Bake Oven recipies!). Also, be sure to pick up the AC attachment, these things eat nine volt batteries.

Good luck,

By W.DeBord on Wednesday, June 07, 2000 - 08:44 am: Edit

Thank-you for the input!

By tj on Wednesday, June 07, 2000 - 09:42 am: Edit

if you are on a tight budget, i would recomend going to some used restaurant equipment dealers and look for used DETECTO scales.they are inexpensive, acurate and popular, so they are widely available at those dealers.i had a DETECTO scale once, that was a 40lbs/18kg and was accurate to 0.002lbs/5gr ,which is good.it was made in japan ,you should be able to find a used one like that for $200-$300.

By W.DeBord on Thursday, June 08, 2000 - 10:24 pm: Edit

tj if you have a minute....I've been looking thru La Patisserie and don't see where he mentions what size cake rings he's using. He lists the ring height for each item but where did he say the ring width?

I'm not familar with sugar being called castor sugar. Is that just reg. sugar or superfine?

Thanks in advance

By tj on Saturday, June 10, 2000 - 09:35 pm: Edit

castor sugar=granulated sugar.its what they call in england regular sugar.
herme uses mostly what looks like 18 cm rings.at least it looks to me like 18 or 20 cm rings.which is the standard large cake size.about 8 inches.

By vbean on Sunday, June 11, 2000 - 01:17 am: Edit

just use a balance scale and buy some gram weights!- then if you feel the need to upgrade you can.

By W.DeBord on Sunday, June 11, 2000 - 07:09 pm: Edit

Do American bakeries keep to 8" as large (I don't visit bakeries much)? It seems European cakes are formulated on a smaller scale than Americans pro books, who seem to work at 10" alot. I usually have to double French recipes because I like to work at 9".

The previous pastry chef before me bought everything in 10" so I thought I was working small?

I stay with 9" because it's slice fits a dessert plate nicely. When Europeans use 8" they are making that size for retail whole torte sale only or do they plate smaller pieces too?

By tj on Sunday, June 11, 2000 - 07:43 pm: Edit

actualy ,european cakes are smaller than 8".they are usualy 16 cm in diameter or so,which will be about 6 or 7 inches, standard.thats because people in europe are satisfied with smaller portions in many cases, and some cakes are very rich so a small slice is enough, how ever ,my american friends have a much bigger appetit....
dont be concearned about the recipes sizes.multiply them to what ever size of cake you want to make.

By Panini (Panini) on Sunday, June 11, 2000 - 08:53 pm: Edit

DeBord,
8 or 10" is usually the norm for american retail. My rings however are 18cm. Be sure to purchase SS, mine have the seam overlapped and welded on both sides. They seem to hold up better than the cut seam.
Americans do have bigger appetites but I think Europeans visit the pastry shops more frequently and don't require leftovers. I have customers who will come in and buy a 10" cake, a 8" pear almond torte, 4 eclairs, 2 triple nut diamonds and a dozen cookies for the week. Then they will ask me if the cake will freeze. IT'S NUTS!! Americans are so lazy and in a rush to go nowhere that someday I vision myself with headphones and a drivethrough window! ha ha
panini

By Raine on Sunday, June 11, 2000 - 09:40 pm: Edit

Ditto on big appetites! Many 1/2 sheets going out for parties of 10 or less. You'd have to eat cake for a week!
Standard for american retail bakery is 8" although most wholesalers carry 10" as standard.
Cheesecakes are usually 6"-7" because the serving are "supposed" to be smaller.

By M* on Thursday, June 29, 2000 - 11:45 am: Edit

To clarify the sugar issue, castor sugar is what
you would normally use for cakes like whisked
sponges and Victoria sponges, granulated sugar is
what we Brits put in our tea, they are not the
same thing (similar though) but granulated has
bigger crystals.