Can you measure liquids, sauces etc in weight?

sugarfreesquirrel

Mayonaises, mustard etc? I see people using teaspoons, tablespoons and cups and that seems like it would lead to a lot of errors?

Then again, when I weigh my mayonaise or tomato sauce it seems like 20mls is so much?

Alatariel75

I prefer to, especially as it saves dishes when I can drizzle straight onto a plate on the scale, but a lot of the time the information per weight isn't available, and while 1ml of water weighs 1gram the same isn't true for thicker liquids.

Having said that, if you're using proper measuring spoons, then measuring liquids by volume is quite accurate.

AnnPT77

Like Alatariel, I prefer to weigh most of mine, just for ease - either the method she describes, or putting the container on the scale, hitting tare to zero, remove the portion I want to use, put the container back on the scale, note the negative weight.

Cups/spoons can be pretty accurate for liquids, and I do use those sometimes when it's more convenient for some reason.

Some people lose weight just fine when calorie counting even if just estimating or eyeballing quantities, not even using cups/spoons let alone a scale. If they're reaching their goals, and it works for them, I see no problem. (But if they're posting "not losing despite proper calories", I'm going to suggest weighing to improve accuracy, as a starting point.)

We have to realize, too, that all of this stuff is estimates, not exact measurements: Our home food scales aren't precision instruments; they can be off a gram or two. Foods vary, so one apple is sweeter than the next so has more calories. Our calorie goals are statistical estimates based on population averages, but we're individuals. Exercise calorie estimates (whether averaged in via a TDEE calculator, from the MFP database, or more personalized from a fitness tracker) are also estimates, not measurements. (Power metered exercises are a possible exception, but even then there's a minor efficiency gain/loss variability.)

All we need in order to be successful is to be close enough, and close enough can vary with individual tastes and circumstances. Arithmetic approximation error magnitudes matter, there's probably a "law of medium numbers" (<= statistics term joke) that applies, etc. Estimates can and do work.

yirara

I prefer to weigh in grams. But then I need calorie information in grams of course. If it's something I mix myself, and I have the ingredients in grams then yeah, I create a recipe in grams as well.