Weighing food
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Spliner1969 wrote: »I think everyone in this thread, including myself, is now obsessed with food scales like the OP feared. That includes the OP. You will be assimilated.
Guilty! Hahaha
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Generally I weigh raw unless I have no other option. That may be raw frozen or raw thawed, but it will be raw.0
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I weight raw. Only cause chicken n meat Ext all shrink a lil once it's cooked. So if your going to be completely on point with your diet and macros then weight it raw. Food volume is a lot less once it's cooked. If your weighting cooked I don't believe it's going to be accurate reading according to macro reading.0
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If you are cooking just for you, it's probably easiest to weigh the raw ingredients. I am usually cooking for my family too, so it's easier to weigh and use cooked rice entries, for example.0
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Spliner1969 wrote: »
Not sure where my comment on "weighing hot vs cold" got translated into "weighing cooked vs raw". If you have two foods, prepared exactly the same and having the same starting mass, and you weigh one that's been in the refrigerator (cold) and the other that's been sitting out (hot), they will have the same mass.
Temperature doesn't affect mass (at a noticeable level), unless you're causing water to leave, which is the cooked vs raw part, which is not what I was referencing.
If you want to get down to the atomic level, then yes, there is a mass change upon heating. But your kitchen balance isn't going to pick up on that.2 -
I always weigh food the way I'm going to eat it. If I'm eating it cooked I weigh it cooked.1
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if you cook veggies or meat, you will cook out some of the water and with meat some of the fat. since there's no way to know just how much water (or fat) you're cooking out, and it will be different each time, best to always weigh and log the raw food.1
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Always raw when possible as cooking either increases/decreases the water weight depending on how it is cooked.0
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Spliner1969 wrote: »
Not sure where my comment on "weighing hot vs cold" got translated into "weighing cooked vs raw". If you have two foods, prepared exactly the same and having the same starting mass, and you weigh one that's been in the refrigerator (cold) and the other that's been sitting out (hot), they will have the same mass.
Temperature doesn't affect mass (at a noticeable level), unless you're causing water to leave, which is the cooked vs raw part, which is not what I was referencing.
If you want to get down to the atomic level, then yes, there is a mass change upon heating. But your kitchen balance isn't going to pick up on that.
I didn't translate it that way but I can tell you I have put a cold cooked pork chop on my scale and it weighed 136 grams...warm it up in the microwave and it comes out weighing 130 grams...that is a difference in temp right there...more water evaporating...not sure...fat dissolving who knows...what I know personally is cold meat weighs more than warm meat...cold potatoes weigh more than hot potatoes.0 -
Spliner1969 wrote: »
Not sure where my comment on "weighing hot vs cold" got translated into "weighing cooked vs raw". If you have two foods, prepared exactly the same and having the same starting mass, and you weigh one that's been in the refrigerator (cold) and the other that's been sitting out (hot), they will have the same mass.
Temperature doesn't affect mass (at a noticeable level), unless you're causing water to leave, which is the cooked vs raw part, which is not what I was referencing.
If you want to get down to the atomic level, then yes, there is a mass change upon heating. But your kitchen balance isn't going to pick up on that.
I didn't translate it that way but I can tell you I have put a cold cooked pork chop on my scale and it weighed 136 grams...warm it up in the microwave and it comes out weighing 130 grams...that is a difference in temp right there...more water evaporating...not sure...fat dissolving who knows...what I know personally is cold meat weighs more than warm meat...cold potatoes weigh more than hot potatoes.
Stef, I read your comment yesterday, and I was all like, "nuh uh!!!" so I took the 43 g of pulled pork I still had in a bowl, microwaved it till it sizzled, brought it back to my scale, and watched as it lost 2 g in a minute. Then I was all like, "dang!" Since it was in a bowl, it must be the steam coming off that makes a difference. Presumably it would have the same effect on any food that steams.0 -
Not sure where my comment on "weighing hot vs cold" got translated into "weighing cooked vs raw". If you have two foods, prepared exactly the same and having the same starting mass, and you weigh one that's been in the refrigerator (cold) and the other that's been sitting out (hot), they will have the same mass.
The misconception is that we're talking about cooking food, not allowing it to warm to room temperature and considering that hot. Cooking as in bringing it up to an edible temperature of around 145-165F depending on the item being cooked. I would not personally consider something sitting out at room temperature to be hot, but that's just me, and no, unless of course it dried out as it was sitting out the difference in weight would be minimal.
So to be more clear, lets be more specific. A raw boneless skinless chicken breast raw will weigh less when cooked to a temperature of 165F in an oven (feel free to try this experiment for yourself). The reason for the difference in weight, among other things, is the loss of moisture. Although the calories are the same for the two things, the cooked product will weigh less with the same amount of calories which, unless you use a 'cooked' entry in the database, would be inaccurate for logging if you weighed it after cooking. The difference for me anyway has always been minimal enough that I weigh my items cooked unless the entry I am using in the database specifically says 'raw'.
My mistake was not being more specific. We can change the definition of hot all we want to support an argument, but the original argument was 'cooked' not 'hot'.Spliner1969 wrote: »The process of cooking things removes water, and they will weigh less.
Even with that statement, it may also be not true if you used different cooking methods like Sous Vide and did not remove the product from the packaging/plastic before weighing the cooked product as the moisture would still be held inside the package.
'Hot' is an assumption which is being changed/used modify thread. Not to mention it has nothing to do with the OP's original question, so I as well will stop defending it at this point since we've all gone off the rails with this one. I'd say yes, using a food scale is addictive and subjective to the OP. It's not a bad thing though, it helps you be more accurate. 0 -
Hi! Just got a food scale and have some questions. Hope someone can help:
Do you weigh food raw or cooked? Hot or cold? Does this make a difference?
With salmon or chicken, is the 5 oz rec for the cooked weight?
As far as veggies so, I assume a cup of raw cauliflower would weigh more than baked. Would cool baked cauliflower weigh differently than baked cauliflower warned up?
Lastly...what's the best way to log food when there are SO many different options with such a variety of nutritional info for the same exact foods/servings?
Thank you in advance for your help...Spliner1969 wrote: »Not sure where my comment on "weighing hot vs cold" got translated into "weighing cooked vs raw". If you have two foods, prepared exactly the same and having the same starting mass, and you weigh one that's been in the refrigerator (cold) and the other that's been sitting out (hot), they will have the same mass.
The misconception is that we're talking about cooking food, not allowing it to warm to room temperature and considering that hot. Cooking as in bringing it up to an edible temperature of around 145-165F depending on the item being cooked. I would not personally consider something sitting out at room temperature to be hot, but that's just me, and no, unless of course it dried out as it was sitting out the difference in weight would be minimal.
So to be more clear, lets be more specific. A raw boneless skinless chicken breast raw will weigh less when cooked to a temperature of 165F in an oven (feel free to try this experiment for yourself). The reason for the difference in weight, among other things, is the loss of moisture. Although the calories are the same for the two things, the cooked product will weigh less with the same amount of calories which, unless you use a 'cooked' entry in the database, would be inaccurate for logging if you weighed it after cooking. The difference for me anyway has always been minimal enough that I weigh my items cooked unless the entry I am using in the database specifically says 'raw'.
My mistake was not being more specific. We can change the definition of hot all we want to support an argument, but the original argument was 'cooked' not 'hot'.Spliner1969 wrote: »The process of cooking things removes water, and they will weigh less.
Even with that statement, it may also be not true if you used different cooking methods like Sous Vide and did not remove the product from the packaging/plastic before weighing the cooked product as the moisture would still be held inside the package.
'Hot' is an assumption which is being changed/used modify thread. Not to mention it has nothing to do with the OP's original question, so I as well will stop defending it at this point since we've all gone off the rails with this one. I'd say yes, using a food scale is addictive and subjective to the OP. It's not a bad thing though, it helps you be more accurate.
OP asked about hot vs cold weighing, separately from asking about cooked vs raw. As you can see in the original post that I've provided.
I'm not trying to go "off the rails", I just don't like the meaning of my post to be misconstrued as it was.1 -
Hi! Just got a food scale and have some questions. Hope someone can help:
Do you weigh food raw or cooked? Hot or cold? Does this make a difference?
With salmon or chicken, is the 5 oz rec for the cooked weight?
As far as veggies so, I assume a cup of raw cauliflower would weigh more than baked. Would cool baked cauliflower weigh differently than baked cauliflower warned up?
Lastly...what's the best way to log food when there are SO many different options with such a variety of nutritional info for the same exact foods/servings?
Thank you in advance for your help...Spliner1969 wrote: »Not sure where my comment on "weighing hot vs cold" got translated into "weighing cooked vs raw". If you have two foods, prepared exactly the same and having the same starting mass, and you weigh one that's been in the refrigerator (cold) and the other that's been sitting out (hot), they will have the same mass.
The misconception is that we're talking about cooking food, not allowing it to warm to room temperature and considering that hot. Cooking as in bringing it up to an edible temperature of around 145-165F depending on the item being cooked. I would not personally consider something sitting out at room temperature to be hot, but that's just me, and no, unless of course it dried out as it was sitting out the difference in weight would be minimal.
So to be more clear, lets be more specific. A raw boneless skinless chicken breast raw will weigh less when cooked to a temperature of 165F in an oven (feel free to try this experiment for yourself). The reason for the difference in weight, among other things, is the loss of moisture. Although the calories are the same for the two things, the cooked product will weigh less with the same amount of calories which, unless you use a 'cooked' entry in the database, would be inaccurate for logging if you weighed it after cooking. The difference for me anyway has always been minimal enough that I weigh my items cooked unless the entry I am using in the database specifically says 'raw'.
My mistake was not being more specific. We can change the definition of hot all we want to support an argument, but the original argument was 'cooked' not 'hot'.Spliner1969 wrote: »The process of cooking things removes water, and they will weigh less.
Even with that statement, it may also be not true if you used different cooking methods like Sous Vide and did not remove the product from the packaging/plastic before weighing the cooked product as the moisture would still be held inside the package.
'Hot' is an assumption which is being changed/used modify thread. Not to mention it has nothing to do with the OP's original question, so I as well will stop defending it at this point since we've all gone off the rails with this one. I'd say yes, using a food scale is addictive and subjective to the OP. It's not a bad thing though, it helps you be more accurate.
OP asked about hot vs cold weighing, separately from asking about cooked vs raw. As you can see in the original post that I've provided.
I'm not trying to go "off the rails", I just don't like the meaning of my post to be misconstrued as it was.
your post was not "misconstrued" it's just not correct and it got corrected.
I cook pork chops and eat 1...put the other one in the fridge...weigh it cold...130 grams...warm it up in the microwave...weigh it hot...125grams...there is a difference between hot and cold foods just like there is a difference between raw and cooked...
ETA:...I didn't misconstrue your post...my original post was reference but it does matter when you are talking high calorie foods that you get the correct weight for weight loss...
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Hi! Just got a food scale and have some questions. Hope someone can help:
Do you weigh food raw or cooked? Hot or cold? Does this make a difference?
With salmon or chicken, is the 5 oz rec for the cooked weight?
As far as veggies so, I assume a cup of raw cauliflower would weigh more than baked. Would cool baked cauliflower weigh differently than baked cauliflower warned up?
Lastly...what's the best way to log food when there are SO many different options with such a variety of nutritional info for the same exact foods/servings?
Thank you in advance for your help...Spliner1969 wrote: »Not sure where my comment on "weighing hot vs cold" got translated into "weighing cooked vs raw". If you have two foods, prepared exactly the same and having the same starting mass, and you weigh one that's been in the refrigerator (cold) and the other that's been sitting out (hot), they will have the same mass.
The misconception is that we're talking about cooking food, not allowing it to warm to room temperature and considering that hot. Cooking as in bringing it up to an edible temperature of around 145-165F depending on the item being cooked. I would not personally consider something sitting out at room temperature to be hot, but that's just me, and no, unless of course it dried out as it was sitting out the difference in weight would be minimal.
So to be more clear, lets be more specific. A raw boneless skinless chicken breast raw will weigh less when cooked to a temperature of 165F in an oven (feel free to try this experiment for yourself). The reason for the difference in weight, among other things, is the loss of moisture. Although the calories are the same for the two things, the cooked product will weigh less with the same amount of calories which, unless you use a 'cooked' entry in the database, would be inaccurate for logging if you weighed it after cooking. The difference for me anyway has always been minimal enough that I weigh my items cooked unless the entry I am using in the database specifically says 'raw'.
My mistake was not being more specific. We can change the definition of hot all we want to support an argument, but the original argument was 'cooked' not 'hot'.Spliner1969 wrote: »The process of cooking things removes water, and they will weigh less.
Even with that statement, it may also be not true if you used different cooking methods like Sous Vide and did not remove the product from the packaging/plastic before weighing the cooked product as the moisture would still be held inside the package.
'Hot' is an assumption which is being changed/used modify thread. Not to mention it has nothing to do with the OP's original question, so I as well will stop defending it at this point since we've all gone off the rails with this one. I'd say yes, using a food scale is addictive and subjective to the OP. It's not a bad thing though, it helps you be more accurate.
OP asked about hot vs cold weighing, separately from asking about cooked vs raw. As you can see in the original post that I've provided.
I'm not trying to go "off the rails", I just don't like the meaning of my post to be misconstrued as it was.
your post was not "misconstrued" it's just not correct and it got corrected.
I cook pork chops and eat 1...put the other one in the fridge...weigh it cold...130 grams...warm it up in the microwave...weigh it hot...125grams...there is a difference between hot and cold foods just like there is a difference between raw and cooked...
She was responding to the previous poster saying that there never was a question about hot vs. cold foods--he was saying the question was just about raw vs. cooked, and the hot vs. cold concept was introduced elsewhere, which is entirely not true, as she showed in her bolding. I don't think she is arguing against your point.1 -
Hi! Just got a food scale and have some questions. Hope someone can help:
Do you weigh food raw or cooked? Hot or cold? Does this make a difference?
With salmon or chicken, is the 5 oz rec for the cooked weight?
As far as veggies so, I assume a cup of raw cauliflower would weigh more than baked. Would cool baked cauliflower weigh differently than baked cauliflower warned up?
Lastly...what's the best way to log food when there are SO many different options with such a variety of nutritional info for the same exact foods/servings?
Thank you in advance for your help...Spliner1969 wrote: »Not sure where my comment on "weighing hot vs cold" got translated into "weighing cooked vs raw". If you have two foods, prepared exactly the same and having the same starting mass, and you weigh one that's been in the refrigerator (cold) and the other that's been sitting out (hot), they will have the same mass.
The misconception is that we're talking about cooking food, not allowing it to warm to room temperature and considering that hot. Cooking as in bringing it up to an edible temperature of around 145-165F depending on the item being cooked. I would not personally consider something sitting out at room temperature to be hot, but that's just me, and no, unless of course it dried out as it was sitting out the difference in weight would be minimal.
So to be more clear, lets be more specific. A raw boneless skinless chicken breast raw will weigh less when cooked to a temperature of 165F in an oven (feel free to try this experiment for yourself). The reason for the difference in weight, among other things, is the loss of moisture. Although the calories are the same for the two things, the cooked product will weigh less with the same amount of calories which, unless you use a 'cooked' entry in the database, would be inaccurate for logging if you weighed it after cooking. The difference for me anyway has always been minimal enough that I weigh my items cooked unless the entry I am using in the database specifically says 'raw'.
My mistake was not being more specific. We can change the definition of hot all we want to support an argument, but the original argument was 'cooked' not 'hot'.Spliner1969 wrote: »The process of cooking things removes water, and they will weigh less.
Even with that statement, it may also be not true if you used different cooking methods like Sous Vide and did not remove the product from the packaging/plastic before weighing the cooked product as the moisture would still be held inside the package.
'Hot' is an assumption which is being changed/used modify thread. Not to mention it has nothing to do with the OP's original question, so I as well will stop defending it at this point since we've all gone off the rails with this one. I'd say yes, using a food scale is addictive and subjective to the OP. It's not a bad thing though, it helps you be more accurate.
OP asked about hot vs cold weighing, separately from asking about cooked vs raw. As you can see in the original post that I've provided.
I'm not trying to go "off the rails", I just don't like the meaning of my post to be misconstrued as it was.
your post was not "misconstrued" it's just not correct and it got corrected.
I cook pork chops and eat 1...put the other one in the fridge...weigh it cold...130 grams...warm it up in the microwave...weigh it hot...125grams...there is a difference between hot and cold foods just like there is a difference between raw and cooked...
ETA:...I didn't misconstrue your post...my original post was reference but it does matter when you are talking high calorie foods that you get the correct weight for weight loss...
The part your ignoring though is it isn't the food being hot vs cold that is the weight loss, it's the cooking. If you take that 125gram hot pork chop and put it in the fridge, it will be 125g cold when you pull it back out. It won't gain or lose weight just from being hot or cold. It's semantics really and you are correct in what you are trying to say, but what you are arguing is pre vs cooked weight, not hot vs cold weights. Microwaving is still a form of cooking, even if the food is already cooked, you're still cooking it again.
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Another q to throw at y'all ...
Anyone nervous about being TOO obsessed with the food scale? I'm on day 1 of using mine and can already feel the obsession coming on...
I don't worry about it. For me it is just part of preparing a meal. I wash fruit before I eat it. I cut things up and mix stuff together and add seasonings. I put things in serving dishes or on plates. Putting it on the scale is just part of that. When I am out I will estimate, but when I'm in my own kitchen I don't think weighing everything is obsessive.1 -
As much as all this is interesting.................. It is an exercise in futility!! The inaccuracies of nutritional information outweigh the difference in hot/cold measurements of food.
Pick a method and be consistent. That is all you can do.1 -
I always weigh food the way I'm going to eat it. If I'm eating it cooked I weigh it cooked.
The problem with that is the weight changes from cooking vary depending on cooking time among other things. So if you cook something slightly longer its weight will be different, usually because of water loss, however, that water loss does not reduce the calories. I weight raw because it will give a better idea of the actual calories of what I am eating. Probably the only exception to this is fatty meats where the fat will cook out, but even then a significant portion of the weight loss in that cooked meat is water not fat.0 -
Spliner1969 wrote: »
Not sure where my comment on "weighing hot vs cold" got translated into "weighing cooked vs raw". If you have two foods, prepared exactly the same and having the same starting mass, and you weigh one that's been in the refrigerator (cold) and the other that's been sitting out (hot), they will have the same mass.
Temperature doesn't affect mass (at a noticeable level), unless you're causing water to leave, which is the cooked vs raw part, which is not what I was referencing.
If you want to get down to the atomic level, then yes, there is a mass change upon heating. But your kitchen balance isn't going to pick up on that.
I didn't translate it that way but I can tell you I have put a cold cooked pork chop on my scale and it weighed 136 grams...warm it up in the microwave and it comes out weighing 130 grams...that is a difference in temp right there...more water evaporating...not sure...fat dissolving who knows...what I know personally is cold meat weighs more than warm meat...cold potatoes weigh more than hot potatoes.
If it is steaming at all when heated it would be water loss. I have, when I didn't prepare the meal, weighed cooked veggies that are right off the stove. As I was standing there getting the next piece of food I was going to weigh, the weight went down a gram or two just from the water that was steaming off.1 -
Weighing food has given me freedom vs. obsession. I actually enjoy it because I know exactly how much of everything I am getting. I can always eat ALL my food, which is very satisfying for me. Between weighing and pre-logging/planning my meals, the burden of eating to lose weight is completely off my shoulders and is a simple addition problem to solve each day.0
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