Why Professional Bakers Always Choose Scales Over Cups for Measuring Ingredients

Amateur bakers in the U.S. hoping to make authentic British scones might find themselves puzzled when they open a British cookbook or follow a recipe from a U.K. site like the BBC. This is because British recipes often provide ingredient measurements in weights such as grams or ounces, rather than using cups, which is common in America.

It's not just the British who prefer to weigh their ingredients. Professional bakers across the U.S. also rely on this method. Weighing ingredients is not only more precise, but it also minimizes mess.

"Once you master scaling ingredients, batter, and dough, you won't ever want to return to the volume measuring method," says Sharon Davis, program development director for the Home Baking Association, in an email interview. "One bowl, no cups to wash, precise results... it's fantastic."

So, why are weights better than volume measurements? One reason is that a scale gives you accurate results, whereas the typical measuring cup can be misleading. In fact, many commonly used measuring cups don't meet test-kitchen standards, according to Davis. Plus, many people don't measure correctly when using cups.

She provides an example of a home cook measuring 3 cups of flour, one cup at a time. "You either pack it in or dip into the bag and level it off," she explains. "Each cup you measured could be off by 2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup because of improper measuring, or using a liquid cup for dry ingredients, or because you used non-standard measuring tools. As a result, you might end up adding 3/4 cup too much (or too little) flour to a bread, cake, or muffin recipe." The outcome? "The batter or dough could end up too fluid, sticky, or dry. You might get dense loaves or deflated cupcakes."

So why do Americans still rely on cups? According to Davis, it's because that's how they're taught; measuring by volume feels more intuitive (especially since people originally baked by "feel" and scooped ingredients), and scales are still relatively uncommon in U.S. kitchens.

But using a scale (which you can find for as low as $15, with some models priced around $35) is quite simple. Just turn it on, place the bowl on it, and press "tare" to reset the scale to zero so the weight of the bowl isn't included. Choose your measurement units (grams, ounces, etc.) and add the ingredient until you reach the desired weight. This brief Home Baking Association video demonstrates how it's done and explains why cups can give inconsistent measurements.

Not ready to switch to scales just yet? Davis recommends investing in both standardized dry and liquid measuring cups, instead of relying on a single glass cup for all your measurements.