Why I needed a kitchen scale!

126siany

Solid foods should be weighed and liquids measured in order to get accurate measurements.

Some food scales have liquid measuring options, one of my two do. That being said, I still use measuring cups for liquids most of the time.

Can you explain how this works? I don't get it. 8 oz. of milk weighs a different amount than 8 oz. of water. Do you input the item being weighed when it is a liquid??

Yes. When liquids are measured in ounces, that is a measurement of VOLUME, not weight. That's why you see it always called "fluid ounces"--it's not a weight measurement.

As the two liquids are different densities, they will have different weight at the same volume. Similar to the idea when comparing the same volumes of muscle and fat, muscle weighs more than fat.

tmauck4472

I am going to assume that when the box says 1 cup it means 1 measuring cup NOT 8 oz.

If it meant 8 oz it would say 8 oz.

126siany

I am going to assume that when the box says 1 cup it means 1 measuring cup NOT 8 oz.

If it meant 8 oz it would say 8 oz.

Right next to the 1 Cup, the number of grams will also be listed. I go by the grams.

cristeberga

I just bought a food scale tonight. Oh boy, have I miscalculated the amount of cheese I have been eating. I have probably been eating 3 to 4 ounces as opposed to 1 or 2 I have "guessed"......ARGH!!!

newmooon56

this thread made me open a new window and go to amazon and buy a new scale. Been fumbling with a lame one so far- and using cups... I knew Id admit what I was doing was bunk eventually...

Thanks OP!

supremewoo

We use our kitchen scale for everything we eat! It's so easy to measure food, way easier and accurate than using measuring cups! Now if i just had a small portable scale that would fit in my purse...

Avon sells one for about $20 that is the size of a small tile and is very thin. You could definately keep one in your purse

Robin_Bin

I am going to assume that when the box says 1 cup it means 1 measuring cup NOT 8 oz.

If it meant 8 oz it would say 8 oz.

Right next to the 1 Cup, the number of grams will also be listed. I go by the grams.

Every once in awhile I check it against the number of portions. For instance if a pint of ice cream has a serving size of 1/2 cup, you get 4 servings. If one is over, another will be under. If the box of cereal has 12 servings of 1 cup, measure out 12 cups and see how it works out. (This is much easier if you're not sharing food with a household, but there are advantages to measuring out servings in advance when you're getting used to new serving sizes and portion control.) For instance in the example, you can put each serving of cereal into a sandwich bag and have 12 servings ready.

And yes, while most liquids will weigh about the same amount -- especially clear, water based liquids -- some like dense soups won't. And I don't think water and oil weight the same per volume. ??

DonaA123

bump