How to Choose a Baking Scale

Baking scales take the guesswork out of measuring.

When baking, correct measurements are essential to the success of the final product. Many professional bakers will not use cup measures, instead, they weigh the ingredients. Flours, sugars and other ingredients may become dense after sitting but their weight does not fluctuate. When you’re ready to take your baking to the next level, choose a baker’s scale with care.

Instructions

1. Choose a digital baking scale when you want to weigh the ingredients without paying an arm and a leg for a scale. Look for the ability to “tare” or adjust your scale to subtract the weight of the container that will hold the ingredients. This is imperative for measuring accuracy. Also, look for the ability to switch between ounces and grams when measuring.

2. Pick a spring scale for a reliable weighing device that needs no batteries or other power source to operate. Spring scales have a platform on top that holds your ingredients and as the platform depresses, a dial on the front of the scale registers the weight. Tare a spring scale by adjusting the knob to zero when the empty container rests upon the platform.

3. Select the professional baker’s favorite scale, the beam balance, when you will be weighing many ingredients and need a sturdy scale that will last indefinitely. Reminiscent of the scales in physical education class when you were a kid, beam balances work in the same manner with a weighted balance that you move along a graduated scale until the beam balances horizontally. This allows you to select the correct weight ahead of time and add or subtract the ingredients until it balances.

4. Notice the weight range when purchasing a digital scale. Due to the fluctuation in ability to measure precise weight, a scale that measures large weights, up to 3 pounds, will be less accurate when weighing smaller weights of only a few ounces.

5. Test a digital scale as soon as you take it out of the box. Unfortunately, with a cheap price tag come some risks. Take a few cans of vegetables and check the weight of each one on the scale to assure it reads the same as what is on the label. Use large and small cans. If the scale if off, exchange it for another one.