Grab a pad of paper and a pen. I’m going to share with you a super quick tip that will instantly make you a better baker. No lie. Are you ready?
A kitchen scale is a baker’s BFF.
I’m sure this isn’t the first time you’ve heard this piece of advice. In fact, during my first year of baking, I’ll bet I read this tip at least 20 times. But, I was convinced that I was a careful measurer. (Baloney.) And, it seemed like it would be too time-consuming. (It’s not.) Yet, my cakes were inconsistent.
I’d bake a cake, and it would be perfection. A few weeks later, I’d follow the same recipe to a “T”, but the texture would be a little off. Or the cake would be dry. Guess what happened when I started weighing my dry ingredients using a cheap, but accurate, scale? Problem solved.
Also, I used to divide the batter into my cake pans by simply “eyeballing” it. Big shocker here—my cakes never baked to the same size. Guess what happened when I started weighing my cake pans so they’d have the same amount of batter? Problem solved.
When my cheapo kitchen scale died, I started using (and still use) my old postage scale from when I owned a small business. Maybe someday I’ll pony up for a fancy kitchen scale, but in my humble opinion, you don’t need one. As long as it’s accurate, it will get the job done. Give it a try. If your kitchen scale is your new BFF, I’d love to hear from you!