I stopped using a food scale for pasta after 12 years in the kitchen and my consistency got better
I used to weigh every portion of dried pasta on a scale like it was gospel, down to the gram, because that's what the old chef at a place I worked in Seattle taught me back in 2011. Then last month I watched a new hire just grab a handful and eyeball it against the pot size, and it hit me that his plates looked more even than mine. Here's the thing people get wrong: pasta swells differently depending on age, humidity, and brand, so a gram scale doesn't save you, it just makes you feel safe. A 100 gram pile of old dry linguine can cook up way lighter than the same weight of fresh stuff from a different box. What matters is the ratio to your sauce and the size of your pan, not the number on a screen. I've been cooking for a restaurant in Portland now for 4 years, and since I switched to eyeballing against the pot, my ticket times dropped and I get fewer complaints about skimpy bowls. So my question is, do any of you still break out a scale mid rush, or did you ditch it too and just learn to trust your hands?