I am sure this is a dumb question but

Tara_238
Tara_238 Posts: 70 Member
in Getting Started
Do you weigh the food before or after cooking? I know it is a dumb question but I never owned a food scale and I am just now actively trying to do something about my weight. I bought a food scale and it came in on Saturday but I was unsure of when to weigh the food.
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Replies

  • Realtree2429
    Realtree2429 Posts: 81 Member
    You weigh before :( It always makes me sad when the meat shrinks!! Hehe.
  • hearthwood
    hearthwood Posts: 794 Member
    I think most on this board weigh before they cook.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
    Before.
  • Taegre
    Taegre Posts: 7 Member
    I came to the message board for the first time to ask this exact question. Because vegetables and meats change weight, nutrition, and fat content when they're cooked. But weighing things after they're cooked is difficult or impossible. Sauces add weight, and vegetables are usually mixed together by the end of the cooking process.
  • Birder155
    Birder155 Posts: 223 Member
    I also weigh everything before I cook.

    Not a dumb question. :flowerforyou:
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    Generally before cooking but make sure you are logging as "raw" instead of roasted, cooked, broiled, etc. Sometimes you will have things that are already cooked, like using leftover chicken in a salad, then search for an entry in the database for cooked and use that.
  • oksanatkachuk
    oksanatkachuk Posts: 149 Member
    Mmm.. Strange! I never weight raw, but I m cooking for myself separate. And I keep it simple- grilled chicken breast and it's only it.
  • missyme10
    missyme10 Posts: 38 Member
    Watch out for pasta and rice, a bag may say portion size is x amount and x of calories, but that's cooked weight sometimes. So if you weigh dried, you end up with about 2 1/2 times what you should have in the case of rice - which definitely wont help the diet!!

    It varies on brand, so just check the label. If the portions and calories are listed in cooked weight, then you can find the information on line about how much it is in dried weight.

    With rice it's about 2 1/2 times the weight once cooked.

    I used to get caught out all the time until I realised this!
  • natalee8
    natalee8 Posts: 34
    Normally before, however - if I am making a meal for a few people, I add the total calories of each ingredient raw, cook the food, weigh the total and then weigh my portion and divide total calories (this isn't as time consuming as it sounds, I just have a large plastic bowl I weigh the entirety in and then weigh my own on my plate).

    I really enjoy cooking food in sauces, currys, bolognese etc etc etc and so this helps me to know what I am eating - definitely weigh ingredients raw though!
  • Tara_238
    Tara_238 Posts: 70 Member
    Thanks for the replies
  • GuyIncognito123
    GuyIncognito123 Posts: 263 Member
    I weigh all my veggies raw but my meat cooked.
  • habeeba300
    habeeba300 Posts: 33 Member
    just look if it says cooked,raw ,boiled,grilled,fried ,baked,and if its a takeaway check it says takeaway as that will be ready cooked
  • laurie04427
    laurie04427 Posts: 421 Member
    Glad you asked, I just got a food scale and had no clue either hehe. :smile:
  • dbanks80
    dbanks80 Posts: 3,685 Member
    I ususally weigh after since it shrinks
  • ksolksol
    ksolksol Posts: 194 Member
    I'm going to tack on a second question to this thread, since we're discussing measuring -- how tightly do you pack raw salad greens if you're measuring them by cup instead of by weight?
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  • johnmurphymfp
    johnmurphymfp Posts: 2,590 Member
    You weigh before :( It always makes me sad when the meat shrinks!! Hehe.
    It shrinks?
    Like a frightened turtle.
    I WAS IN THE POOL!!

    lol, and the water was really REALLY cold.
  • Lemongrab13
    Lemongrab13 Posts: 206 Member
    How do you weigh rice? It always weighs 3x more afterwards and the calorie input is confusing:noway:
  • skullshank
    skullshank Posts: 4,323 Member
    i weigh after.

    just easier for me. idk how different the cals and macros are due to it, but it hasnt had a negative impact that im aware of.
  • BarbieAS
    BarbieAS Posts: 1,414 Member
    Just make sure you line up to what the listing and/or package says - most of the time, the accurate listings will include raw vs cooked.

    To the poster who asked about the greens....I tend to not even bother with measuring cups with my greens. If I've got my scale out and I'm weighing other components I'll note the weight, but it's not worth dirtying another cup when the calorie difference is so small - a cup of lettuce is what, like 4 calories? Don't stress about greens. (Disclaimer: cooked greens, esp in oil or sauce or something, are a horse of a different color. I was assuming raw.)
  • LakeCountyDiver
    LakeCountyDiver Posts: 50 Member
    I dont weigh a thing. Everything i buy has a weight on it so i just do math. I will use volume measurments (cups,tsp,ect) but dont use a scale.
  • Shalaurise
    Shalaurise Posts: 707 Member
    It always makes me sad when the meat shrinks!!

    In so many way.... *nods*
  • Barbellarella_
    Barbellarella_ Posts: 454 Member
    It depends what database entry you are using. For example, the one I use for chicken is: Cooked Chicken breast per ounce. So I weigh it cooked. Its easier to cut off the portion I want after its done, and if its leftovers in the fridge its easier that way too.
  • ccmccoy09
    ccmccoy09 Posts: 284 Member
    I generally weigh before cooking, unless it's grilled chicken breast I pre-cooked. Then I just make sure to log it as "chicken breast grilled." Enjoy your new scale!
  • maccaria
    maccaria Posts: 51 Member
    the only dumb question is an unasked one :)
  • gail1961
    gail1961 Posts: 111 Member
    There is no such thing as a dumb question :-) I say weigh after. That's the amount you are actually consuming.
  • johnnylakis
    johnnylakis Posts: 812 Member
    No such thing as a dumb question.

    Better embarrassment than ignorance.

    And yeah you weigh before....

    Which isn't fair when you cook on a George Foreman grill
  • LumberJacck
    LumberJacck Posts: 559 Member
    If you live alone, you can weigh food when you buy it.

    Counting kilojoules always drove me crazy, too much detail and I ended up obsessing about food because I had to weigh every damn thing that I was preparing.

    My solution was to buy food and just weigh it when it arrives in the house, and divide the kilojoules by the number of days I expected to eat it. So if I bought a bag of apples, I just weighed the bag and then divided by say 5 days to eat them, makes life much simpler. Obviously you can't do this if you live with someone, and you'd need to allow for throwing out food that was uneaten, but it made my life much easier.
  • tiffanyagee2003
    tiffanyagee2003 Posts: 19
    I was wondering about this too. What about oatmeal? One serving is 1/2cup. So is that dry or cooked?. I know some packages specify but this one didn't
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    Watch out for pasta and rice, a bag may say portion size is x amount and x of calories, but that's cooked weight sometimes. So if you weigh dried, you end up with about 2 1/2 times what you should have in the case of rice - which definitely wont help the diet!!

    It varies on brand, so just check the label. If the portions and calories are listed in cooked weight, then you can find the information on line about how much it is in dried weight.

    With rice it's about 2 1/2 times the weight once cooked.

    I used to get caught out all the time until I realised this!

    I look on the box and see how many servings it makes, then divide that by the dry weight on the box. A box of pasta that makes 10 servings and is 16 oz. means that one serving is 1.6 oz dry. I write it on the box so I remember.

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