Serving size

gallchristina8003
gallchristina8003 Posts: 1 Member
edited November 2024 in Recipes
How do you calculate a servings size when adding a manual recipe?

Replies

  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    i weight the final product and then make the serving size something easily measurable - ie. 1oz of final weight is a serving - then i can easily customize by how much i put on my plate
  • OldHobo
    OldHobo Posts: 647 Member
    edited December 2017
    Like Deanna said.
    To make it easier, I have a list of the tare weights for all my pots, pans, and other cooking vessels. Then I put a block of wood on the scale to protect it from the heat and weigh the finished dish as soon as it is done cooking; round down to the nearest whole ounce and that is the number of servings entered into the recipe calculator. To remind myself, I name the recipe, "... per oz."

    Given an inclination toward gluttony and more than a healthy appreciation of my own cooking, a different question pertinent to me, maybe not to you, is how many ounces should I eat.

    I find the NLEA entries in the USDA National Nutrient Database useful guidelines in that regard. Mind you, I might eat a lot more than the NLEA serving size, but I least I'm aware of it.
  • DaintyWhisper
    DaintyWhisper Posts: 221 Member
    edited December 2017
    It really helps if you're using a food scale to measure your food in grams or ounces/pounds. It also depends on what you're making and who you're making it for. For example, let's say you're making a pan of brownies and plan to eat them all yourself over the course of the next few days. You would weigh out all of your ingredients and manually add them to the recipe builder. Since you cut your pan of brownies into 12 pieces, you choose 12 servings. Even if some squares are bigger than others, you know that the calories will average out once you finish the batch.

    If you're going to share your brownies, I would measure the whole pan of brownies before cutting. It will keep your calorie count more accurate. If the entire pan of brownies weigh 600 grams and you cut it into 12 pieces, each serving size would be 50 grams. That way, when you weigh your brownie square and find that it weighs 40 grams, you know you're not eating quite a serving. 40g / 50g = 0.80 of a serving. If each serving was hypothetically 200 calories, you'd save yourself 40 calories (200x0.8 =160 calories)

    This is how I do it, anyway. It just depends how accurate you want to be. You can calculate almost any homemade meal this way. You choose the serving size. It requires a little bit of planning and measuring, but it's worth the extra time in my opinion.
  • ccruz985
    ccruz985 Posts: 646 Member
    Truthfully, I weigh everything as I'm making it, then I look at the finished product and think, how many of these can I put on my plate and count it as a serving? Five? Then it's five.
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