Why You Really Need a Kitchen Scale!
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Inside: I used to be convinced that using a kitchen scale was for cooks who can’t measure properly. Then I tried weighing ingredients. Here’s why I never want to be without one.
I love to bake. I always have ever since I could be trusted using mixers and ovens!
My great aunt Ikey used to come visit us and she was always puttering around the kitchen. I remember one special visit during the holidays where I decided to bake some gingerbread people. By this time, she was quite a bit older and I insisted on her sitting at the peninsula while I did all the work.
I cannot remember or the life of me what we were talking about but we both got tickled. I don’t think Id ever heard her laugh so much and so boisterously in my entire life! It’s probably one of my most favorite memories of all time.
Back then, I didn’t even know what a kitchen scale was for.
Scratch that.
We did have a small kitchen scale that my mom used to measure out food when she was on a diet. But it most definitely wasn’t for baking or cooking.
It wasn’t until many, many years later when my husband did a year abroad that I even thought about using a scale to weigh ingredients.
We’d moved to Steffisburg, Switzerland ( a small village outside of the capital, Bern) for a year and all the German cookbooks listed the ingredients by weight. If I wanted to learn to make braided Swiss bread and sweets (YUM), I was going to have to learn how to measure my ingredients using a scale.
And I realized how much better it was! I’ve never looked back. I love my kitchen scale and wouldn’t bake without it.
What is kitchen scale used for?
There are two distinct ways you can use a kitchen scale:
- For weighing ingredients in a recipe
- For weighing out portions of food for nutritional purposes
As I mentioned before, I grew up using ours for “dieting”. I think I went on my first “diet” before I was twelve years old. Honestly, it started me down the path to yo-yo dieting and I’m currently in recovery for it. I try to eat normal portions and moderate instead of “diet’. It’s going to be a life-long practice for me.
So what I’m trying to say is that I don’t use my kitchen scale for weighing out portions of food ever. I only use it for measuring ingredients in my recipes.
Why measure by weight?
Let’s chat for a sec about why it’s better to measure ingredients by weight instead of volume.
First and most importantly, it is so much more accurate!
Flour can settle and if you measure it by volume, it’s always going to vary. Maybe you measure in a cup and even it off with a knife, or maybe you don’t and you have a slight dome to you cup of flour.
But, mass is mass and when you weigh it, you’ll get a much more accurate measurement.
If you are baking, that is so important. Baking is like chemistry. Too much of this or too little of that and you’ll get inconsistent results.
But if you weigh it, you will get consistent results that you can count on!
Second, it truly is so much easier to measure by weight.
I put a bowl on my scale, zero it out and add flour. Then zero it out again and weigh the next ingredient and so forth.
No more fifty thousand measuring cups and spoons. It really cuts down on the number of things to wash and that in my book is a big WIN.
Who should get a kitchen scale?
You should. Anyone who cooks should. Particularly if you bake. As i mentioned, baking is like chemistry and accurate measurements go a long way to achieving the consistent results you dream of!
What should you buy? A Digital or manual scale?
Digital definitly. A digital kitchen scale is so much easier to read. And my digital scale switches from grams, pounds/oz, fluid ounces and milligrams. No matter what I need to measure, my digital scale can do it.
How does a kitchen scale work
My kitchen scale is very easy to use. First, I set my bowl on my scale and turn it on.
Then set it to the unit I want to measure. Then I just pour in my ingredient until it measures the desired amount. Then, to add the next ingredient, I push the power button briefly and zero it out. Then I just add the next ingredient and repeat the process.
It is sooooo quick and easy.
FAQs
How do I convert my American recipes from volume to weight?
That ‘s very simple! Just read the label on the container. It will say what one serving size is and then, usually in parenthesis, it will say how much that serving size weighs.
So generally, for flour, one serving is 1/4cup and that weighs 30 grams.
So one cup of flour, generally will weigh 120grams. Then you multiply how many cups by 120grams.
Couldn’t be easier! I’m going to work on a separate post with the most common ingredients and what they way, so stay tuned!
How do you clean a digital kitchen scale?
My scale can get very messy when I’m baking! So cleaning it is pretty important. Since I have an electronic scale that takes batteries, I usually take a damp paper towel and wipe it off.
Or you can use a Clorox wet wipe, if it needs sanitizing from spilled egg whites.
Where can I buy a kitchen scale?
Pretty much anywhere these days, Amazon, Target, Walmart.
What should I look for when buying a kitchen scale?
I love my scale that has so many different measurements. So that is the main thing I would recommend you look for.
Does it weigh in grams, pounds/ounces, fluid ounces? Is it large enough to sit a bigger bowl on?
What units of measure does a kitchen scale have?
Some will only have grams, but some, like mine have multiple units of measurements which is very important in baking.
What can I measure with kitchen scale?
I measure almost everything. Flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, spices. Once you know the equivalents, you measure everything.
I’m currently working on measuring my liquids. That will be in the new post as well.
I hope I’ve convinced you how amazing using a kitchen scale is! It’s the one tool in my kitchen that I can’t believe I waited so long to get!
xoxo
Gwen
