Food Scale vs Measuring Cups

MarineVeteran
MarineVeteran Posts: 21
in Food and Nutrition
I'm curious. I just bought a package of fresh blueberries. Serving size is one cup. Since my measuring cup was in the dishwasher I used my food scale. The cup would have been eight ounces. After putting eight ounces onto the food scale, it was evident that there's no way all those berries were gonna fit into one measuring cup.

I pulled 4 ounces off and called it the day. The four ounces actually fit into my one cup measuring bowl. I entered my calories as being 1/2 of a cup. Is this correct?

Anyone have similar issues measuring foods?

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Cups are stupid unless used for liquids or free flowing powders. A cup is eight fluid ounces and blueberries aren't a fluid.

    The weight in a cup depends on the density. If you had compressed the blueberries you might have got near 8 ozs into a cup.

    The rest of the world has no clue why Americans use cups ! We've moved on.
  • xxnellie146xx
    xxnellie146xx Posts: 996 Member
    A 1/2-cup serving of fresh blueberries equals approximately 75 grams or 2.6 ounces.
  • belle_of_the_bar
    belle_of_the_bar Posts: 474 Member
    I track all dry foods by weight in grams. It's just easier to be accurate that way. Also, you should make sure you're using a liquid measuring cup for liquids and a dry measuring cup for dry things if you're going to use the cups.
  • ereck44
    ereck44 Posts: 1,170 Member
    Yeah, I had a similar incident trying to weigh cherries with measuring cup. Does it include the stones? Sometimes with fruit, I just guest-amate. Small apple vs. medium. Hmmmmm. Mostly I weigh foods that I know have a lot of calories, like cheese, cereal, meat, fowl, etc. Fruits and veggies--just a rough estimate.
    Good luck!
  • MarineVeteran
    MarineVeteran Posts: 21
    Thanks everyone for the speedy replies. It was helpful.
  • KimLee76
    KimLee76 Posts: 89
    I'm curious. I just bought a package of fresh blueberries. Serving size is one cup. Since my measuring cup was in the dishwasher I used my food scale. The cup would have been eight ounces. After putting eight ounces onto the food scale, it was evident that there's no way all those berries were gonna fit into one measuring cup.

    I pulled 4 ounces off and called it the day. The four ounces actually fit into my one cup measuring bowl. I entered my calories as being 1/2 of a cup. Is this correct?

    Anyone have similar issues measuring foods?

    Because of everything you've said and then some, I now measure using the scale as often as possible. Between trying to convert from metric to the many issues regarding volume, I definitely prefer the scale. Whether the main serving size is listed in cups or ounces, there is a generally always a parenthetic "gram" amount next to it. That is my new measuring stick.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

    For foods go by weight (in grams if possible). For free-pouring liquids use measuring cups/spoons.
  • Pinkylee77
    Pinkylee77 Posts: 432 Member
    I don't think it matters as long as you do it consistently. I measure in CUPS many foods I weigh others but the ones I weigh I always weigh and the ones I measure I always measure. it works for my family
  • LovelyVeggies
    LovelyVeggies Posts: 21
    MarineVeteran, I believe you are confusing ounces as a measure of weight with fluid ounces, which are a measure of volume. When they say there are eight ounces in a cup, they mean eight fluid ounces. One fluid ounce equals 2 tablespoons or an eighth of a cup (all measurements of volume). One fluid ounce of water equals one dry ounce (weight) of water. But for other ingredients, it will be different. A cup of blueberries is not going to weigh the same as a cup of water; a cup of flour is not going to weigh the same as a cup of blueberries, etc.
  • Carnivor0us
    Carnivor0us Posts: 1,752 Member
    What about something like spinach leaves? Is that done by cup volume?

    I've found that one cup of moderately packed spinach leaves is about one ounce. I record it as a cup. Is that right?
  • RaineyLaney
    RaineyLaney Posts: 605 Member
    I use a food scale and mostly use the grams (g). Most labels will say what size.. IE 1/2 cup and then have grams in ( ) (45g)

    If you can't find the grams on the labels, then check out this website. It is good for any meats, fruits and veggies

    http://www.nutritionvalue.org/

    It will give you the grams, oz. or measuring size.
  • LovelyVeggies
    LovelyVeggies Posts: 21
    What about something like spinach leaves? Is that done by cup volume?

    I've found that one cup of moderately packed spinach leaves is about one ounce. I record it as a cup. Is that right?

    The only problem is that you don't know if the MFP cup of spinach is packed as tight or loose as yours. Weight is always going to be more accurate for dry ingredients. However, spinach is so few calories, it hardly makes a difference.
  • Andrea8985
    Andrea8985 Posts: 107
    For this exact reason, I bought a food scale. I now only use my measuring cups for baking.

Categories