Measuring with my food scale

letsdothis2010

Okay, I recently bought a food scale to get a better idea of my portion size. Now my question is, when do I measure my food? Food I don't have to cook is easy, that's it's weight and serving size. However when do I measure things that I cook like chicken, beef, pasta? Do I weigh before I cook or after?

Thanks!!!!

pitapocket

I weigh chicken, beef and pork after cooking, but I weigh pasta before cooking. Hope this helps.

KarenECunningham

I weigh my food after it is cooked. I feel it is more accurate that way. I feel what is left after cooking is what you are consuming. Fat and water cook out and since different types of meat have more or less water depending on the cut it would be inaccurate to weigh before cooking.

robin52077

It depends though...
when you order a 12 oz steak at a restaurant, that is BEFORE cooking, and a quarter pounder hamburger is 1/4 lb of beef BEFORE cooking...

Look in the food database and you will see some listed as "raw" and some that say "cooked".
I say you can do it either way as long as you use a correct entry in your diary....

MsElphaba

I am going to take the opposite of the scale and say you should weigh before your cook your food. Think about a recipe. It will say "1/4 pound salmon" and that means what you ask the butcher for and what you put in the pan. You don't ask for a piece of fish that will weight 1/4 lb when it's done cooking. If you are lucky, many recipes come with nutritional information based on the values in ingredient list and their cooked values.


L

Skinnytime

Ditto, food is weighed raw - unless the nutritional information you are using specifically says cooked - and how it was cooked. Braising and pan frying will retain more fat than broiling or grilling. When you get a package of turkey or chicken from the supermarket, the nutritional information is for the meat raw.
It's always better to err on the high side, so weigh and count it raw. If you are under-consuming that's better than over consuming.

navstar

Ditto, food is weighed raw - unless the nutritional information you are using specifically says cooked - and how it was cooked. Braising and pan frying will retain more fat than broiling or grilling. When you get a package of turkey or chicken from the supermarket, the nutritional information is for the meat raw.
It's always better to err on the high side, so weigh and count it raw. If you are under-consuming that's better than over consuming.

agree totally! weigh before cooking, all cooking does is add/subtract water,(and/or fat depending on how you are cooking) I love my scales and weight everything!!! but if you are inputting from the database double check the calories as not all entries are correct!

labelleariane

before still for rice?