Trading recipes is a lot of fun. In fact, the number one complaint of home cooks is that they followed a recipe, but it didn't turn out. The number one reason this happens is that although they used the same number of cups of each ingredient as the recipe author, they actually used a very different amount.



Yeast is a good example. Getting the amount of yeast wrong a little can affect the rising time, which is annoying, but not the end of the world. Getting yeast significantly wrong in either direction makes a mess.

Salt is another example. Kosher salt takes up twice the volume of regular salt, and so it's easy to put in double, or half the amount needed if you use the wrong kind. And what about cutting or chopping? "One cup chopped onions" isn't really a whole lot more informative than "one medium onion, chopped." How finely chopped? How tightly packed? "200g of chopped onion," is a much more reliable description.

What if you don't regularly cook with parsnips and a recipe calls for "three medium or two large parsnips"? At the grocery you see parsnips, all about the same size. Are they are small, medium, or large? Unfamiliarity with the ingredient isn't a problem with flour--every cook has used flour, but the amount of flour in a cup can vary as much as 25% depending on how it is packed. Sifting before or after measuring can make the difference even greater. How carefully is the flour is leveled in the cup? Even the brand of flour can make a difference.

All of these problems are a result of calling out ingredients by volume instead of by weight. Using a

kitchen scale to determine the amount of ingredients is a far more accurate method of following a recipe,

and weighing is usually easier and less messy than scooping and leveling ingredients.

Digital scales are the newest form of kitchen scales. A good digital scale provides easy to read measurements with high precision, and as with all things digital, digital scale prices continue to fall: entry-level models are selling for as low as $30. Digital scales work based on an electrical component called a . The resistance of the load cell changes based upon the compression or change in shape of the component, and a simple computer in the digital scale calculates the weight of a load by the change in resistance. Better digital scales update their readings almost instantaneously. This means, if you're pouring sugar into a bowl, the scale will provide real time feedback so you don't pour too much.

Obviously, using weight instead of volumes (which can be a bit vague) in your recipes is the way to solve the frustration cooks have with recipes. But, in the US, recipe books are almost always in terms of volume. So, if you want to share a recipe, and be sure that the results your friend gets matches yours, give it to her with ingredients specified by weight. Here's how to do that:

First gather each of the ingredients, leaving them in their storage containers. Before you start cooking, weigh each container. Don't worry about weighing the empty container first; just weigh the whole container and its contents and record the weights. Next actually cook your dish--it's important to verify the results, right? Once you have finished cooking weigh each of the ingredient storage containers again (the weights should be less, since you used some up). Now, subtract the after-cooking weight of each container from the before-cooking weight to determine how much of the ingredient you used. For example, suppose that before you started your flour storage container weighed 5lbs 2oz (=82oz) and afterwards it weighed 3lbs 14oz (=62oz). This means that you used 20oz, or 1 lb 4 oz of flour.

What if the recipient of your recipe doesn't have a kitchen scale? Just explain that having a kitchen scale will solve almost all of the frustrations in her life. Loan her yours for a couple of days, and she'll be a kitchen scale convert.