About Digital Scales
Information related to using digital scales.
Flour Measurements
When baking it is always best to weigh your flour than using a cup measurement. Humidity is a big factor, weighing the flour provides the most accurate way to measure. I use a digital scale for all flour measurements when making bread.
All Purpose Flour
1 cup = 128 grams = 4.5 ounces
3/4 cup = 96 grams = 3.38 ounces
2/3 cup = 85 grams = 3 ounces
1/2 cup = 64 grams = 2.25 ounces
1/3 cup = 43 grams = 1.5 ounces
1/4 cup = 32 grams = 1.13 ounces
Bread Flour
1 cup = 136 grams = 4.8 ounces
3/4 cup = 102 grams = 3.6 ounces
2/3 cup = 90 grams = 3.2 ounces
1/2 cup = 68 grams = 2.4 ounces
1/3 cup = 45 grams = 1.6 ounces
1/4 cup = 34 grams = 1.2 ounces
Rye Flour
1 cup = 102 grams = 3.6 ounces
Basic Use
When I ordered an electric meat grinder, I also ordered a digital scale, after all, the goal was to grind meat so I needed to weigh it out. And I will say, this little device is a life saver!
The best feature of a digital scale over a conventional scale is the tare feature, which removes the weight of the bowl or plate you are using to hold the item being weighed. Very useful when weighing ground meat or flour. To use the tare feature, normally you would just turn on the scale, let it zero out, place say a plate on the scale and it will show that weight, then press the Tare button, and the weight is removed and goes back to zero, then you add what you are weighing and you have the accurate weight.
Ground meat is easy, I pack everything into 500 gram (1 lb) packs and freeze those. Very handy and convenient.
Now the perfect use for a scale, flour. I am a firm believer in weighing flour for breads and pastries, not using a measuring cup. And as I go through my recipes, I will change cup measurements to grams and will list the cup measurements as a note. Measuring flour with a cup does not take into consideration how the cup is packed or the humidity of the flour, weighing is the most accurate measurement, this is very true for bread and pastry formulas.