Is my measuring spoon correct?

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WhisperAnne
WhisperAnne Posts: 453
in Food and Nutrition
I feel a bit silly asking this, but I used this to measure out my peanutbutter:

http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/update-international/mea-spn/p7150.aspx?utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=Update-International-MEA-SPN&utm_campaign=Measuring-Spoons&utm_source=google&source=googleps&gclid=CKKguqPE8rsCFYQ7OgodeTwA8g

I filled the 1 TBSP twice to equal a serving of PB. My question is, do you think these are accurate? I was really surprised how much a serving looked spread out on my toast. I did use a knife to scrape the top off, to make the spread smoother in the spoon.

If someone would reply I'll be grateful. In my diary I recorded that I had 2 servings of PB. I was just really unsure afterwards. Hopefully I only actually had one serving.
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Replies

  • rexroars
    rexroars Posts: 131 Member
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    Yeah a tablespoon is way bigger than I realized at first! I used to put in my diary that I was eating a tablespoon of olive oil whenever I cooked things on the stove. And then I actually measured out a tablespoon of olive oil and it was like a **** TON of olive oil. Like wayyyy more than I wanted.

    1 serving of PB is usually listed as 2 tablespoons (which is a good amount!) and about 180-200 calories.
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
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    If you leveled it off, it should be accurate. Anything heaped over the top of bowl would be extra.

    Those do look like odd spoons. Perhaps look for some that are deeper. I think such a shallow spoon would be hard to measure properly.
  • WhisperAnne
    WhisperAnne Posts: 453
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    Yeah a tablespoon is way bigger than I realized at first! I used to put in my diary that I was eating a tablespoon of olive oil whenever I cooked things on the stove. And then I actually measured out a tablespoon of olive oil and it was like a **** TON of olive oil. Like wayyyy more than I wanted.

    1 serving of PB is usually listed as 2 tablespoons (which is a good amount!) and about 180-200 calories.

    I never use olive oil because of the high calories! to scary lol. Though I know it can be good for you too.
    I was so unsure and nervous after I ate. I had to keep looking at that measuring spoon to make sure it said 1 Tablespoon. Since PB is 2 TBSP a serving I filled it up twice and made sure it wasn't heaping off the spoon.
  • smc864
    smc864 Posts: 570 Member
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    I feel a bit silly asking this, but I used this to measure out my peanutbutter:

    http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/update-international/mea-spn/p7150.aspx?utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=Update-International-MEA-SPN&utm_campaign=Measuring-Spoons&utm_source=google&source=googleps&gclid=CKKguqPE8rsCFYQ7OgodeTwA8g

    I filled the 1 TBSP twice to equal a serving of PB. My question is, do you think these are accurate? I was really surprised how much a serving looked spread out on my toast. I did use a knife to scrape the top off, to make the spread smoother in the spoon.

    If someone would reply I'll be grateful. In my diary I recorded that I had 2 servings of PB. I was just really unsure afterwards. Hopefully I only actually had one serving.

    Using a measuring spoon to measure something as calorie dense as peanut butter probably isn't a good idea. I would invest in a food scale asap... they are pretty cheap at Walmart. Mine set me back about $18 and you can't get anymore accurate. Instead of using the measuring spoon you would weigh the peanut butter on the bread. 32g of peanut butter is one serving... You gotta get one!!
  • WhisperAnne
    WhisperAnne Posts: 453
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    I feel a bit silly asking this, but I used this to measure out my peanutbutter:

    http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/update-international/mea-spn/p7150.aspx?utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=Update-International-MEA-SPN&utm_campaign=Measuring-Spoons&utm_source=google&source=googleps&gclid=CKKguqPE8rsCFYQ7OgodeTwA8g

    I filled the 1 TBSP twice to equal a serving of PB. My question is, do you think these are accurate? I was really surprised how much a serving looked spread out on my toast. I did use a knife to scrape the top off, to make the spread smoother in the spoon.

    If someone would reply I'll be grateful. In my diary I recorded that I had 2 servings of PB. I was just really unsure afterwards. Hopefully I only actually had one serving.

    Using a measuring spoon to measure something as calorie dense as peanut butter probably isn't a good idea. I would invest in a food scale asap... they are pretty cheap at Walmart. Mine set me back about $18 and you can't get anymore accurate. Instead of using the measuring spoon you would weigh the peanut butter on the bread. 32g of peanut butter is one serving... You gotta get one!!

    I have one, but it doesn't work right. I keep meaning to buy a new one. The spoon set I have is brand new, I figured it was a good idea to get some for when I measure creamer in my coffee etc.
  • Cindyinpg
    Cindyinpg Posts: 3,902 Member
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    This is an excellent video thatb shows how easy it is to overmeasure peanut butter. I've been weighing ever since.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
  • WhisperAnne
    WhisperAnne Posts: 453
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    I'm obviously just more worried about how many servings I had. If the spoon is correct then I should of only had 1 serving.
  • 1a1a
    1a1a Posts: 762 Member
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    Getting your measurements out by a few 10s of calories is no biggie I promise. It's more like if you misscalculate by 100s consistently, that might be a problem. Ergo, flat spoon of peanut butter, or slightly heaped, as long as it's not a massive scoop, should comfortably qualify as one spoon full.
  • WhisperAnne
    WhisperAnne Posts: 453
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    The OCD part of me made me get the PB and measure it with the measuring spoon. I've always heard that 2 TBSP of PB is the size of a golfball so I put the 2 TBS of peanutbutter in one perfect ball and it did look like the size of a golf ball! amazing.
  • Kevalicious99
    Kevalicious99 Posts: 1,131 Member
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    Nope .. they suck at measuring. Use a scale.

    You can be out as much as 50% .. and on high calorie items, do you really want to take that chance ? Probably not.
  • WhisperAnne
    WhisperAnne Posts: 453
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    Nope .. they suck at measuring. Use a scale.

    You can be out as much as 50% .. and on high calorie items, do you really want to take that chance ? Probably not.

    ...which is why I put I had 2 servings instead of one. ugh this is annoying.
  • CaffeinatedConfectionist
    CaffeinatedConfectionist Posts: 1,045 Member
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    Using a measuring spoon to measure something as calorie dense as peanut butter probably isn't a good idea. I would invest in a food scale asap... they are pretty cheap at Walmart. Mine set me back about $18 and you can't get anymore accurate. Instead of using the measuring spoon you would weigh the peanut butter on the bread. 32g of peanut butter is one serving... You gotta get one!!

    This, most definitely. I know you said your scale is broken, but definitely invest in a new one as soon as you can. It's extremely eye-opening how inaccurate using measuring cups/spoons and other volume-based methods of measuring are.

    Plus, it's just an awesome tool to have around the house. I love having an accurate digital food scale for baking, and it saves on dishes and time when cooking, since I don't have to use and then wash so many measuring cups.
  • NorthWoodsLee
    NorthWoodsLee Posts: 92 Member
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    Peanut butter is so calorie dense that using a measuring spoon and hoping you've packed it right likely will lead to you being substantially off on your calorie measurement. I've experimented with using a measuring scoop to get what I thought was "2 tablespoons" of PB and then weighing it and I always found out that I had substantially more peanut butter than 32 grams (the amount of peanut butter that is supposed to = 2 tablespoons and thus was about to eat substantially more calories than I had thought. If you care about reasonable accuracy - and you should - listen to those who are recommending you get a food scale.
  • WhisperAnne
    WhisperAnne Posts: 453
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    At this rate I'm not touching Peanutbutter again for a long time. I guess I was right in putting 2 servings. I might of even had 3 with how panicked I am now. Because of this I barely ate today so I made sure I didn't go overboard on calories. :mad:
  • ScientificExplorerGirl
    ScientificExplorerGirl Posts: 535 Member
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    This is an excellent video thatb shows how easy it is to overmeasure peanut butter. I've been weighing ever since.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

    Great video. Everyone should watch this! Thanks for posting it :flowerforyou:
  • CaffeinatedConfectionist
    CaffeinatedConfectionist Posts: 1,045 Member
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    At this rate I'm not touching Peanutbutter again for a long time. I guess I was right in putting 2 servings. I might of even had 3 with how panicked I am now. Because of this I barely ate today so I made sure I didn't go overboard on calories. :mad:

    I wouldn't let it get to you like this, if you are being literal. You'd be off by maybe 200 calories, even if you ate an entire extra serving, which sounds unlikely. That won't even make a noticeable dent in a week's worth of deficits. Try to think long-term, to help keep things in perspective.

    ETA, I see from your profile that you've already dropped a very impressive amount of weight, so congrats! Don't sweat the small stuff!
  • Tffanie4712
    Tffanie4712 Posts: 115
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    I feel a bit silly asking this, but I used this to measure out my peanutbutter:

    http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/update-international/mea-spn/p7150.aspx?utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=Update-International-MEA-SPN&utm_campaign=Measuring-Spoons&utm_source=google&source=googleps&gclid=CKKguqPE8rsCFYQ7OgodeTwA8g

    I filled the 1 TBSP twice to equal a serving of PB. My question is, do you think these are accurate? I was really surprised how much a serving looked spread out on my toast. I did use a knife to scrape the top off, to make the spread smoother in the spoon.

    If someone would reply I'll be grateful. In my diary I recorded that I had 2 servings of PB. I was just really unsure afterwards. Hopefully I only actually had one serving.

    I think you should use a food scale scoops aren't accurate.
  • WhisperAnne
    WhisperAnne Posts: 453
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    At this rate I'm not touching Peanutbutter again for a long time. I guess I was right in putting 2 servings. I might of even had 3 with how panicked I am now. Because of this I barely ate today so I made sure I didn't go overboard on calories. :mad:

    I wouldn't let it get to you like this, if you are being literal. You'd be off by maybe 200 calories, even if you ate an entire extra serving, which sounds unlikely. That won't even make a noticeable dent in a week's worth of deficits. Try to think long-term, to help keep things in perspective.

    ETA, I see from your profile that you've already dropped a very impressive amount of weight, so congrats! Don't sweat the small stuff!

    Thank you very much. I just remember using only 2 TBSP of the measuring spoon. Maybe a tiny bit extra by accident. I'm still a bit angry about this. I literally have to hide peanutbutter because if I see it I want it. And 95% of the time I don't let myself eat it because I know how easy it is to eat to much of it.
  • amosmoses88
    amosmoses88 Posts: 163 Member
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    Your measuring spoon doesn't measure by the actual weight of, so you're getting more than you want. BUT, going a little over like that isn't going to break you. It's more annoying than anything. You could live your life measuring every little thing you put in your mouth, or just do it when times feel like you REALLY need to measure things to keep from pounding on the pounds. BUT THAT'S NOT EVEN GONNA MAKE YOU GAIN WEIGHT! If you go over a little like that few times a day, sure. But if you're under your cals, then no biggie.
  • TinaBaily
    TinaBaily Posts: 792 Member
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    This is an excellent video thatb shows how easy it is to overmeasure peanut butter. I've been weighing ever since.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

    Oh my gosh! I thought that everyone knew that you had to level off a measuring cup or spoon when measuring food!

    Holy cow, that's a huge discrepancy! Even when measuring by leveling off, I still noticed that with things like oatmeal, or cereal, that isn't uniform in size, measured much more accurately by weight. I'm going to share this video with some of my MFP friends who are struggling. It might help them. Thank you for sharing here!!

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