How can a kitchen scale measure volume in mL or fluid oz?

[kenny]

Help me out here.
I don't get this.
It's blowing my pea-brain to smithereens.

Scales measures weight, not volume.
Various fluids have different volume/weight.
So, how can any scale measure mL, which is volume, not weight?

Amazon.com: Digital Kitchen/Food Scale Grams and Ounces - Ultra Slim/Multifunction/Tare Function Kitchen Weight Scales for Cooking & Baking - 22lb/10kg Capacity, 0.04oz/1g(Batteries Included): Kitchen & Dining

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[Musia]

Help me out here.
I don't get this.
It's blowing my pea-brain to smithereens.

Scales measures weight, not volume.
Various fluids have different volume/weight.
So, how can any scale measure mL, which is volume, not weight?

Amazon.com: Digital Kitchen/Food Scale Grams and Ounces - Ultra Slim/Multifunction/Tare Function Kitchen Weight Scales for Cooking & Baking - 22lb/10kg Capacity, 0.04oz/1g(Batteries Included): Kitchen & Dining

Online Shopping for Kitchen Utensils & Gadgets from a great selection at everyday low prices. Free 2-day Shipping with Amazon Prime.

www.amazon.com

Maybe it is for measuring DRY oz, which is 28.3495 grams?

 

[Musia]

Fluid oz is 29.5735 ml

 

[kenny]

Unfortunately the stoopid English/American system uses ounces for BOTH volume and weight.

But the smarter/simpler/base-10 metric system doesn't ... and mL is ONLY a volume unit.

President Carter tried to pull American's heads out of our American @sses, but we refused to change to the superior system.

So, how can a weight scale measure volume in mL?

 

[Musia]

So, how can a weight scale measure volume in mL

If you need to measure liquid, you use cup, tbsp, tsp. If you measure dry something, use a scale. My question is who needs to measure something dry like sugar or flour in oz, not grams. People use scales when they are trying to follow recipes. One needs to follow the recipe exactly only for baking. Chefs recommend using grams for baking, not cups. For example, take Xgms of flour, not Ycups of flour.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Unfortunately the stoopid English/American system uses ounces for BOTH volume and weight.

But the smarter/simpler/base-10 metric system doesn't ... and mL is ONLY a volume unit.

President Carter tried to pull American's heads out of our American @sses, but we refused to change to the superior system.

So, how can a weight scale measure volume in mL?

I must say Kenny, i am very impressed you see the advantages of the metric system
we have been metric here since before i was born
President Carter was definatly onto something
Im just happy my pryex has both

 

[kenny]

If you need to measure liquid, you use cup, tbsp, tsp. If you measure dry something, use a scale. My question is who needs to measure something dry like sugar or flour in oz, not grams. People use scales when they are trying to follow recipes. One needs to follow the recipe exactly only for baking. Chefs recommend using grams for baking, not cups. For example, take Xgms of flour, not Ycups of flour.

Yes.
So my question remains ... why would/how can a kitchen scale (which AFAIK can only measure weight) have a setting for mL, which is a unit of volume, not weight?

The scale I posted a link to above is not the only one to do this.
Many do now.
What am I missing?

 

[kenny]

I must say Kenny, i am very impressed you see the advantages of the metric system
we have been metric here since before i was born
President Carter was definatly onto something
Im just happy my pryex has both

There are a few Muruhkans who think well.

 

[Musia]

I don't see ml being mentioned, only oz or grams for dry products.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Yes.
So my question remains ... why would/how can a kitchen scale (which AFAIK can only measure weight) have a setting for mL, which is a unit of volume, not weight?

It makes no sence because different ingredients would weigh different amounts anyway
Sounds like something either got lost in translation or its a bit of a have

i have i suspect somewhat inaccurate old fashoned kitchen scales so i have been known too google how many cups is 160g of flour
What on earth did we do without google
Id never be able to make Amsrican recepies that use butter - because who knows what a stick of butter is in metric ?

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

There are a few Muruhkans who think well.

Usually i get the ..
How many metric countries have been to the moon ?

 

[kenny]

I don't see ml being mentioned, only oz or grams for dry products.

Wet or dry a scale is about how much something weighs.
For example, a liter of oil weighs more than a liter of feathers.

What I'm talking about is here in this screen-capture ...

 

[Musia]

Sorry, I see ml but I think it is a mistake in description.

 

[Musia]

Don't buy!

 

[Musia]

Or buy and measure only dry goods. Crazy, who needs scales for weighing frozen berries? As seen on the picture.

 

[FL_Sol]

I am wondering if it is just to inform you of how much a certain ingredient in ml weighs? So, if the recipe calls for ml but you want to know how much it weighs for some reason, you can?! That is the only reason I can think of for this feature.

 

[Karl_K]

Conversion
Given this diagram and the closeness of the density of the common cooking milk based liquids you clould get close enough using one conversion number except for heavy cream and water.

 

[SandyinAnaheim]

...For example, a liter of oil weighs more than a liter of feathers....

No, a liter of oil weighs the same as a liter of feathers. What is different is the volume. I am vegan and as such make a lot of my own food. I have learned that as it relates to water only, ml and grams is the same. It's not the same for other more viscous liquids though.

 

[Karl_K]

oils:
Veggie: 1 kg oil = (1/0.9) litre = 1.1 litre
olive oil 1.095652 litres per Kg
Amount : 1 kg (kilogram) of canola oil
Equals : 1.08 L (litre) of canola oil
Amount : 1 L (litre) of peanut oil
Equals : 0.94 kg (kilogram) of peanuts oil

In not going to do the rest but I think you cauld get close enough for a cooking use with one or 2 conversion numbers, grams to ml.

 

[kenny]

No, a liter of oil weighs the same as a liter of feathers. What is different is the volume.

Sorry ... Wrong.

Both are one liter, but liter is a unit of volume, not weight.

Proof:
Get two 1-liter measuring cups.
Fill one with oil.
Fill the other with feathers.
Weigh both.

I rest my case.
See, sig line.

Sorry to come across as an A-hole, but let's call a spade a spade.
I'd say we've just demonstrated why Carter failed to convert Muruhka from a inferior system to a superior one.

 

[Karl_K]

What is interesting some websites said that the best chefs measure liquids in grams and you should do the same.
A ml will vary by temperature and if any air bubbles are present but a gram is a gram no matter the temperature.

2 sites:

Real Bakers Use Grams - The Martha's Vineyard Times

Several months ago, I submitted a recipe for a simple pasta dough to an editor at The MV Times (and one of the editors of this formidable magazine). Without thinking, I submitted the recipe using grams as the unit of measure. As a chef, this is standard practice, and I am regularly interpreting...

www.mvtimes.com

https://myfrenchchef.com/conversion-chart/

 

[dk168]

I have a scale that can measure liquid in volume, and I believe it makes the assumption that 1ml = 1g, which is fine for the likes of water and milk that have similar specific gravity (SG).

I am guessing the manufacturers of such scales have done some kind of research and decided water and milk are the most common liquids used in recipes that can be measured using weight with a very good degree of certainty that the volumes would be the same in weights.

I won't use mine for measuring volume except for water and milk due to differences in SG commented above.

DK

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

What is interesting some websites said that the best chefs measure liquids in grams and you should do the same.
A ml will vary by temperature and if any air bubbles are present but a gram is a gram no matter the temperature.

Yes, because the recipe has been written knowing which liquid is used. So it's more accurate by weight.

Same goes for eggs.
An egg varies from smallish eggs 35 grams to large 75 grams. Even large eggs in my boxes vary up to 20 grams. Can't make macaroons with that kind of variation.

The kitchen scale gadget for ml is pretty useless. I guess (really just guessing) that for home use they think of water only. But then grams equal ml anyway.

Hence a marketing thing.

Mine have always had it as well.
Just don't use the option if you need extremely precise quantities of anything else than water.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

I have a scale that can measure liquid in volume, and I believe it makes the assumption that 1ml = 1g, which is fine for the likes of water and milk that have similar specific gravity (SG).

I am guessing the manufacturers of such scales have done some kind of research and decided water and milk are the most common liquids used in recipes that can be measured using weight with a very good degree of certainty that the volumes would be the same in weights.

I won't use mine for measuring volume except for water and milk due to differences in SG commented above.

DK

This!!!!

Although I do use my scales to measure cream and coconut milk when I'm too lazy to dirty the liquid measuring cup. It's close enough and if it's not a finicky recipe it works just fine.

 

[dk168]

This!!!!

Although I do use my scales to measure cream and coconut milk when I'm too lazy to dirty the liquid measuring cup. It's close enough and if it's not a finicky recipe it works just fine.

I usually rough guess with cream and coconut milk as they usually come in smaller pack size.

I am pretty good at guessing weight and volume, having studied a domestic science degree, as my snooty elder sister would describe Pharmacy!

DK

 

[Tartansparkles]

Just for curiosity. I placed the empty jug on the scale and poured in water until the scale read 99g (the scale kept flicking between 99-100g). The 99g of water reached the 100ml mark on the jug. When I used the same jug/quantity of water, the water registered as 100ml on the scale.




I use the feature for making smoothiest and adding different quantities of fruit/milk into the same container. Or when being very lazy with baking and adding everything directly into the same big bowl.

 

[Garnetgirl]

It’s impossible for scale that is designed to measure weight, to measure volume as well.

The assumption that’s made is that 1g=1ml. That’s true for water, which has a density close to 1g/ml.

But it won’t be true for many other ingredients, as @kenny pointed out.

If one wants to measure weight, use a scale. If the recipe is in volume (most often in North America, but not necessarily in Europe) use a measuring cup. This applies whether using metric or Imperial measurement.

But as other posters have said, the scale will be close enough for some other liquids whose densities are similar to water.

Recipes don’t require the same accuracy as scientific measurement in a lab, where these assumptions wouldn’t hold true.

 

[SandyinAnaheim]

Sorry ... Wrong.

Both are one liter, but liter is a unit of volume, not weight.

Proof:
Get two 1-liter measuring cups.
Fill one with oil.
Fill the other with feathers.
Weigh both.

I rest my case.
See, sig line.

Sorry to come across as an A-hole, but let's call a spade a spade.
I'd say we've just demonstrated why Carter failed to convert Muruhka from a inferior system to a superior one.

I read and wrote liter, but was thinking kilo. Sorry for not "thinking well". Your snark is unwarranted, but you can still stick it up your favorite hidey-hole, pointy side up.

 

[kenny]

... But as other posters have said, the scale will be close enough for some other liquids whose densities are similar to water.

Recipes don’t require the same accuracy as scientific measurement in a lab, where these assumptions wouldn’t hold true.

Excuse me, but accuracy matters to some cooks.
Expecting a measuring device to be accurate has been replaced by settling for and accepting "close enough".
And we're expected to memorize that chart of various densities Karl posted?
What about things not on the chart?
And someone is going to use these scales to weigh the volume of flour , then wonder why the recipe failed.
This whole idea is just absurd, and insulting.

IMO, close enough is not good enough when purchasing a device designed to measure someting!
Since it is not accurate for the volume of everything (every liquid and every solid from lead to feathers) don't put a volume button on a weight scale!
What a capitulation to ignorance, sloppiness, and laziness!

The dumbing down continues.

Today I'll look for, and order, a scale that doesn't have a button that lies.

 

[prs]

FWIW an English, or Imperial, gallon of water weighs exactly ten pounds. That made school boy exam questions a lot easier!

I don't understand why the Americans screwed that one up so a US gallon weighs 8.345 pounds.