Measuring Cup or Food Scale??

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  • cross2bear
    cross2bear Posts: 1,106 Member
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    Think about having to measure two teaspoons of cashews, or 1/2 cup of an apple or of any irregularly shaped food item, and it seems a little silly to think that you can get an accurate calorie count if you are using cups and spoons. The digital scale is far more accurate. Plus, if you use a plate or bowl into which you are going to put the food, you can weigh it in that and save yourself some washing up!
  • Jack_NYC
    Jack_NYC Posts: 64 Member
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    Scale for solids
    Cup for liquids
  • MommyL2015
    MommyL2015 Posts: 1,411 Member
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    Since weight loss depends entirely on caloric intake, a scale is going to be the most accurate because, like someone stated above, calories are based on weight, not volume.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,645 Member
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    Not only is a scale more accurate, IMO it's also easier & less-time consuming.

    Make sure your scale has a "tare" or "zero" function, will display negatives, and will weigh weights up to at least several pound.

    Three tips that helped me:
    1. If making something like a salad, or a dish where you put several things in a pot before cooking, put the container on the scale & tare/zero it. Add the first ingredient. Note it. Tare again. Add the 2nd ingredient. Note it. Repeat until everything's added.
    2. If dipping something out of a container, like peanut butter or jam: Put the open jar on the scale. Tare/zero. Dip out your quantity with a utensil. The scale should display a negative weight. Use the number as your quantity (positive, of course), and note it.
    3. If weighing out a bunch of fiddly little stuff that doesn't all go in a pan at once, I like to have a few recycled plastic yogurt lids at hand. Put a lid on the scale, tare, put some little messy ingredient on it (olives, say), note the weight. Put up another lid, tare, weigh the onion slices, note it. Repeat.

    Easier, and no washing cups. (The yogurt lids just rinse, mostly.)
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    Scale every time!
  • Debmal77
    Debmal77 Posts: 4,770 Member
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    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Food scale for solids, 100%. I can pretty much fit a whole block of grated cheese into a cup measure if I try hard enough.

    This. It's amazing what you do when you are hungry. Food scale is definitely an eye opener.
  • BruinsGal_91
    BruinsGal_91 Posts: 1,400 Member
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    Scale.

    You would be amazed at how many honey-roasted cashews I could cram into a 1/4 cup.
  • hectorh82
    hectorh82 Posts: 110 Member
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    scale if you really need to use either.. packing is what ruins the idea of cans/containers..
  • CelesseBoo
    CelesseBoo Posts: 20 Member
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    Scale. It also really annoys me when recipes are done in "cups".... What's wrong with just telling me how many grams to use?!
  • katiebean
    katiebean Posts: 110 Member
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    CelesseBoo wrote: »
    Scale. It also really annoys me when recipes are done in "cups".... What's wrong with just telling me how many grams to use?!
    Same. And I hate coming across mfp entries in cups too. Im British, so I have very little idea what size a "cup" is anyway.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,207 Member
    edited March 2016
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    katiebean wrote: »
    CelesseBoo wrote: »
    Scale. It also really annoys me when recipes are done in "cups".... What's wrong with just telling me how many grams to use?!
    Same. And I hate coming across mfp entries in cups too. Im British, so I have very little idea what size a "cup" is anyway.

    IIRC cups developed as a way to measure things while the Europeans were settling NA. Scales were used before that, especially for baking, but were not easily available or transportable, so people started using cups, and that became standardized. It is a standard I wish would go away, especially for baking, as weighing ingredients is much easier and far more accurate which is very important when baking were a small ingredient difference can result in quite different results.

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