A Scale is Worth a Thousand Words

We bought this scale while out shopping yesterday. It was a nifty 9.95$ at Marshalls. We also bought a digital thermometer, also by Polder, for 14.95$. It is the type with a probe on a metal lead meant to be used in the oven.

Scales are quite important when cooking with dry food stuffs due to altitudes and humidity. Don't ask for the science behind it, I'm not particularly sure. I was like you, I didn't mind so much if my dry goods were off a little, to measure by volume was fine, I just wanted to eat dinner; however I've found that many cookbooks give only weight measurements for dry.

Thermometers are very important as well. Some people like to cook food until they are absolutely positive it is done, yet this method usually leads to over cooking. It is true that with lots of meats you can tell its doneness simply by pressing on it. I feel it is best to develop a point of reference based upon rigorous temperature readings. Also it is much harder to determine doneness through feel alone with large cuts of meat cooked in the oven, hence my thermometer. This handy tool also has neat features like an alarm once the present temperature has been reached.