Is there anything more irritating than getting halfway through a recipe, and then suddenly discovering you don’t have quite enough of a certain ingredient? You could always leave the house and go pick up more, but if you’d rather not make another trip to the store next time this happens, check out the iPad connected Drop kitchen scale.
It’s definitely not the only smart kitchen scale out there, but unlike some of the others on the market, Drop has the unique ability to recognize when you’ve finished weighing one ingredient and are ready to add the next, and can instantly adjust the quantities for your favorite recipe based on the amount of ingredients you have left. In the event that you’re missing an ingredient altogether, the app will even suggest substitutes that will give you similar results, making it ideal for cooks who need to follow exact ratios to ensure that their recipe turns out as they intended.
One of Drop’s co-founders was inspired to create the device after watching his sister struggle with determining what quantity of ingredients she needed, and figuring out how to substitute items she didn’t have for those that were in her cupboard. After realizing this was a common problem amongst other cooks, he gathered up a team of designers to come up with a solution. A few months later, after a brief stint in the hardware development accelerator Highway1, Drop was born.
App-connected scales like this already exist for cocktail-mixing purposes, but up until now, nobody has applied the idea to kitchen scales. It’s a pretty brilliant idea, especially when you consider how crucial exact measurements can be in certain recipes.
Starting today, the device is available online for just $100. In addition to being able to buy Drop on the company’s website, you can also find it in Apple’s online store, and it’s expected to hit brick-and-mortar Apple stores starting next Tuesday.
Article updated on November 14, 2014 to include availability and pricing information. Originally published March 21, 2014.
