Twice as Good at About Half the Price

Folks have made a few comments recently about their love of "kitchen gadgets" so I decided to post about my almost new kitchen calculator. Imagine my surprise when I went to the source (Lee Valley Tools) and discovered that the price had dropped from $30 to $16.50. I'm twice as happy to recommend it now. Go to:

http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&p=58726&cat=2,40733,40734

and have a look-see.

It's very easy to convert something like teaspoons to cups or vice versa. I just converted 150 degrees C to F by hitting 1, 5, 0, C, and F. That's all there was to it. 150C=302F. You can convert ounces to tablespoons or teaspoons, etc. in the same way.

It takes one more step to convert tablespoons of salt to grams, but isn't very hard. Note that directly below the item name and number near the bottom of the write-up you can click "instr.". Instr. will give you a look at the instructions that are printed on a card that is included in the case and which I store right there all the time. At the bottom of the card, you will see a table of specific gravitys which are used to convert from volume measurements to weights for common cooking ingredients. Most of our baking ingredients are on this card, This is a very straightforward process. A little practice and most calculator-using bakers will have it down pat.

I like the feel of this calculator. I am old-fashioned enough to want a somewhat larger key pad with real button-buttons to push, instead of a touch screen. This (like most of Lee Valley's offerings) is a real tool instead of a toy. Lee Valley is a great source of tools for gardening, woodworking, and other tools.

Do I recommend it? You betcha. At that price, it's a steal.

Mary