What is the tare button on a kitchen scale for?

The tare button subtracts the weight of the container sitting on the scale from the display; after that, what you see on the screen is only what you added to the container. Its real gain is not in weighing a single ingredient but in being able to measure in sequence in the same bowl and to weigh a cooked dish together with its container.

What exactly does tare do?

The scale goes on measuring the total weight on its platform; tare only starts the display from the value at that moment. When you put the empty container on and press tare, the screen shows zero, but the scale is still measuring the container too.

That distinction explains two things in practice. If you change the container after taring, the reading is wrong, because the zero point was set for the old container. And when the scale switches itself off and on again, the tare is erased and the display returns to the real total. Neither is a fault.

Measuring in sequence in the same bowl

Gathering the dry ingredients of a recipe in a single bowl is the most useful thing tare does. Put the bowl on, tare, add the flour and weigh. Then tare again, add the sugar and weigh. The screen starts from zero for each ingredient; you read only the weight of that ingredient.

This method also cuts down the number of measuring jugs and spoons. Given how variable household measures are — the national dietary guideline found that the water glasses on the market range from 200-560 mL and bowls from 130-600 mL — working by weighing in a single bowl means both less washing-up and a more consistent measurement.

The same sequence is set up for the liquid ingredients of a recipe too. Instead of getting out a separate measuring jug for yogurt, oil or water, keeping the bowl in place and taring before each addition is both faster and does not disturb the order of the recipe.

Weighing cooked food in its dish

Put the plate on the scale empty and tare it; when you put the food on, only the weight of the food appears on the screen. There is no need to empty the serving dish each time or to guess its weight and subtract it.

The same method works with storage containers. If you use tare while putting leftovers into a container, you also know the amount that went into the refrigerator; that is clearer information than guessing by eye how many portions it is the next day. If you write the amount on the container, the information stays with you without opening it.

Where does tare mislead you?

A wide container overhanging the platform touches the feet of the scale or the counter and spoils the reading; the base of the container should stay within the platform. If you take something out of the container after taring, the screen shows a negative value; that is not a fault but a measure of how much was removed.

Then there is automatic switch-off. Most scales turn off if they are not touched for a while and forget your tare; in a long preparation this gets noticed right in the middle. Pressing tare again for each ingredient, or touching the scale in between, solves it. Starting with too heavy a container also uses up the scale's upper limit early; the container itself should be light.

You can use tare outside of preparation as well. When you wonder how much is left in a package, weighing the package and comparing it with the net amount printed on it gives a clearer answer than looking; and if the empty container has been tared, that calculation comes out in one step.

What can you do today?

On your next recipe, do not get out a measuring jug; work with a single bowl and the tare button. Use tare when you put the evening's leftovers into a storage container as well, and write the amount on the container. Watch once how long the scale takes to switch itself off; knowing that time prevents a lost tare from the start.