Weight vs. Volume

SaLandrum

Okay, I am confused .......

Should i be measuring my foods by weight or by volume to determine a portion size?

I measure by volume and then on a whim I measured by weight and it was significantly different (example: sliced carrots-raw ... by volume I had 1 cup by weight it was only 4 ounces.)

I tried to do a search for previous entries - but found nothing.

melsinct

Weight is always more accurate. I bake bread, which is very dependent on accuracy, and everything is weighed out (15 ounces of flour, 8 ounces of water, etc.). I take he same approach with food. My cereal this morning was a serving size of 53 grams/1 cup on the box. I have weighed one cup and it is NOT 53 grams! I go by volume in a pinch but if I am home, then I will weigh the item.

SueInAz

I always prefer to weigh my portions, whenever possible. 1 medium cucumber? Who is to say what's medium? I'm always looking for the entries in MPF where I can use grams. I put that cucumber on the scale and weigh it for myself.

atomiclauren

Weight, definitely. For things that are "springy" volume can change dramatically...!

wolfchild59

There isn't any one way to do it, you should measure based on the item itself and whatever serving size measurement you are given. If you are given both a volume and weight, choose the weight because it's more accurate. And if you are given both grams and ounces, go with grams, again, for accuracy.

For example, a single serving of cereal might say 1 cup then say (30g) next to it. Use the 30g. That way you know you are getting the same amount every time. If you use a measuring cup (dry measure, not liquid cup!) you can get a slightly different amount every time depending on how the cereal fills the cup up.

And remember weights and volume measures are not interchangeable. I see a lot of folks blindly answering that one cup always equals 8oz, without asking if the person is inquiring about liquid measure, dry measure or other factors as to why the original question was asked. My favorite example for this is mini marshmallows. If a recipe calls for 1cup of mini marshmallows and you use your dry measure cup to get one cup out of the bag, you will use approx 1/5 of a standard bag of mini marshmallows. If you were to weigh out 8oz of mini marshmallows because someone blindly told you that 1 cup = 8oz, you would end up using approx 4/5 of that same bag of mini marshmallows.

So just always read the serving size info closely, make sure you're choosing the proper tool (scale, dry measure, liquid measure) and you should be fine to use whatever method best suits the item based on the info you are given.

SaLandrum

I really appreciate everyones answers .... looks like I am purchasing a set of scales for home tonight!