How to use a Food Scale

Learning how to use a food scale changed my baking, cooking and even portion control game. 

Having a food scale is an appliance I MUST HAVE in my kitchen.  It is a tool I use daily and so I have it located where I can get to it easily.  Using a food scale is a pretty straightforward easy process but in this post on how to use a food scale, I’ll give you a couple tips on making it less messy and even easier than you thought.  

Before we dive into how to use a food scale, let me just mention briefly the fact that there are a ton of different food scales to choose from.  It can feel overwhelming to shop for a food scale and wonder which one is the right one to buy.  Here are a few things that matter and don’t matter when buying a food scale.  

Things that matter:

Big enough platform:  

Your food scale should have a big enough platform to fit a container or dish that can comfortably hold the ingredient without overflowing to ensure accurate measurements while still reading the screen.

Weight Units in grams, oz, partial oz, and lbs

You will want a scale that is able to weigh your ingredients accurately.  The weight units I use most often are lbs, oz and partial oz but it is helpful to be able to read grams as well.  

Things that don’t matter

Weight Units in ml or fl oz

If you are wanting to measure ml or fl oz, this is best achieved by using a liquid measuring cup.  This unit of measurement is not important and I would also dare to say not accurate on a food scale.  Don’t pay extra for this feature.  If this unit is already on your scale, don’t worry about it.  It doesn’t ruin a scale by having this unit of measure.  We just won’t talk about it in this guide on how to use a food scale.  

Lots of fancy buttons

The only buttons you will need on a food scale is the power button, tare button and the unit button.  And, I have seen on quite a few scales that the power button and zero button are the same button.  

So, now getting that out of the way, lets talk about how to use a food scale.  

Place your scale on a flat, stable surface.  It should be clean of any debris to ensure accurate measurements. 

Turn on Food Scale by pressing the power button

The scale will turn on and read zero weight regardless of the unit of measurement set as the default.

If your scale doesn’t read zero, press the tare (or zero) button to clear and calibrate the scale back to zero.  

If you want to measure in a different unit of measurement, push the unit button to change the unit of measurement. 

Push the Unit button again and it will change the unit of measurement again.  Push as many times as needed to get to the preferred unit of measurement. *note – most scales will allow you to change this after weighing ingredients as well.  The scale doesn’t have to be at zero to change the unit of measurement.  

Next, if you are measuring ingredients in a container, place it on the scale.  At this point your scale will read the weight of whatever is on the scale. 

Don’t make it hard on yourself and try to do the math and add your ingredients yet.  First, tare (or zero out) the scale.  When you tare or zero out the scale, it will take the weight of whatever is on the scale and set the scale weight back to zero.  It looks like the weight magically disappears but the computer in the scale has kept track of that for you.  If you take the container off the scale, the screen will either read a negative weight or have something as a placeholder, like dashes, where the numbers would be but it should not read zero anymore.  Now if you place the same empty container back on the scale, it should read zero again.

After your scale reads zero, you can add whatever ingredient you are measuring. 

Once you’ve added the desired amount of the ingredient, you should see the weight displayed on the screen.  If it needs more or less of the ingredient, adjust as necessary until the desired weight is reached.  

If you only have one ingredient you are measuring, you are done!  

Now, if you have more ingredients that need to be weighed, you can either take that ingredient off the scale and follow the same steps to measure the rest of your ingredients or you can add to that ingredient in the same container, as long as there is still room.  When baking, I weigh all my dry ingredients in the same container.  This makes for less dishes (thank goodness) and is quicker for measuring.  

To add to your ingredients in the same container, you just have to tare or zero out your scale again.

This means you press the tare button on your scale while your container with the previous ingredients are still inside the container.  Your scale will now take the total amount of that weight and reset your scale back to zero.  Wait for the screen on the scale to read zero before adding anymore ingredients.  

You can continue this process of taring and adding ingredients until you have added all the ingredients you need.

Although using a food scale is simple and easy, there are a few things that can make learning how to use a food scale frustrating. 

One of these is when your scale powers off by itself. 

Most scales use battery power and they will turn off if not in use to save battery life. Keep note of how long your scale stays on.   It is so frustrating to be in the middle of weighing something and have to leave the scale for a little bit.  When you come back to the scale it has been powered off.  If you are in the middle of weighing an ingredient, this can mess up your whole recipe or causing inaccurate measure of food portions.  So, be aware the scale can power off before you are finished. It is helpful to take note of the weight of what you have added if you need to walk away.

It can also be frustrating if your scale won’t read a solid zero and keeps bouncing around to different weights.

If this is happening, it could be because the scale isn’t sitting flat on a solid surface or it may have something stuck to the bottom that is not allowing it to sit flat.

Once you learn how to use a food scale, you may find yourself using it all the time. 

It is easy, straightforward and by following these steps and using your kitchen scale correctly, you’ll be able to measure ingredients accurately and improve the consistency of your cooking, baking or food prepping for accurate portions.