The tare button is the whole technique
Bowl on the scale, tare, first ingredient, tare, second ingredient. One bowl, one scale, no arithmetic and no second container. It is the single most useful button in baking and it is on every scale worth owning.
Units, and the cup you stop washing
A scale that reads milliliters or fluid ounces lets a recipe’s liquid be poured straight in. The KitchenAid glass scale sets the unit and tares with one rotating knob; the Amazon Basics lists five units for $11.14.
The display problem
On most scales the display sits under the platform, and a mixing bowl wider than the platform covers it. Three ways around it:
- a display that pulls away from the base — the OXO Good Grips 5 lb at $37.95 and the 11 lb OXO both have one;
- a display that extends past the platform — the Greater Goods at $24.99;
- a large flat glass surface that a wide bowl sits on rather than over.
When 11 pounds is not enough
Most kitchen scales stop at 11 lb (5 kg). A double batch of bread dough in a stand mixer bowl, or a stock pot, goes past it. If you weigh into the mixer bowl itself, remember that the bowl itself counts against the maximum — tare hides its weight, it does not remove it. The Greater Goods and the Etekcity USB-C reach 22 lb, and the GGQ 33 lb. The full comparison is on the kitchen scales page.
What we would not do
Buy a scale for bread on its maximum alone. Check the bottom of the range as well: the GGQ starts reading at 3 g and the Etekcity USB-C at 2 g, so a pinch of yeast below that does not register at all.
Prices quoted in this text were read on 2026-10-18. The live price is at the top of the page.
What readers want to know
Why weigh liquid instead of measuring it?
Because a scale that reads milliliters or fluid ounces converts for you, and a measuring cup is another thing to wash. The KitchenAid glass scale at $23.99 reads up to 5,000 ml in 1 ml steps, and the Amazon Basics scale at $11.14 lists fl oz and ml. The conversion assumes water: right for milk and stock, a little off for oil or honey.
Is one-gram graduation enough?
For flour, sugar and liquids, comfortably. Where it matters is yeast and salt in bread, where a gram either way changes the loaf. Most scales on this site publish 1 g steps; the OXO Good Grips 5 lb also gives one-eighth of an ounce. For a few grams of yeast, a pocket scale reading 0.1 g is the honest tool.
Grams or cups?
Grams, for anything that packs. A cup of flour can weigh anywhere from about 4 to 5½ ounces depending on how it is scooped, which is the most common reason a recipe that worked once fails the second time. Weighing removes the scoop from the equation — and with tare, the cup from the sink.
Last reviewed 18 October 2026