Questions about weighing food.

Melis6510 · January 2017

Hi, I have not been very active on these boards but I'm really trying to stay the course and have some questions.

Do I weigh padta raw or cooked?

When food comes wrapped in individual portios, do you still weigh it?

Do things like peanut butter, applesauce, light mayo, etc; get weighed or measured?

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

serindipte · January 2017

I weigh everything raw when possible. When I'm making pasta for the family, I weigh it before and after, then I know what ratio I'm eating from the raw eight. (If I cook 112g raw, then I weigh after and know I have half, so it was 56g raw)

Yes, I weigh individual portions. They are often off by 20-30%.

Yes, I weigh peanut butter, mayo, etc. When spreading PB on bread, I set the jar on the scale and zero it, pull out the part I want and spread it, lick the knife, and the negative number on the scale is the amount I used.

Here's a video that further explains how/why to weigh everything, including prepackaged:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnnpUYmr0OM

LisaMoxon155 · January 2017

Yep i weigh everything. Raw ideally. I make pasta salad for 3 days at a time. So i weigh before and weigh after. As different numbers.

seska422 · January 2017

Pasta should be weighed dry.

I do still weigh when the portions are individually wrapped. The nutritional information will show how many grams a serving is supposed to be and that can vary from the actual weight by as much as 20%.

For items in a jar that have the serving size listed in grams, the easiest thing to do is put the jar on the scale, tare the scale (zero it out), get how much you want out of the jar, and then put the jar back on the scale. This will show how many grams you removed from the jar. If the serving size is shown in ml, you can use measuring cups/spoons or weigh it with the knowledge that you are just getting a ballpark amount because only water has g=ml.

Francl27 · January 2017

I weigh everything I can raw as well, but especially pasta, rice, etc (those two I weigh cooked again so I can figure out how much a cooked serving weighs). Meat and veggies, I'll do raw if possible, cooked if not, I just make sure to use a raw or cooked usda entry (I don't do that with rice and pasta because they are not accurate).

For food that comes in individual portions, it really depends. Yogurt cups are always under in my experience, so I don't bother. The other stuff, it's worth weighing a few times to make sure it's not completely off (I've had some very bad 50+ calories surprises)... but for 200+ calorie stuff, it's worth weighing because even if it's only 10% over, that's still 20 extra calories.

I always weigh condiments and nut butters, at least the higher calorie stuff (I eyeball ketchup or mustard because I'm not bothering for 10 calories though).

StaciMarie1974 · January 2017

If the nutrition label lists grams, then weigh it. That would include peanut butter, mayo, etc.

Prepackaged things especially should be weighed. In my experience they rarely weigh what the 'serving size' says they should.

Weigh raw whenever possible. And choose a raw entry in the database. For something like pasta this is especially important because you may drain it more or less than someone else, and the amount of water absorbed affects the weight but not the calories. As others have suggested, if you're making for more than what you are going to eat in the next meal, get before & after weights then you can adjust for your portion.

lobi77 wrote: »

Hi, I have not been very active on these boards but I'm really trying to stay the course and have some questions.

Do I weigh padta raw or cooked?

When food comes wrapped in individual portios, do you still weigh it?

Do things like peanut butter, applesauce, light mayo, etc; get weighed or measured?

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

Melis6510 · February 2017

Thanks you all for being sohelpful. One more question, when a serving of pasta is 2oz., do they mean raw or cooked? I have been diing cooked but it seems like such s tiny bit.

seska422 · February 2017

lobi77 wrote: »

Thanks you all for being sohelpful. One more question, when a serving of pasta is 2oz., do they mean raw or cooked? I have been diing cooked but it seems like such s tiny bit.

It's likely raw.

Look at the box. If the serving size is 2 oz and there are 8 servings in the box and the box weighs 16 oz, you know that the serving size is for the raw weight.

serindipte · February 2017

The 2 oz pasta serving is weighed raw. The cooked weight will vary based on how long you cooked it and how well it's drained. That's why I always weigh raw.

deannalfisher · February 2017

a trick for peanut butter and similar - put the jar on your scale, TARE (zero) it out and then remove a portion until the negative number equals the serving size

so if a serving is 39g - then when your scale says -39 you have removed enough from the jar

serindipte · February 2017

deannalfisher wrote: »

a trick for peanut butter and similar - put the jar on your scale, TARE (zero) it out and then remove a portion until the negative number equals the serving size

so if a serving is 39g - then when your scale says -39 you have removed enough from the jar

I do similar, but I don't worry about what it says a "serving size" is. I get what I want, then use that -g number as the weight I've eaten.

callsitlikeiseeit · February 2017

weigh solids. measure liquids.

foods are weighed raw.

Tacklewasher · February 2017

Except bacon. Weigh bacon cooked. There are some other foods that should be weighed cooked as well, but it does depend on what the label is based on.

Questions about weighing food.

Replies

Categories