measuring a serving of peanut butter
ecjim
Posts: 1,001 Member
I like peanut butter - crunchy - natural - with salt - It says on the jar 2 Tbsp =a serving = 190 cals + some protein. OK a Tbsp is a Tablespoon - is that the smaller spoon ? or the bigger one ? When loading the peanut butter on the spoon , would that be a level spoon full, a slightly heaping spoonful , or all the peanut butter I can possibly load on to the spoon with out it falling on the floor? I tend to go with option #3 because I do like peanut butter. So would that count as my 2 Tbsp?
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Replies
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Get a scale...measuring spoons or just using ordinary spoons as measures are usually pretty inaccurate...I sure had my eyes opened with protein powder/pb powder and really, everything!
28 grams = 2 tablespoons4 -
The container has a gram-value of the tablespoon. 2 Tbsp is 30 grams. Use a kitchen scale. Weigh your naked bread. Spread your peanut butter on it. Weigh your sandwich. The difference between the naked bread and the sandwich is the peanut butter. Log it.2
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Measuring spoons are specific sizes and are labeled. Tbsp have 3 times more volume than tsp. If you used a measuring spoon, the contents would need to be leveled rather than heaping.
The best way to determine how much you get is to use a food scale. Weighing is much more accurate and there's less to clean.
Put the jar on the scale, tare the scale (zero it out), remove the amount of peanut butter that you want, and then put the jar back on the scale. The negative number will be how many grams you removed.8 -
Get a scale...measuring spoons or just using ordinary spoons as measures are usually pretty inaccurate...I sure had my eyes opened with protein powder/pb powder and really, everything!
28 grams = 2 tablespoons
So much this.
Put the jar on the scale without the lid, tare (zero) the scale, then scoop out -30g.0 -
JeromeBarry1 wrote: »The container has a gram-value of the tablespoon. 2 Tbsp is 30 grams. Use a kitchen scale. Weigh your naked bread. Spread your peanut butter on it. Weigh your sandwich. The difference between the naked bread and the sandwich is the peanut butter. Log it.
But then you have unaccounted for Pb on the knife.... Don't know about you, but that would be going in my mouth too.
It's easier to put the jar on the scale, tare it and take out the amount you want. Whatever is left on the knife/spoon is all yours!14 -
Weigh it in grams - and be prepared for one of the biggest disappointments in your life when you discover what a "serving" of peanut butter actually is.
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Measuring spoons are specific sizes and are labeled. Tbsp have 3 times more volume than tsp. If you used a measuring spoon, the contents would need to be leveled rather than heaping.
The best way to determine how much you get is to use a food scale. Weighing is much more accurate and there's less to clean.
Put the jar on the scale, tare the scale (zero it out), remove the amount of peanut butter that you want, and then put the jar back on the scale. The negative number will be how many grams you removed.
^^ that.
/thread1 -
Get a scale0
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I refuse to get a scale/weigh my food. I use a tbsp measuring spoon and level it off with a knife.17
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BlessedMom70 wrote: »I refuse to get a scale/weigh my food. I use a tbsp measuring spoon and level it off with a knife.
Why do you 'refuse' in getting a scale. Believe me, my eyes were sure opened with many things I thought were 1 tbsp...and clearly turned out to be quite not!9 -
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BlessedMom70 wrote: »I refuse to get a scale/weigh my food. I use a tbsp measuring spoon and level it off with a knife.
What’d a scale ever do to you besides increase calorie counting accuracy?15 -
BlessedMom70 wrote: »I refuse to get a scale/weigh my food. I use a tbsp measuring spoon and level it off with a knife.
That is totally your call but, if you ever hit a plateau and can't work out why because you are measuring everything, this would be why.
Edited to add that scales = fewer dishes as you are not having to wash all those measuring cups and spoons.10 -
BlessedMom70 wrote: »I refuse to get a scale/weigh my food. I use a tbsp measuring spoon and level it off with a knife.
Is that because you get more, or because it's more work?9 -
Because it hasn't been posted yet.
https://youtu.be/bnnpUYmr0OM
There are a lot of videos on youtube and elsewhere showing the difference between scale weight and measuring weights.4 -
BlessedMom70 wrote: »I refuse to get a scale/weigh my food. I use a tbsp measuring spoon and level it off with a knife.
That's a good way to accidentally eat way more peanut butter -- or any other calorie dense food -- than you think you're eating.2 -
BlessedMom70 wrote: »I refuse to get a scale/weigh my food. I use a tbsp measuring spoon and level it off with a knife.
Because it's so much fun to clean pb out of measuring spoons?
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BlessedMom70 wrote: »I refuse to get a scale/weigh my food. I use a tbsp measuring spoon and level it off with a knife.
OK.
A scale takes less time, dirties fewer dishes, and is more accurate. Decent ones are cheap. I see no practical down-side (other than the peanut-butter-serving sadness thing).
Some people find that using a scale, along with certain other common weight-loss practices, can risk reawakening past eating disorders. They should probably avoid using a food scale, unless they have proper professional support.
But using a food scale doesn't normally provoke compulsions or dysfunctions in otherwise psychologically even-keel people, any more than cups/spoons do. It's just a tool, not a demon.
But feel free to do you, for sure.5 -
Scoop peanut butter into a container on a food scale. Measure it. Cry.1
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When I do eat PB, I usually have bread on the scale already and scoop it from the PB jar onto the bread on the scale that I've tared.0
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I like peanut butter - crunchy - natural - with salt - It says on the jar 2 Tbsp =a serving = 190 cals + some protein. OK a Tbsp is a Tablespoon - is that the smaller spoon ? or the bigger one ? When loading the peanut butter on the spoon , would that be a level spoon full, a slightly heaping spoonful , or all the peanut butter I can possibly load on to the spoon with out it falling on the floor? I tend to go with option #3 because I do like peanut butter. So would that count as my 2 Tbsp?
As many others have said, the only way to be accurate with peanut butter (and other semi solids like mayonnaise, butter, and mustard) is to weigh it.
My preferred way to weigh peanut butter is to put the jar on the scale, hit "tare" and then remove the amount I want. The amount is shown as a negative number but it is just as accurate. It also accounts for the PB I licked off the spoon or knife. The only time I weigh it into a cup is when I make my groundnut stew and need 3/4 cup of it.2 -
I put a paper towel and empty spoon on the food scale, zero it out. Then put the PB on the spoon and weigh again. I'm looking for 28-33g and log it as the 33g serving.
I try to leave margin, so I'm not looking to go all the way to 33g every time I get a spoon of PB.
What doesn't get on the bread or on the plate with apple slices is licked off the spoon of course.
The paper towel becomes my napkin for the snack.4 -
I'm surprised by the number of people saying a tbsp of peanut butter is much less than they thought. I use bread slices that are smaller than normal (Silver Hills Little Big Bread) and I find I have a hard time getting 15g worth onto my toast. I estimated for the longest time, then decided maybe I should be weighing it, just to be sure, and was pleasantly surprised to discover I was eating less than a tbsp rather than the more I expected while estimating. You guys just need to switch your bread LOL0
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born_of_fire74 wrote: »I'm surprised by the number of people saying a tbsp of peanut butter is much less than they thought. I use bread slices that are smaller than normal (Silver Hills Little Big Bread) and I find I have a hard time getting 15g worth onto my toast. I estimated for the longest time, then decided maybe I should be weighing it, just to be sure, and was pleasantly surprised to discover I was eating less than a tbsp rather than the more I expected while estimating. You guys just need to switch your bread LOL
some of us tend to trowel the PB on pretty thick2 -
Good information shared here!0
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born_of_fire74 wrote: »I'm surprised by the number of people saying a tbsp of peanut butter is much less than they thought. I use bread slices that are smaller than normal (Silver Hills Little Big Bread) and I find I have a hard time getting 15g worth onto my toast. I estimated for the longest time, then decided maybe I should be weighing it, just to be sure, and was pleasantly surprised to discover I was eating less than a tbsp rather than the more I expected while estimating. You guys just need to switch your bread LOL
some of us tend to trowel the PB on pretty thick
It's no good if it's so thick that the heat of the toast doesn't get it all melty2 -
born_of_fire74 wrote: »born_of_fire74 wrote: »I'm surprised by the number of people saying a tbsp of peanut butter is much less than they thought. I use bread slices that are smaller than normal (Silver Hills Little Big Bread) and I find I have a hard time getting 15g worth onto my toast. I estimated for the longest time, then decided maybe I should be weighing it, just to be sure, and was pleasantly surprised to discover I was eating less than a tbsp rather than the more I expected while estimating. You guys just need to switch your bread LOL
some of us tend to trowel the PB on pretty thick
It's no good if it's so thick that the heat of the toast doesn't get it all melty
Pththth!
As some one who can destroy a jar of peanut butter in one sitting with nothing but a spoon, I had to change my perception of how much peanut butter fits on a piece of bread in order to get my calories in line. I mean, I used to feel like the depth of a hamburger patty was fair game, if you could manage to keep it in there.
OP, weigh it, it's calorie dense. At least at first, to see if like @born_of_fire74 you typically were underestimating. I find putting the jar on the scale and scooping until you get to the # of grams you are logging is super easy.7 -
born_of_fire74 wrote: »born_of_fire74 wrote: »I'm surprised by the number of people saying a tbsp of peanut butter is much less than they thought. I use bread slices that are smaller than normal (Silver Hills Little Big Bread) and I find I have a hard time getting 15g worth onto my toast. I estimated for the longest time, then decided maybe I should be weighing it, just to be sure, and was pleasantly surprised to discover I was eating less than a tbsp rather than the more I expected while estimating. You guys just need to switch your bread LOL
some of us tend to trowel the PB on pretty thick
It's no good if it's so thick that the heat of the toast doesn't get it all melty
Ah, but for those of us who don't even bother with the toast/bread/crackers and instead go straight for the spoon... Yeah. It was enlightening. (I also discovered that sometimes, I *way* underestimated. That was nicer.)2 -
BlessedMom70 wrote: »I refuse to get a scale/weigh my food. I use a tbsp measuring spoon and level it off with a knife.
You should never measure solids by spoons or cups. Get a scale. It all adds up in the end. It really really adds up.
Never?
While I do agree using a good scale is a great tool, I don't see anything wrong with someone using spoons/cups as their tool of choice if they prefer it that way and they are reaching their goals (obviously if there are complaints of not losing then yes, I would recommend a scale to help increase accuracy). I don't use a scale or measuring cups.. I don't even log my food in here. I eyeball my peanut butter portion every morning unless I am baking. Different things work for different people3
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