Useful Tips for Kitchen & Such: The Power of Tare

For folks who are particular about achieving consistent results in baking, there are two tools that are considered must-have. One, an oven thermometer and two, a digital weighing scale. Today, I’m going to share about the latter.

If you cook and bake, you would know that cooking is more forgiving as ingredients need not be precisely measured. As far as recipes for baked goods (and certain desserts) are concerned, precise measurements for ingredients is a must. Otherwise one should be prepared for disappointment.

Mass is a better unit of measurement as compared to volume. Hence, a weighing scale comes into the picture. Between an analogue and digital weighing scale, the latter provides greater control in the outcome of baked goods.

A standard digital weighing scale comes with a ‘tare’ button. This is a wonderful button that deletes away additional steps in baking and washing later. I simply love this button. :P By pressing ‘tare’, you zero out the mass of any item placed on the scale. Take the making of agar agar as an example. Place a pot on the weighing balance, press ‘tare’ to zero out the mass of the pot, add agar agar powder until the scale reads out the desired mass, press ‘tare’ again to reset to zero, add sugar until the scale reads out the desired mass, press ‘tare’ again la la la, add water until the scale reads out the desired mass. Then bring the whole pot with its contents to the stove to start cooking. Cool huh :)

By the way, 1 ml of water = 1 g of water :) … so no need to use the measuring cup too! Hee hee.

There, 100 g of creamer measured.