Popcorn & the Scale (depressing truth)

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tomteboda
tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
A couple of weeks ago I (finally) got a kitchen scale. I didn't do it to help with my food intake, either, I did it to obtain more consistency with baking, particularly with breads (which are really REALLY finicky).

Mostly my estimates were spectacularly good. As in, within a few grams or 0.1 oz. Anything I measured in volume with cups or spoons was pretty much spot-on. I credit being a chemist with this.. I've been weighing & measuring stuff precisely in the laboratory for more than 20 years; it means I've got a very good handle on how much a gram, or a hundred grams, or 50 mL or whatever should be.

THAT SAID there is one food that I was just way, grossly, horribly, TERRIBLY off with. Largely because I never bothered to measure it even once. ... I'm going to just sit here and let that sink in and depress me a bit again.

Popcorn.

I have a microwave popcorn popper. The thing is ancient; I think my mom bought it in 1985 when we got a microwave for the first time. I asked my dad how much popcorn it made once, he said 6 cups. So I went with that

I have been blithely logging popcorn based on a completely inaccurate estimate for the entire time I've been logging food. I pour the popcorn in up to the line, put the cover on, set it in the microwave for 2 minutes 35 seconds, and then get to enjoy popcorn shortly.

6 cups? Nope. It makes 10 cups. I know this shouldn't annoy me as much as it does, but its bugging me a lot. It means every single one of my popcorn entries for the last 16 months was inaccurate by 33% . I realize I met my 5 lb/month goal every single one of those months, but even still! Grr. This could've been avoided if I'd even ONCE bothered to pull out a tablespoon and measure out what "one serving" of unpopped popcorn was.

I can only surmise this kind of error would play havoc on folks who take liberties with far more things than just one food or just generally have bad measuring technique.

p.s.
I am the world's laziest person and have marked on my milk glass exactly where to fill to get 8 oz. Because I still think putting everything on the scale is tedious :wink:

Replies

  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
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    I worked in a professional kitchen for a long time and am the same way about estimating most things.
    At least popcorn is like, almost nothing for calories. I think it's what? 25 calories per cup? It's not like my husband (who is a physicist!) being sure that his ice cream scoop was '4 ounces'. It was 7. :)
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Popcorn is going to be hard to measure in cups. That's why I weigh the kernels before I pop them. As for the milk, liquids are best measured rather than weighed. My scale can measure liquids, but I find it's only accurate for water.

    It does get easier to weigh foods the more you do it, though.
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
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    malibu927 wrote: »
    Popcorn is going to be hard to measure in cups. That's why I weigh the kernels before I pop them. As for the milk, liquids are best measured rather than weighed. My scale can measure liquids, but I find it's only accurate for water.

    It does get easier to weigh foods the more you do it, though.

    If you fill to the line, you get 12 cups of popcorn. It works out with measuring the tablespoons of unpopped kernels as well, they come to the same conclusion. I know because I had to test this tonight, much to my family's amusement.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    tomteboda wrote: »
    A couple of weeks ago I (finally) got a kitchen scale. I didn't do it to help with my food intake, either, I did it to obtain more consistency with baking, particularly with breads (which are really REALLY finicky).

    Mostly my estimates were spectacularly good. As in, within a few grams or 0.1 oz. Anything I measured in volume with cups or spoons was pretty much spot-on. I credit being a chemist with this.. I've been weighing & measuring stuff precisely in the laboratory for more than 20 years; it means I've got a very good handle on how much a gram, or a hundred grams, or 50 mL or whatever should be.

    THAT SAID there is one food that I was just way, grossly, horribly, TERRIBLY off with. Largely because I never bothered to measure it even once. ... I'm going to just sit here and let that sink in and depress me a bit again.

    Popcorn.

    I have a microwave popcorn popper. The thing is ancient; I think my mom bought it in 1985 when we got a microwave for the first time. I asked my dad how much popcorn it made once, he said 6 cups. So I went with that

    I have been blithely logging popcorn based on a completely inaccurate estimate for the entire time I've been logging food. I pour the popcorn in up to the line, put the cover on, set it in the microwave for 2 minutes 35 seconds, and then get to enjoy popcorn shortly.

    6 cups? Nope. It makes 10 cups. I know this shouldn't annoy me as much as it does, but its bugging me a lot. It means every single one of my popcorn entries for the last 16 months was inaccurate by 33% . I realize I met my 5 lb/month goal every single one of those months, but even still! Grr. This could've been avoided if I'd even ONCE bothered to pull out a tablespoon and measure out what "one serving" of unpopped popcorn was.

    I can only surmise this kind of error would play havoc on folks who take liberties with far more things than just one food or just generally have bad measuring technique.

    p.s.
    I am the world's laziest person and have marked on my milk glass exactly where to fill to get 8 oz. Because I still think putting everything on the scale is tedious :wink:

    OMG that would bother me more than underestimating popcorn

    *shudder*

    :bigsmile:
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
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    @rabbitjb I use a children's plastic cup, not nice glassware. :smiley: All of our "adult" cups are 16-24 oz. 8 oz milk looked so sad in them... So I started using the transformers & tinkerbell cups I bought for my preschool niece & nephew a year ago. A bit of permanent marker on the outside meant I didn't have to measure of my milk and wash the measuring cup.

    It is kinda tacky though.
  • Kazoak
    Kazoak Posts: 5 Member
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    Tacky snacky! If it works tinker bells a bonus lol
  • crb426
    crb426 Posts: 657 Member
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    Popcorn is one of those things that I KNOW I'm probably eating way more than what I'm logging, but gosh darn it, I don't care. :)
  • runningalice
    runningalice Posts: 71 Member
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    As a chemist i get the feeling i am taking my work home with me when i am weighing all my food! But completely agree with the popcorn and the estimating can be difficult sometimes! But air popped corn is better :)
  • CassidyScaglione
    CassidyScaglione Posts: 673 Member
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    Definitely a chemist. Lol.
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
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    runningalice wrote: »
    As a chemist i get the feeling i am taking my work home with me when i am weighing all my food! But completely agree with the popcorn and the estimating can be difficult sometimes! But air popped corn is better :)

    This was why I refused to use a food scale the whole first year. I managed to meet my weight loss goals without one. But eventually curiosity got the better of me.,,
  • fidangul
    fidangul Posts: 673 Member
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    I think that I'm going to mark one of my kiddie cups to a 100ml too. That would make life so much easier... Thanks for the idea!!!

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