Level up your baking game! Learn how to use a kitchen scale to precisely measure all your ingredients for foolproof results every time! Step-by-step instructions plus a simple video included!
Why Should I Use a Kitchen Scale?
Have you ever experienced:
- Dry, crumbly cookie dough?
- Dense or sunken cakes?
- Frosting that was much, much too sweet and stiff?
- Cakey cookies that don’t spread at all but stay in dough-balls in the oven?
- Cookies that spread paper-thin in the oven?
- Cakey brownies or blondies (rather than fudgy and dense, as they should be?)
These are just a handful of issues that bakers commonly encounter as a result of not measuring their ingredients precisely.
Using a scale takes the guesswork out of the baking process. It also eliminates the need for measuring cups (fewer dishes, yay!).
I love this country, but Americans are way behind on this as most of us don’t even own a kitchen scale. We all use measuring cups, but unfortunately a cup of flour or sugar measured in one baker’s kitchen is rarely precisely the same as a cup measured in another kitchen.
I’m not someone who loves change, so I get that it can seem a little intimidating to make the switch, but ever since I did (thanks to the persuasion of a German friend!) I can’t believe I didn’t make the switch sooner. Using a scale is not difficult, it reduces dishes, and it makes your desserts more likely to turn out perfectly. I can’t stress this enough: once you switch to using a scale, you’ll never want to go back. In fact, you’ll be annoyed when you encounter a recipe that doesn’t include weights.
OK, I get it! Now how do I Use a Kitchen Scale?
Alright, let’s get to it:
- Turn your kitchen scale ON and toggle the “unit” button until you are set to the unit of measure that you need (oz, grams, etc.)
- Place your mixing bowl (or other bowl that you’ll be measuring your ingredient into) on the scale.
- TARE the scale by hitting the “tare”. Your display should read “0”.
- Measure your dry ingredient into the measuring bowl until you reach the measurement indicated in your recipe.
- Make sure to tare the scale again so that it reads “0” each time before measuring your next ingredient.
I linked to my favorite scale (affiliate) in the how-to card below. It’s accurate, the batteries last forever (mine have been working for years), and inexpensive! I think this one is around $12 on Amazon… comparable to the cost of a set of measuring cups!
How to use a metric kitchen weighing scales
FAQ
How do you read a food scale in Oz?
How do I use a kitchen scale?
Use the correct units of measurement: Be sure to check which units of measurement your recipe uses. Most kitchen scales will allow you to switch between grams, ounces, and pounds. Use the correct unit to ensure accurate measurements.
Can you use a kitchen scale to measure by weight?
When you use a kitchen scale to measure by weight, everything is just… weight. You don’t need specialty measuring cups for your ingredients. You can use a bowl or a measuring cup or a plate or anything. Literally anything. NOTE: Ounces and fluid ounces are not the same thing. Fluid ounces are a volume measurement.
What metric system does a kitchen scale use?
In Europe and a loooot of other countries, the metric system is used, and recipes are written using grams, kilograms, milliliters, and liters. Most digital kitchen scales have a button to toggle between the Imperial and Metric system. So no matter which measuring system a recipe uses, your kitchen scale will be able to tackle it with you.
Do you need a measuring cup for a kitchen scale?
If you’re measuring by volume, you need one set of measuring cups for liquid ingredients and another set for dry ingredients. When you use a kitchen scale to measure by weight, everything is just… weight. You don’t need specialty measuring cups for your ingredients. You can use a bowl or a measuring cup or a plate or anything.