Measuring food. Scale or Cups?

jennie5693 · January 2014

I am concerned with the way I portion and count some foods.

For example... 4 oz of chicken. On the scale seems to be more than what I can stuff in a 1/2 measuring cup.

Which is correct?

kgeyser · January 2014

Scale will always be more accurate for that.

rockmama72 · January 2014

Digital scale. Hands down.

diannethegeek · January 2014

Scale.

auddii · January 2014

Scale. Also, pay attention to what you are going by for your entry. I personally like to use USDA entries, but for things like chicken there are different entries for raw or cooked. If you weigh the meat raw, be sure to use a raw entry, if weighing after cooked, be sure to use a cooked entry.

AJ_G · January 2014

Chicken is measured in Ounces (weight) where as half a cup is 4 Ounces (volume). Things that are measured as a volume are liquids, and dry solids for the most part like rice, flour, sugar, beans, cereal, etc. Anytime you're dealing with any type of meat, it's going to be weight in ounces

jess135177 · January 2014

scales!

jennie5693 · January 2014

Scale. Also, pay attention to what you are going by for your entry. I personally like to use USDA entries, but for things like chicken there are different entries for raw or cooked. If you weigh the meat raw, be sure to use a raw entry, if weighing after cooked, be sure to use a cooked entry.

Hmph. I hadn't noticed. Thanks for the tip. I bet that will make a difference!

craigheon · January 2014

I just picked up this digital scale by recommendation on sale at Amazon. $21 shipped! It pretty much has all the features I'll need, and I am hoping it will allow me to more accurately measure my portions. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003E7AZQA/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

jennie5693 · January 2014

Chicken is measured in Ounces (weight) where as half a cup is 4 Ounces (volume). Things that are measured as a volume are liquids, and dry solids for the most part like rice, flour, sugar, beans, cereal, etc. Anytime you're dealing with any type of meat, it's going to be weight in ounces

Awesome. Thank you. That makes sense!

geekyjock76 · January 2014

Also, if you eat any pre-packaged foods, use a scale for that as well since actual weight can very per serving compared to food labels.

red869 · January 2014

Definitely a digital scale.

Mairinni · January 2014

Being Irish I find it strange that there is even a cup measurement! So for anyone else confused by them my new recipe book says 1 cup = 250ml. So I would imagine it is only to be used for measuring liquids. Or best for liquids. Scales for everything else.

Rerun201 · January 2014

Scale for meats and such (like chicken and beef) and cups for liquids. Take your pick for things like grains, lentils, etc.

albayin · January 2014

yes, it has to be scale. The only thing I now ease out is veggies. I can let a few grams slipped away if they are green leaves.

just_Jennie1 · January 2014

I weigh all but liquids. If the label states the measurement in cups and grams or ounces I will weigh my food using the grams or ounces. I found that using cups and tablespoon measurements tend to be wrong (for example 1 tablespoon of peanut butter is a lot smaller when weighed than what I would have normally scooped out using a tablespoon measure).