There are tons of recipes that would benefit from using a kitchen scale. You can use a kitchen scale instead of measuring cups to measure flour, as it would give a far more accurate measurement than spoons and cups. The kitchen scale can be a digital or non-digital type and is larger than a small scale used by most dieters. The non-digital ones are fairly simple to use and operate. To better understand the use and how to read a food scale, read this article for some tips.
Easy Tips When Using and Reading a Food Scale
If you want to learn some easy tips on how to read a food scale, check out the following:
- Put an empty container on top of your scale. This should be the container where you will place your food to be weighed. The dial that’s on the scale will automatically move while weighing the container.
- Then, reset the food scale with your container still on it, and set it back to zero. This will allow you to measure the ingredients while subtracting the weight of your container.
- Scoop or set your ingredients that you would like to weigh into the container. Stop adding ingredients when the scale reaches your desired weight. Most of the scales will show measurements that are in ounces. Like for example, when flour weighs 3 ounces, the marks between the numbers indicate quarter ounces.
- A kitchen scale can be a valuable tool whether you’re on a diet, preserving harvests, or making bread. There are also three types of kitchen scales. They are mechanical, balance, and digital. The digital scale has the benefit of being more precise than the mechanical one, but both are useful in the kitchen.
- Another tip on how to read a food scale is by setting your food scale to zero. This would mean that you should be turning a knob to set the dial indicator to zero marks on a mechanical scale. Balance scales would need the pointer to be set to the center mark. Refer to your user’s manual that came with the digital scale on how to calibrate the scale to zero since each manufacturer varies in its calibration setup.
- Weigh the container that you plan to use to weigh your food. If needed, you can use a permanent marker to mark the container’s weight on the bottom, so you don’t have to do this step again.
- Measure food parts by uncooked weight. In learning how to read a food scale, if your diet entails six ounces of meat as one serving, six ounces before that meat hits the grill or skillet.
- Use the scale to weigh your baking and other cooking ingredients instead of using measuring cups. This will allow you to measure your ingredients better. Most recipes now note the weight of ingredients along with the measurement.
- Make sure to measure and weigh your ingredients for a certain recipe before combining them. You can use several different bowls for your ingredients and have them ready to go before cooking.
Tips to Remember
- Make sure that your scale is calibrated to zero. When you are considering in portions of an ounce, small discrepancies will make a difference.
- Some kitchen scales come with an attached bowl. This will allow you to limit the amount of food you can weigh what would fit in the bowl.
- Before buying a kitchen scale, make sure that the scale will weigh the amount of food you are most likely to be needing. The highest range that a food scale can weigh can vary from under two pounds to more than twenty.
Conclusion
Using a kitchen scale will be a great help when making some recipes that entail weighing. Using a kitchen food scale instead of measuring spoons and cups will give you far more precise measurements. Remember to calibrate it well before using and for convenience, and you can invest in a digital type or the battery-operated ones for ease of use. We hope that this article helped you with some tips on how to read a food scale and how to use it. Know more about food scales.