If you don’t bake, you may think that there is absolutely no need for scales in your kitchen. They’re only for people who measure out flour for cakes, or chocolate chips for cookies, aren’t they?
Well actually, there are a lot of other circumstances when you could make use of them. Whether you’re an avid baker or prefer to skip that part and get straight to the eating, these are the reasons why you should invest in a quality kitchen scale:
Precision
First of all, a tip mostly for the bakers. There are two ways to get your measurements all sorted ready for your session – kitchen scales, or measuring cups.
Sometimes, as much as you follow a recipe to a tee, you get underwhelming results. The cake isn’t fluffy, the cookies don’t rise, or the bread isn’t airy enough.
If you use the latter form of measuring, then this could actually be why. Popping flour into a measuring cup and levelling it out gives you different results every single time. It means that you measure by volume as opposed by mass and this is problematic. There could be pockets of air in the cup, which doesn’t add weight but adds to space.
Even if you have to convert into mass from volume, you should still get more accurate results. Or, why not grab a set which can measure both imperial and metric?
Tidiness
Many of the digital kitchen scales nowadays give you a chance to ‘tare’ or zero the weight so you can add the next ingredient. Say you have 200g of flour and need to add 20g baking powder but want to keep mess minimal.
Just zero the flour amount, and it will pick up only the additional weight. Nifty, right? No more need for extra bowls and jugs.
Portions
Nobody ever manages to make the perfect amount of pasta. You usually inadvertently have enough to do you three meals, so next time you try and cut it down, but it ends up being drowned by your bolognese sauce.
Did you know that the perfect serving is 100g? Now you do. If you have some kitchen scales to hand, then there will never be any more cooked pasta overflow.
Don’t just stop at pasta, though. You could also measure meat, cheese and other grains if you want to control your portion sizes or are on a diet.
Liquid Measurements
There are a few kitchen scales out there which can be converted to liquid measurements with aquatronic ability. This will allow you to measure absolutely every ingredient with one handy device. Plus you may find it easier to pour and keep an eye on the display rather than keep bending down to see the line on the jug.
Perhaps you are a regular home cocktail maker and need to get everything right for the perfect taste. A scale could let you get it precise and add as you go.
Coffee
You may be a coffee snob. You may literally drink any form of coffee as long as there is caffeine in it. Whichever group you fall into, you may be missing out on vital caffeine.
The recommended serving is 15g per 250ml of water if you’re using grounds. You may even decide that 17g is the sweet spot, or you want to just stick to 10g. Measure it out on your kitchen scales, so you have the perfect cup.
If you have decided that a kitchen scale is definitely going to be your next buy because you’ve had enough of dry banana bread and weak coffees, then you’ll be able to find your perfect option in our review. Digital or manual? Cheap and cheerful or a high-end investment? We have listed all of the best.
