How to Use a Digital Weight Scale

digital kitchen scale
  • 1 hours
  • Beginner
What You'll Need
A digital weight scale of your choice
Ingredients you want to measure
Calibration weight or test weight (this comes with your scales)
What You'll Need
A digital weight scale of your choice
Ingredients you want to measure
Calibration weight or test weight (this comes with your scales)

There are digital weight scales for every use, ranging from the bathroom scales to record your weight fluctuations, to scales for weighing food, jewelry, floors, babies, and birds, but they all have one thing in common: they are precision machines which give accurate readings you can rely on.

There are many types on the market, but you can’t go wrong in your recipes if you look for the following features when buying your kitchen scales: a large display, U.S. and metric units, able to measure volume e.g. measuring half a tablespoon, a tare feature, seamless buttons, a removable bowl, and a good capacity. Having this type of scale in your kitchen leaves no guesswork.

Step 1 - Switch On Your Weight Digital Scale

Bring out your digital weight scale and make sure your place it on a flat, level surface in order to obtain accurate readings as much as possible. Switch it on and press the "On/Tare/Off" key. The 'Tare' function is specifically designed to deduct the weight of your bowl when in use and will produce accurate weight readings for just the ingredients, eliminating the bowl's weight.

Step 2 - Choose Your Measurement Preference

Depending on your reading preference, press the 'oz / g' button to set the unit of measurement in the case of kitchen scales or 'pound / kg' for the bathroom digital scale. This will determine whether the reading will be displayed in the U.S. customary units or not.

Step 3 - Wait for the Reading

bathroom scale

At this point, you are ready to measure your ingredients. Place the ingredients you want to measure on the platform or bowl and wait for the display weight reading. For accurate readings, make sure not to have any of the ingredients on just one edge of the scale, threatening to topple over or to take the reading immediately after placing the ingredients on your scale. You should allow a few seconds for the digital scale to produce an accurate reading.

In the case of using a bathroom digital weight scale, step up carefully on your scales and wait for a few seconds, keeping as still and steady as possible, and take your weight reading. Always measure yourself at the same time of day, wearing the same clothes and keep in mind that there are many factors that influence readings e.g. during menstrual days temporary loss and gain can occur. Large meals can cause water retention, and dehydration can be caused by heavy exercise or after an illness.

Step 3 - Calibration

From time to time, you may find the need to calibrate your digital weight scale. There is no need to do this often since all digital weight scales are accurately calibrated once they are dispatched from the manufacturer, but by frequent usage or if exposed to rough handling, you may need to calibrate your digital scale.

Find the calibration button and press and hold it until the display changes to "000". Continue holding the button until the scales goes into calibration mode, which is indicated when the screen will read "CAL", followed immediately by a number.

Step 4 - Calibration Weights

Place the calibration weight onto the scales and allow the weight to rest on the scales for about five seconds.

Step 5 - Press The Calibration Button

digital scale

Press and hold the calibration button and your screen will change to "CAL" or "END"

Step 6 - Restart Your Digital Weight Scale

Most modern digital scales will automatically reset and restart after calibration has been completed, but if this is not the case in your digital weight scale just turn your scales off, let it rest for about 30 seconds and turn it back on.

Always handle your digital weight scale with care and make it a point to use it properly without overloading it with extreme weights, in order to guarantee its functionality and accuracy.