Whether you’re a new cook or an experienced professional, the right measuring tools can make or break a dish.
If you’ve ever rolled out a pie crust with a wine bottle because that’s what you had, you know that there are specific tools that are critical to certain situations.
Dry Measuring Cups
Dry measuring cups can be purchased in silicon, plastic, or stainless steel. When you fill a dry measuring cup with flour or cornmeal, you can smooth the top with a straight edge and be certain it is correct.
For cooks who like to use their measuring cups as a scoop as well as a measuring device, look for a heavy-duty stainless set with handles that don’t flex.
Once handles have been bent, they’re never as sturdy as before.
Liquid Measuring Cups
Liquid measuring cups are generally clear or frosted and made of glass or plastic. While a dry measuring cup is accurate when leveled at the top, a liquid measuring cup gives you a bit of grace.
It also has a spout for easy pouring.
Plastic measuring cups are generally not a good investment; they tend to become more opaque over time and don’t respond well to being left too close to a hot cooking surface.
It may be best to start your kitchen inventory with a 2-cup glass measuring cup and you can move up from there.
Check out: Measuring gifts for cooking/kitchen
Adjustable Measuring Cups
Adjustable measuring cups are among those “I hardly use this but when I need it I love it,” sort of tools.
They are built as a marked sleeve around a plunger. Move the plunger down and set the proper measurement for your ingredient, then fill the void.
To get the ingredient out, depress the plunger. These tools are ideal for sticky stuff, such as
- peanut butter
- shortening
- molasses
- honey and corn syrup
If it’s going to be a sticky mess to get out of a standard measuring cup, use the adjustable. Take care; when the measuring sleeve is extended and it’s full of something sticky, it will be top-heavy.
- 【Adjustable Integrated Design】: The Adjustable measuring cups set combines tsp/tbsp, ml, ounce, cup, which can meet all your needs in the kitchen. The measuring range is 5ml-130ml, 0.25oz-4oz, 1/8 cup – 1/2 cup.Meet all your needs on cooking and baking.
- 【Premium Food Grade Material】: The measuring spoons are made of high-quality food-grade materials, BPA free, which is durable, does not need to worry about rusting or bending, looks beautiful.which is safe to use for both dry and wet ingredients.such as spices easily, sugar, salt, oil, coffee, etc
- 【Space Save】: With a hanging hole at the back and a solid magnet on the bottom, the measuring spoons set can be hung on any hook, or placed on any metal surface such as refrigerator to save kitchen space.
- 【Complete and Marked Set】Each measuring cup and spoon is clearly marked with a volume and mL measurements on the handles for fast recognition and preciseness.
- 【Dishwasher Safe】The measuring set has no sharp & rough edges around the rim which guarantee your hands safety during hand wash. It is also dishwasher safe.
Measuring Spoons
Measuring spoons can be found in plastic and in stainless steel. Spend the money and get a stainless steel set with a connecting ring to keep all 4 spoons together.
Once they’re split apart they have a tendency to end up in the garbage disposal and they are fussy to fish out.
- Complete, Accurate Set To Help You Get Healthy, Measure Medicine And More – Precise quantity of ingredients is what you need to get great results with cooking and baking. You can also make tasty recipes to help you lose weight with these amazing spoons. 6 Convenient Sizes: 1/8 tsp, 1/4 tsp, 1/2 tsp, 3/4 tsp, 1 tsp, 1 Tbsp. You’ll be thrilled with its wide, long handle that is comfortable to hold and its ergonomic design that is easy to fill and level.
- Treat Yourself To A Set Worth Having – With single metal construction and heavy duty premium Stainless Steel, these measuring spoons were built with endurance in mind. No more worrying about rusting or bending. Get this set that looks beautiful, performs incredibly and will seemingly last forever.
- You Deserve The Best – These spoons have engraved U.S. and metric measurement markings that are easy to read and won’t fade or rub off like plastic. They nest together for compact storage and come with a convenient ring that opens and closes to let you use one spoon at a time and then keep them all together when you’re done. You’ll wonder how you ever lived without them.
- Save Time And Hassle With Your New Favorite Tool – The rectangular design is narrow to fit into most spice jars. You won’t need to shake spices onto the spoon so you will save more and waste less of your expensive spices. Save precious time too since they are dishwasher safe.
- Perfect For Life – We stand behind our products and want to ensure that you love them just as much as we do. If you ever have any issues or problems with them, contact us and we’ll be happy to assist you. You have nothing to worry about and you’ll be glad you got these.
Salad Dressing Shakers/Plungers
A salad dressing shaker with a plunger looks a bit like a French press. They’re generally made of plastic.
On the outside, you should see markings for vinegar, oil, and other ingredients; many of these tools come with recipes printed on the side.
Once the ingredients are in the cup, plunge it up and down to mix the dressing. Shake at your own risk; some of these can be hard to seal up.
Do take care to wash the exterior cup by hand. They may say that they are dishwasher safe, but if they are scored or etched in the dishwasher they’re hard to read and difficult to see into as you add ingredients.
Washing them by hand will keep the plastic cup clear.
Check out more measuring tools in the Measuring Stuff shop!
Mixing and Food Processing Bowls
A selection of plastic mixing bowls will not cost a great deal. If you can nest them in the cabinet, they also don’t take up a lot of room.
If a recipe calls for dry ingredients to be pre-mixed before they’re added to egg and oil, multiple mixing bowls are pretty handy.
Not all food processing bowls come with measurements on the side, but if you can, get one.
Chopping up bulky vegetables into a measurable amount of small chunks will be much easier if you can rely on the markings on the side of the bowl.
Platform Scales
A platform scale is a digital tool that you can use for many dry ingredients, particularly flour that needs to be sifted. Set the empty measuring cup on the scale and zero it out.
Next, add dry ingredients to the cup until you reach the right weight. If you’re baking something that calls for sifted flour, measuring it after sifting can be confusing.
By using the weight, you can get a more accurate amount.
- 【EASY OF USE】 The digital food scale with built-in four high-precision load sensors, accurate 0.1oz/1g increments, 0.1oz to 22 lbs (2g/3g to 10kg) measurement range, high sensitive touch switch units to easily access and display measurements within a second.
- 【MULTIFUNCTION SCALE】 9″x6.3″ platform and Large lcd display for easy readout in g, kg, lb: oz, ml and fl.oz. This digital weight scale is for better cooking, baking, tracking intake, weight loss and postage.
- 【PRACTICAL DESIGN】 The food scale equipped with tempered glass panel for strong bearing and durability, water-resistant and sleek surface for easy cleanup, easily wipe off or rinse any spills and food residue.
- 【EASY TARE】 Convenient tare button for tare calculation allows you to subtract the weight of plate or container, making it easy to achieve accurate readouts of ingredients.
- 【GREAT SUPPORT】 2 AAA batteries included. You may receive food scale with Nicewell logo or non-logo one, both will not affect the function of the scale, both are from Nicewell. For any issues, please reach to us, we stand behind our kitchen scale.
Hanging Scales
Hanging scales work well for larger items. You’ve probably seen these at grocery stores in the produce section.
A small digital scale is handy, but it’s hard to read when you set a roasting pan full of raw wild turkey on it.
Admittedly, not all of us are handling wild game on a regular basis.
However, these scales can also come in handy when you come home from picking apples or peaches at a local orchard or bring in the carrots from your own garden.
Spaghetti Gauge
A spaghetti gauge is a simple, nifty tool that lets you choose how much spaghetti to cook by the population at the dinner table. Just fill up the hole that corresponds to the number of people dining with you.
Candy Thermometers
Candy thermometers are highly specific but incredibly useful. If you’ve ever had to junk a saucepan because the syrup for your caramel popcorn stayed on the burner a bit too long, you know what a mess and a stink burned sugar can cause.
To avoid this, get a candy thermometer. Practice handling it around a pan of hot water on the stovetop to get a feel for the weight and the grip.
Many homemade candies, such as divinity, are incredibly sticky in liquid form and can be dangerous for a beginner.
Meat Thermometers
A meat thermometer is a thermometer that is attached to the end of a probe. To check the center of a large piece of meat, you poke the probe into the flesh.
You can use them while grilling and baking meat in the oven.
Do make sure that you read all the instructions before using. Leaving them in meat on the grill with the lid shut can damage them and make their information useless.
- 【SO EASY TO USE】Works right out the box! KULUNER digital thermometer with foldable 4. 6″ Food grade stainless steel probe and auto-on/off function, open the probe to turn on, fold the probe to turn off.EASY to use, storage and carry. With the included battery you can start using the thermometer right away. It’s the perfect solution for grilling, baking, deep frying, making candy, or uses it to test the temperature of your Liquid, beer, wine, tea, coffee, milk, soup, etc.
- 【SUPER FAST and ACCURATE】Takes a temperature in a little as 2-3 seconds, and is accurate to +/-1 degrees with a wide range of -58℉-572℉. No more waiting over a hot stove or grill for the temperature to settle. Find out the exact temperature of your food in a second! For maximum measurement accuracy a calibration function is provided. Perfect for indoor outdoor cooking, grilling, BBQ and so on.
- 【WATERPROOF & PRACTICALITY】Every gap in the thermometer has a waterproof treatment, IP67 rated waterproof, the KULUNER meat thermometer can be washed under running water without fear! With a strong ABS plastic body, it can withstand accidental drops or other impact accidents. With a waterproof and strong break resistant body, the KULUNER food thermometer is highly durable and resilient. Great for grilling outdoors.
- 【POWERFUL FUNCTIONALITY】Switch easily between ℃ and ℉, and the large and bright LCD display with backlight makes it very easy to read the temperature while cooking outdoors on sunny days or at night. Easy to calibrate, comes beautifully packaged in a premium foam lined box, making it an ideal present for any cooking or bbq enthusiast.Also includes 1 extra CR 2032 battery, bonus a meat temperature chart that allows you to effortlessly cook mouthwatering meals.
- 【Warranty】We stand by our products so you can make your purchase with confidence. Our products are rigorously tested and made with love because we believe that you deserve the best.
Oven Thermometers
An oven thermometer checks the temperature of your oven. Of course, if you set the temperature of your own, you shouldn’t need an oven thermometer.
However, if you’ve ever moved into an apartment and burned a batch of brownies, testing different areas of the oven with an oven thermometer can let you know where the hot spots are.