[Illustration: Fig. 7]

25. SCALES.--In Fig. 7 is shown the type of scales generally included in
the kitchen equipment. The material to be weighed is placed on the
platform at the top, and the weight of it is indicated on the dial by a
pointer, or hand. Sometimes these scales are provided with a scoop in
which loose materials may be placed in weighing. Such scales furnish a
correct means not only of measuring materials, but of verifying the
weights of foods from the market, the butcher shop, or the grocery. To
use them properly, the housewife should learn to balance them exactly,
and when she is weighing articles she should always allow for the weight
of the container or receptacle, even if it is only the paper that
holds the food.

[Illustration: Fig. 8]

26. MEASURING CUPS.--Weighing the articles called for in a recipe is
often a less convenient method than measuring; therefore, in the
preparation of foods, measuring is more often resorted to than weighing.
As accuracy in measurement is productive of the best results, it is
necessary that all measures be as accurate and definite as possible. For
measuring the ingredients called for in recipes, use is generally made
of a measuring cup like that shown in Fig. 8. Such a cup is designed to
hold 2 gills, or 1/2 pint, and it is marked to indicate thirds and
quarters, so that it may be used for recipes of all kinds. If a liquid
is to be measured with such a cup, it should be filled to the brim, but
if dry material is to be measured with it, the material should be heaped
up in the cup with a spoon and then scraped level with a knife, in the
manner shown in Fig. 9. In case fractions or parts of a cup are to be
measured, the cup should be placed level and stationary and then filled