Kitchen scale
A kitchen scale weighs ingredients in grams or ounces, which is far more accurate than cups for baking. Here is how to use one and the tare button.
Also called Digital scale, Kitchen scales, Food scale.
A kitchen scale weighs food. A digital scale with 1 gram resolution is the most useful type, and it can switch between grams and ounces. Weighing is more accurate than measuring with cups, because a cup of flour can weigh anywhere from about 120 to 150 g (4.2 to 5.3 oz) depending on how it is scooped. That is why most bakers and many European recipes weigh dry ingredients.
How to do it
- Put the scale on a flat, firm surface and switch it on.
- Set your bowl on it and press the tare button, often marked "tare" or "zero". The display goes back to 0 with the bowl on it.
- Add the first ingredient until you reach the weight you want.
- Press tare again, then add the next ingredient. You can weigh a whole cake into one bowl this way.
Most scales also weigh water and milk, since 1 ml of water weighs 1 g. Milk is close enough for home cooking. Oil is lighter, about 0.9 g per ml.
Why it works
Weight does not change with how tightly you pack a cup or how you level a spoon, so a recipe made by weight comes out the same every time. It also makes bread hydration easy to work out, and it means fewer measuring cups to wash.
How to store it
Store it flat with nothing heavy on top, which can damage the load sensor. Wipe it with a damp cloth and never put it under running water. Replace the battery when the display dims or the numbers drift.
Common mistakes
- Weighing on a soft or uneven surface such as a towel. The reading will be wrong.
- Forgetting to tare after putting the bowl on.
- Using a 1 g scale for very small amounts such as 3 g of yeast or salt. The rounding error is large. A small jewelry-style scale with 0.1 g steps is better for those.
- Using a bowl that covers the display. A flat plate on top of the scale, tared, solves it.
- Converting a cup recipe to grams with a generic number. Flour, sugar and butter all weigh different amounts per cup.
In recipes
Weights appear as g and kg, or oz and lb. "Scant" or "heaping" cups do not apply once you weigh.
Recipes made with it
2 recipes from the sites we collect.
Related terms
- GramThe gram is the metric unit of weight most of the world cooks with. Weighing in grams is faster and more accurate than cups. Here is how to convert.
- CupA US cup is about 240 ml, a metric cup is 250 ml, and a cup of flour weighs far less than a cup of sugar. Here is how to measure and convert.
- OunceAn ounce (oz) is a unit of weight, about 28 g. It is not the same as a fluid ounce, which measures volume. Here is how to convert ounces to grams.
- HydrationHydration is the weight of water in a bread dough as a percent of the flour weight. Higher numbers mean a wetter dough and a more open crumb.
- All-purpose flourAll-purpose flour is a medium-protein white wheat flour for cakes, cookies, sauces and bread. In the UK it is plain flour, in Sweden vetemjöl.