Food weighing trick

girlviernes

Hello my fellow food scalers - I'm sure lot of you have already figured this out, but it took me a couple of months for this method to dawn on me, so I thought I would post in case anyone else finds it helpful.

There are some foods that are challenging to weigh, for example, olive oil or butter that is going into a pan or hummus (which I prefer to eat right out of the package). So for these items, I "reverse weigh" them. I put the package on the food scale and press the tare so that it is at zero, and then remove however much I want to use. The scale will then show a negative number that is equal to the amount of butter, oil, etc. that you removed from the package. Alternatively, I weigh the package normally and jot down how much it weighs, and then re-weigh after I'm done, and take the difference (for example, if I'm snacking on hummus).

Any other tips to share?

ana3067

You can also just put your pan on the scale and weigh oil as you pour it in. I do this, or I'll put it into another bowl if I'm making pancakes so that I can remove my allotted amount. I don't generally eat things out of packages though since I log an amount that will work for my meal's caloric and macro needs and then I weigh and eat it.

I don't really have any other tips, its use just seems pretty intuitive overall haha.

Hearts_2015

cool idea, I'll have to remember this

I remember being so excited when I first figured out how to do a salad or something on a dinner plate and zero it out each time after I added something. Before that trick I was weighing everything individually... sharing tips on here is great for learning..

I learned to zero out the scale and add more way back when on here.

NoelFigart1

I do the plate on a scale thing, too, when plating up my meals. Works great.

girlviernes

Yep, I love the tare function!

ana- sometimes i do that as well with a small pan, but my bigger pots and pans are harder to see the scale reading and baking trays pretty much impossible. Also, I usually add the oil to a heated pan.

missiontofitness

I also had a cheat of my own before food scale ownership (and this could also work if it breaks or the batteries run out!)

At least for meats, I used to have my packages divided up by the butcher; the one at my local market was always happy to do this for me. I'd find a package of steak, for example, which may be about a pound to a pound and a half. I would get him to divide it into two separate packages, and he would print out a new weight sticker for me. Made guesstimating a lot easier for bigger packages, and my logs a lot more accurate if I my packages were divided into two serving sizes.

ana3067

girlviernes wrote: »

Yep, I love the tare function!

ana- sometimes i do that as well with a small pan, but my bigger pots and pans are harder to see the scale reading and baking trays pretty much impossible. Also, I usually add the oil to a heated pan.

i usually add the oil to a cool pan and then heat it up, or add oil to a separate bowl like I mentioned. but large pots/pans are one reason I really want the OXO pull-out display scale

countscalories

i usually add the oil to a cool pan and then heat it up, or add oil to a separate bowl like I mentioned. but large pots/pans are one reason I really want the OXO pull-out display scale

I bought the OXO pull-out display scale the day I joined MFP. It was one of the BEST things I have ever bought myself, including jewelry, cars, and my house. I have lost 99 pounds this year, and when I reach my 100 lb goal, I'm going to celebrate it with my scales-- both the OXO and my bathroom scale (which I affectionately refer to as "XOXO" because I love it).

The holidays are here: go get yourself a present! Bed, Bath, and Beyond for about $24.95. Awesome scale, and the pull-out feature works great. Good luck!

sheepotato

So I was regularly getting a measuring spoon and putting spreads or butter into it, then weighing it, scraping it out with a knife and putting it on a sandwich. Then someone posted 'just weigh the bread again after you've put the spread on.'

Such a novel concept, I felt so silly. I started doing that for salads too, I add in vegetables one at a time and hit the tare. Then at the end I pour on the dressing (or guacamole omm nomm) to my liking and just write down however much I'm having for the day. No more dry greens at the bottom.

The plate thing is a great idea, thanks for the tip! I usually try to make exactly 4 servings of things but I admit sometimes I just eyeball it to divide up the rice into 4th after it cooks.

heronh

The OXO kitchen scale is $50

ana3067

countscalories wrote: »

i usually add the oil to a cool pan and then heat it up, or add oil to a separate bowl like I mentioned. but large pots/pans are one reason I really want the OXO pull-out display scale

I bought the OXO pull-out display scale the day I joined MFP. It was one of the BEST things I have ever bought myself, including jewelry, cars, and my house. I have lost 99 pounds this year, and when I reach my 100 lb goal, I'm going to celebrate it with my scales-- both the OXO and my bathroom scale (which I affectionately refer to as "XOXO" because I love it).

The holidays are here: go get yourself a present! Bed, Bath, and Beyond for about $24.95. Awesome scale, and the pull-out feature works great. Good luck!

It's pricier here in Canada though. I don't even know if BBB sells it locally, I don't recall seeing it

girlviernes

I'll have to put the OXO on my wishlist! I use the EatSmart precision scale. I actually bought a second one to have at work.

Hearts_2015

countscalories wrote: »

i usually add the oil to a cool pan and then heat it up, or add oil to a separate bowl like I mentioned. but large pots/pans are one reason I really want the OXO pull-out display scale

I bought the OXO pull-out display scale the day I joined MFP. It was one of the BEST things I have ever bought myself, including jewelry, cars, and my house. I have lost 99 pounds this year, and when I reach my 100 lb goal, I'm going to celebrate it with my scales-- both the OXO and my bathroom scale (which I affectionately refer to as "XOXO" because I love it).

The holidays are here: go get yourself a present! Bed, Bath, and Beyond for about $24.95. Awesome scale, and the pull-out feature works great. Good luck!

Definitely gonna check out the pull out one.. thanks!

Hearts_2015

heronh wrote: »

The OXO kitchen scale is $50

yes, for the 11 lb one. The 5 lb one in the States is approx. $29 I imagine for most ppl the 5lb one would be sufficient.

I was just online looking at the customer comments.... to any one that owns one have you had any issues with the LCD numbers? It certainly could be just a bad lot...

I love the pull away features, so many times I can think of that it would have come in handy.