Cup as a measure

dewpearl

A bit :embarassed: every time I create a new thread, and even more now asking something which is probably silly, but

what exactly is a cup? The amount of food that fits into a mug? I still weight many things and then decide if it's a cup based on the amount of calories I know it contains. I've just seen somewhere that a cup of steamed brocolli is about 5.5 oz, (which is more than it fits in a mug), but when it comes to corn flakes, it is less that what fits in a mug. Sorry, silly, but I haven't found an answer to this yet :blushing: .

dewpearl

A bit :embarassed: every time I create a new thread, and even more now asking something which is probably silly, but

what exactly is a cup? The amount of food that fits into a mug? I still weight many things and then decide if it's a cup based on the amount of calories I know it contains. I've just seen somewhere that a cup of steamed brocolli is about 5.5 oz, (which is more than it fits in a mug), but when it comes to corn flakes, it is less that what fits in a mug. Sorry, silly, but I haven't found an answer to this yet :blushing: .

jackeh

I think when it comes to dry stuff like cereal, or rice your pretty safe using a mug size cup ... because the pieces are smaller and dont leave a lot of "air" space... i think broccoli is different because it would leave a lot of air space in a mug.....

shorerider

Isn't a cup equal to 8 ozs?

jackeh

i think a cup is 8oz but thats why i said that i didnt think a cup of broccoli would fit in a mug??? i think a cup of broccoli is still 8oz not 5.5 oz... not sure lol

dewpearl

Isn't a cup equal to 8 ozs?

It's 8 fl oz (or 250ml), but when it comes to solid food, since the density differs, the weight cannot be approximated by the cup size. This is why I cannot understand this measure. I realize it's meant to make people avoid weighting everything they eat, but... And I don't put things in a mug, no, I just appreciate by eye.

Well, it could be that when it says a cup 8 oz (solid, so 250g) is meant, I just don't know :embarassed:

jackeh

:noway: so confusing

now how will i measure my food :laugh: :laugh:

connieq288

Your best bet to get with those is a little scale and weigh it if you reallywant to watch it. A cup is 8 oz. I try to weigh my meat before I cook it because a serving is usually 4 oz precooked. That is the same way with pasta. Pasta is 2 ozs precooked but a cup cooked so it would be 8 ozs cooked.

Connie

shorerider

Yeah, i weigh solid stuff and use cup for soy milk and other liquids.

CristaAmy

You have to remember that you are dealing with liquids and solids and that liquid oz are different than weight oz. Remember science class?

Don't you just love the English system of measurement? The metric system is so much easier.

I agree with the recommendation of getting a small scale and weighing solids when you want a weight in oz (for example, 4 oz of chicken). I would also recommend just going out and buying a set of measuring cups ... they are pretty cheap ... and then you will have something to measure liquids (8 oz of soy milk). You might be surprised to see that your mug could possibly be bigger than 8 oz.

Hope that helps and that I didn't add to the confusion.

PrincessLaundry

It depends on the item...

Which weighs more; a 1 cup of feathers or 1 cup of bricks???

It isn't the same...I measure all my food by weight after looking at the container for how much I should be eating. Sometimes I can be tricky to figure out, but then I use my judgement to work out the "amount" of food.

I plop my bowl on the scale in the AM, bring the scale to zero, add 53 grams of Raisin Bran, and 4 ounces of Milk.

After using measuring cups for a while, I started to compare and realized that if I just weigh everything, I usually can have a more correct amount. If there are a few pieces of Bran sitting funky in a measuring cup, then I'm screwed out of a few that day. LOL So I weigh. ANYWAY!!! Hope this helps!

shorerider

It depends on the item...

Which weighs more; a 1 cup of feathers or 1 cup of bricks???

It isn't the same...I measure all my food by weight after looking at the container for how much I should be eating. Sometimes I can be tricky to figure out, but then I use my judgement to work out the "amount" of food.

I plop my bowl on the scale in the AM, bring the scale to zero, add 53 grams of Raisin Bran, and 4 ounces of Milk.

After using measuring cups for a while, I started to compare and realized that if I just weigh everything, I usually can have a more correct amount. If there are a few pieces of Bran sitting funky in a measuring cup, then I'm screwed out of a few that day. LOL So I weigh. ANYWAY!!! Hope this helps!

NOOOOOooooooooooooooooo.. grams AND ounces? How do you keep that straight? I don't do Metric! I'm always having to use the converters online when things list info in grams. :grumble:

dewpearl

I plop my bowl on the scale in the AM, bring the scale to zero, add 53 grams of Raisin Bran, and 4 ounces of Milk.

I do the same. Just that some of the food added by members in the database only have "1 cup" as quantity. Well, I'll take that to be "8oz" from now on.

NOOOOOooooooooooooooooo.. grams AND ounces? How do you keep that straight? I don't do Metric! I'm always having to use the converters online when things list info in grams. :grumble:

I think she means that she puts the 53 grams and that pours milk from the mug, half filled.

I always do Metric, because I am European :happy: . So I use converters for the reverse (Linux has a nice built-in command called "units"). I feel a bit like a martyr using this site, considering that we have different brands and use metric, but you people are too -ly for me to abandon the site just because of that. In fact, I don't think it's as much as being accurate, as about being in control and eating healthy, like everyone says.


:flowerforyou: everyone for being so responsive. Sorry :embarassed: for confusing some.

PrincessLaundry

It depends on the item...

Which weighs more; a 1 cup of feathers or 1 cup of bricks???

It isn't the same...I measure all my food by weight after looking at the container for how much I should be eating. Sometimes I can be tricky to figure out, but then I use my judgement to work out the "amount" of food.

I plop my bowl on the scale in the AM, bring the scale to zero, add 53 grams of Raisin Bran, and 4 ounces of Milk.

After using measuring cups for a while, I started to compare and realized that if I just weigh everything, I usually can have a more correct amount. If there are a few pieces of Bran sitting funky in a measuring cup, then I'm screwed out of a few that day. LOL So I weigh. ANYWAY!!! Hope this helps!

NOOOOOooooooooooooooooo.. grams AND ounces? How do you keep that straight? I don't do Metric! I'm always having to use the converters online when things list info in grams. :grumble:

I think I have it straight...LOL

I need to take a photo of my scale this AM... The top row of my scale does ounces, the bottom of my scale does grams. If I look at the box of ingredients of cheese. I can have 2 tablespoons of cheese (shredded exactly perfect...ya right???) or 1 ounce. I'd rather have an ounce so I don't "over fill" the measuring item, or under fill...or lick it clean. LOL

Top row is ounces, the bottom row grams. The clear middle part rotates to bring it back to zero for an accurate reading of food not dishes. I love this scale!!!

So what are you measuring? A cup of coffee or 1 mug of coffee?

cp005e

I think this has mostly been covered, but just to sum up:

CUPS and MILLILITERS measure volume (how much space it takes up) - best for liquid measurements.
GRAMS and OUNCES and measure weight - best for solid measurements.

For liquid measures like water, 1 cup is approximately 8oz. However, it would be very different for solid foods. 1oz of cheese is about a 1 inch cube, so if you filled a cup with solid cheese, it would probably be more like 10-12oz.

Here's some Wikipedia pages for ya:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cup_(unit)#Using_volume_measures_to_estimate_mass
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measuring_cup

It's pretty imprecise!

I think PrincessLaundry has got the right idea in just weighing everything. I just estimate the best I can.