Food Scale: Useful Tips and Tricks???

cherrypeach1
cherrypeach1 Posts: 30 Member
edited April 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi All! I'm officially on food scale bandwagon and wanted to know what tips/tricks I can use to make the process less daunting.

Some suggestions I've seen posted so far are:

- Use the recipe builder (I'm still kind of confused on this one--can anyone elaborate)
- Try to weigh in grams for better accuracy
- Weigh rice when its dry

Just looking for even more tidbits that might help.

Thanks in advance for you help! :)

Replies

  • Texas2Fit
    Texas2Fit Posts: 30 Member
    I would be interested in replies as well. Weigh the food precooked? Cooked? How do you weigh pasta? Should I weigh items that come prepackaged with the weight on the package?
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    I really like this thread for food scale tips: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1290491/how-and-why-to-use-a-digital-food-scale
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    Texas2Fit wrote: »
    I would be interested in replies as well. Weigh the food precooked? Cooked? How do you weigh pasta? Should I weigh items that come prepackaged with the weight on the package?

    Generally speaking, the weight given on the nutrition label of the package is for the raw weight of the food. If you're using that information to log your food, you'll want to weigh it raw. Some people prefer or need to weigh after cooking, and in that case you just want to make sure you're using an appropriate and accurate entry from the database that indicates that it's for the cooked weight (for instance, you wouldn't use a "grilled" entry if you boiled your chicken breast -- you'd want to find an entry that matched the style of cooking if possible).

    I usually weigh prepackaged foods a couple of times when I switch brands or try a new food just to get a feel for how close they are to the stated packaged weight (some of them are very close and some are very not close). That will give me a feel for whether or not I need to bother.

  • cherrypeach1
    cherrypeach1 Posts: 30 Member
    smcrimmon84 wrote: »
    Putting a bowl (upside down) under a plate on the scale was game-changing for me! So more bending and struggling to see what the scale says bc the plate is hiding it! lol

    Oh...I like this one!!! Great Hack. Yes...more suggestions like this please!!!
  • sunnybeaches105
    sunnybeaches105 Posts: 2,831 Member
    Buy batteries?
  • Texas2Fit
    Texas2Fit Posts: 30 Member
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    Texas2Fit wrote: »
    I would be interested in replies as well. Weigh the food precooked? Cooked? How do you weigh pasta? Should I weigh items that come prepackaged with the weight on the package?

    Generally speaking, the weight given on the nutrition label of the package is for the raw weight of the food. If you're using that information to log your food, you'll want to weigh it raw. Some people prefer or need to weigh after cooking, and in that case you just want to make sure you're using an appropriate and accurate entry from the database that indicates that it's for the cooked weight (for instance, you wouldn't use a "grilled" entry if you boiled your chicken breast -- you'd want to find an entry that matched the style of cooking if possible).

    I usually weigh prepackaged foods a couple of times when I switch brands or try a new food just to get a feel for how close they are to the stated packaged weight (some of them are very close and some are very not close). That will give me a feel for whether or not I need to bother.

    Thanks! I will pay closer attention to the 'cooked' 'raw' in the food database. I just got a scale and started to weigh this past week. It was amazing how far off I was when guesstimating portions.....
  • LazSommer
    LazSommer Posts: 1,851 Member
    Tare function.
  • CatchMom11
    CatchMom11 Posts: 462 Member
    I've been using a food scale for a few years now and I've always weighed my meats once they are thawed. Frozen meat is heavier than raw meat. If an item already has a weight on it, it wouldn't hurt to measure it once just to see how accurate the packaging is. I've found that some companies are a little "generous" with the weight that they put on their packaging as well as how many servings are in a package.

    As for pasta, Pampered Chef has a great pasta measure for less than $10! It's the only accurate way that I've found to measure pasta other than weighing after cooking. However, the nutrition info is for uncooked pasta. https://www.pamperedchef.com/shop/Cook's+Tools/Prep+Tools/Pasta+Portioner/1027

    Also, at least once a year or maybe once every 6-months, it's a good idea to take something that has a definitive known weight and check to make sure your scale is accurate.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    I like that my scales display negative values, so that I can see what amount I take out, not just what I add (that can be too late).
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
    edited April 2016
    For pasta I usually just use a drinking glass (spaghetti) that I've tared on the scale. For other types of pasta I just use a plastic bowl
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    I like that my scales display negative values, so that I can see what amount I take out, not just what I add (that can be too late).

    That's what I was going to post. So simple, yet a lot of people don't think about it.

    If you want 14gr of peanut butter, put the jar on the scale, 0 it out, and take out till you have the negative amount.
  • brb_2013
    brb_2013 Posts: 1,197 Member
    smcrimmon84 wrote: »
    Putting a bowl (upside down) under a plate on the scale was game-changing for me! So more bending and struggling to see what the scale says bc the plate is hiding it! lol

    This is great! I am kicking myself for not thinking of it... wow. I feel dumb!

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