Food scales: Weighing the Options

Have you ever experienced different results when making a recipe more than once?  Maybe it tasted different, or just didn’t look the same?  If you have eliminated every other possible reason for the difference (expired ingredients, oven issues, etc), it would be worth looking at how you are measuring your ingredients.

Most of us know that there are different measuring options for different types of ingredients (wet versus dry, for example), and that there is a difference between a packed measuring cup and one that has been filled with a spoon.  But we don’t always think about the fact that when a recipe calls for a certain amount of a particular ingredient, we will likely end up with a different amount depending on whether we use a measuring cup or a food scale.  Able to measure both wet and dry ingredients, food scales can be found in almost any kitchen goods or grocery store—and they can make the difference between a recipe that is good some of the time and one that is spot-on every time.

If you use measuring cups for your cookie recipe and have never had a bad batch—that’s awesome, go you!  This is in no way telling you that you’re doing it “wrong.”  Certain recipes are just inherently much better served by weighing ingredients versus using measuring cups and spoons (macarons, for example, are notoriously finicky, giving them the reputation as the most difficult cookie to make successfully).  And again, if you find yourself struggling to get that consistently perfect bake, it is worth trying to figure out why.  When a recipe goes wrong, it can be hard to pinpoint what happened, and where the problem is.  But baking is science—without all the cool Bunsen burners and microscopes.  If you measure your ingredients in a more scientific way (hey there, food scale, looking at you), it will ensure that your recipe—and your results!— will be more consistent.  Food for thought!