Measuring food
Replies
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Please do not bake anything if that is your understanding. Pancakes and cookies would be a disaster!I don't get cups :-/ How big is a cup anyway?
If the ingredients for a recipe are all in Cups - then it doesn't matter what size cup you use - just use the same one.
I too wish for recipes given in grams for everything (even liquids-- I hate having to dirty another dish!), but "cup" is a standard measurement. It's half a pint, which is half a quart, which is (naturally) a quarter of a gallon. If you think standard measures are silly, I submit the ridiculous old British money system for your consideration.0 -
So, if it says a cup of green beans, do you put them on the scale until you get 8 oz?0
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Of course not. Dry weight ounces are not the same as liquid ounces. You have to take density into consideration.So, if it says a cup of green beans, do you put them on the scale until you get 8 oz?
I'm pretty sure a standard serving of vegetables (be it half a cup cooked or 1 cup raw) can be equated to 3 ounces by weight (or about 85 grams). That's what I use, so shooting for 5 a day means just shy of a pound of fruit and veg a day. That seems reasonable enough for good health.
Australia uses "2 and 5 serves" and gives weight equivalents: http://www.gofor2and5.com.au/WhatisaServe/tabid/56/Default.aspx
Guess I need to eat more fruit! Oh, darn. :laugh:0 -
If its something you can mush down, then you shouldn't be using cups, tsp, etc. as those are for measuring liquids. It will not give you accurate results. Digital food scale for anything that can be measured by weight.
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This sounds like me. We have a dry erase board in the kitchen for taking notes - and then I log in MFP.I'm kinda annoying about measuring, but if it was homemade mashed potatoes, I'd weigh everything separately (potatoes, butter, etc), and then mix them.....then I'd weigh the whole batch (making sure you subtract the bowl), then take out my portion and do the math lol....it's complicated but more accurate.
I use cups and spoons rarely for measuring....usually my scale. Today I made shepherds pie and it was a bunch of measuring and writing down exact amounts. Then I added it all up and divided the pie by 6, and the total calories by 6...time consuming, yes, but makes me happy lol.0 -
Please do not bake anything if that is your understanding. Pancakes and cookies would be a disaster!I don't get cups :-/ How big is a cup anyway?
If the ingredients for a recipe are all in Cups - then it doesn't matter what size cup you use - just use the same one.
I fully support your right to be wrong0 -
Are you for real? What happens when your recipe calls for 1.5 cups of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1.5 tablespoons baking powder and a cup of milk and you use just any old cup for the measurement? The proportions would be all wrong.
Please do not bake anything if that is your understanding. Pancakes and cookies would be a disaster!I don't get cups :-/ How big is a cup anyway?
If the ingredients for a recipe are all in Cups - then it doesn't matter what size cup you use - just use the same one.
I fully support your right to be wrong0 -
Are you for real? What happens when your recipe calls for 1.5 cups of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1.5 tablespoons baking powder and a cup of milk and you use just any old cup for the measurement? The proportions would be all wrong.
Please do not bake anything if that is your understanding. Pancakes and cookies would be a disaster!I don't get cups :-/ How big is a cup anyway?
If the ingredients for a recipe are all in Cups - then it doesn't matter what size cup you use - just use the same one.
I fully support your right to be wrong
I'm waiting to hear the answer too lol....0 -
Are you for real? What happens when your recipe calls for 1.5 cups of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1.5 tablespoons baking powder and a cup of milk and you use just any old cup for the measurement? The proportions would be all wrong.
Please do not bake anything if that is your understanding. Pancakes and cookies would be a disaster!I don't get cups :-/ How big is a cup anyway?
If the ingredients for a recipe are all in Cups - then it doesn't matter what size cup you use - just use the same one.
I fully support your right to be wrong
I'm waiting to hear the answer too lol....
did you read my post properly <<If the ingredients for a recipe are all in Cups ->> did you see the ALL CUPS? I guess not0 -
i throw everything on the food scale, even the semi-liquid stuff like mousse and sour cream, almost-melted ice cream as well. it is indeed a good investment.0
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Fair enough. :drinker: Good luck with your measuring 5/1000 of a "cup" of salt.
Are you for real? What happens when your recipe calls for 1.5 cups of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1.5 tablespoons baking powder and a cup of milk and you use just any old cup for the measurement? The proportions would be all wrong.
Please do not bake anything if that is your understanding. Pancakes and cookies would be a disaster!I don't get cups :-/ How big is a cup anyway?
If the ingredients for a recipe are all in Cups - then it doesn't matter what size cup you use - just use the same one.
I fully support your right to be wrong
I'm waiting to hear the answer too lol....
did you read my post properly <<If the ingredients for a recipe are all in Cups ->> did you see the ALL CUPS? I guess not0 -
All these quotes are a pain.
That's a good point but would screw up my recipe...
oh and salt is bad for you ...... whoops different thread0 -
I dont measure food. I overestimate where appropriate.
Ditto. Occasionally I will measure (scooping out dry cereal for example) but I am faced with too many times and circumstances I CAN'T measure and I want to be able to eat appropriately by eyeing it.0 -
I use a food scale for measuring solids and measuring cups for liquids. I got my food scale for less than $7.00 including shipping, on ebay.
Food scale it is for everything. Keeps me honest. I use a postal scale actually.0 -
I weight my foods and my liquids (if water like) - I weight because it means that i don't dirty another container, so i put the glass on the food scales - re-zero then pour in the wine/beer/milk
i then work out the volume of water (and water like liquids) based on 1kg-1l which is reasonable since the volumetric entry in the database is likely to assume a std room temperature0 -
Are you for real? What happens when your recipe calls for 1.5 cups of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1.5 tablespoons baking powder and a cup of milk and you use just any old cup for the measurement? The proportions would be all wrong.
Please do not bake anything if that is your understanding. Pancakes and cookies would be a disaster!I don't get cups :-/ How big is a cup anyway?
If the ingredients for a recipe are all in Cups - then it doesn't matter what size cup you use - just use the same one.
I fully support your right to be wrong
I'm waiting to hear the answer too lol....
did you read my post properly <<If the ingredients for a recipe are all in Cups ->> did you see the ALL CUPS? I guess not
Well, your recipe would come out all right (probably), but wouldn't your serving sizes and nutrition be off?0 -
The food scale is my best friend for all meals and recipes, also use a white board when baking or cooking. Also went to the dollar store and bought 5 sets of measuring spoons and cups, so when cooking I don't have to stop and wash out the one I have used. Saves a little time.0
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Well, your recipe would come out all right (probably), but wouldn't your serving sizes and nutrition be off?
Depends how many folks you're cooking for0 -
^this is a great video showing why you should weigh your food instead of using measuring cups for solids.0 -
I'm kinda annoying about measuring, but if it was homemade mashed potatoes, I'd weigh everything separately (potatoes, butter, etc), and then mix them.....then I'd weigh the whole batch (making sure you subtract the bowl), then take out my portion and do the math lol....it's complicated but more accurate.
I use cups and spoons rarely for measuring....usually my scale. Today I made shepherds pie and it was a bunch of measuring and writing down exact amounts. Then I added it all up and divided the pie by 6, and the total calories by 6...time consuming, yes, but makes me happy lol.
I do the same thing on paper and then on the recipe make on here. xD
Glad I'm not the only one who does this.
I do this but divide by the total weight of the finished product. Then I serve myself XX amount of grams--> therefore XX servings. MFP calculates everything for me. If I say 6 servings, I don't know if my 1 serving is actually 1/6th of the total (other family eats the rest), so I like to do it my way. If you are the only one eating the 6 servings and they are all about the same size, it likely doesn't matter how many calories each serving is.
I am so very glad I found this - I have printed this out and will use this method from here on out when trying to figure out a serving size!0 -
Well, your recipe would come out all right (probably), but wouldn't your serving sizes and nutrition be off?
Depends how many folks you're cooking for
Not really. If a recipe calls for, say, 1 cup of flour and you're using a cup that fits 2 cups, if you log that as 1 cup then you're getting double the calories you think you're eating, no matter how many servings you split that into. There's no way around that unless you actually know how many cups your vessel holds. Which requires you to use a standard size cup somewhere in the process.0 -
Considering that baking involves chemical reactions (salt, sugar, baking powder, etc.), I must once again call for the rational solution - when you're doing science, use science. Which means we should be weighing instead of measuring in "cups" regardless of their standardization.
Well, your recipe would come out all right (probably), but wouldn't your serving sizes and nutrition be off?
Depends how many folks you're cooking for
Not really. If a recipe calls for, say, 1 cup of flour and you're using a cup that fits 2 cups, if you log that as 1 cup then you're getting double the calories you think you're eating, no matter how many servings you split that into. There's no way around that unless you actually know how many cups your vessel holds. Which requires you to use a standard size cup somewhere in the process. 0 -
Newbie here and I am confused, When it comes to measuring dry foods (eg basmati rice, pasta) what is the measure of 1 cup. Is it 200gm? 175gm? I find the food I have (mostly south Indian) have there measurements given in cup in myfitnesspsl and not gm. I use a digital measuring scale for food so calculating the food intake in grams will be more helpful for me. Can someone pls clarify for me? TIA 0
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Newbie here and I am confused, When it comes to measuring dry foods (eg basmati rice, pasta) what is the measure of 1 cup. Is it 200gm? 175gm? I find the food I have (mostly south Indian) have there measurements given in cup in myfitnesspsl and not gm. I use a digital measuring scale for food so calculating the food intake in grams will be more helpful for me. Can someone pls clarify for me? TIA
And this is why we weigh and not measure solids. One person's cup is going to be another's 1 1/4 cups depending on their packing of the measuring cup or size of pieces. Weight is constant.
And I can guarantee my tablespoon of sunflower seed butter is going to be much more than 15g.0 -
Newbie here and I am confused, When it comes to measuring dry foods (eg basmati rice, pasta) what is the measure of 1 cup. Is it 200gm? 175gm? I find the food I have (mostly south Indian) have there measurements given in cup in myfitnesspsl and not gm. I use a digital measuring scale for food so calculating the food intake in grams will be more helpful for me. Can someone pls clarify for me? TIA
And this is why we weigh and not measure solids. One person's cup is going to be another's 1 1/4 cups depending on their packing of the measuring cup or size of pieces. Weight is constant.
And I can guarantee my tablespoon of sunflower seed butter is going to be much more than 15g.
To add: if you can only enter the food item in volume measurements, you need to search for a different food database entry that does allow you to log in weight.0 -
I use a scale - although I only log very loosely now as I have been happily maintaining for several years. Cuts, spoons etc are very inaccurate.0
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Food scale cuts way back on dishes too! I put my plate on the scale. Then I measure out an item. Hit zero. Measure the next item. Hit zero. Continue. You can quickly run out of tablespoon measures or 1/2 cups! Way easier for me. Tedious? Yes, but less so than with measuring devices.
Have you ever tried to measure a 1/2 cup serving of sticky rice?!? It's actually comical. Just weight it!0 -
Food scale cuts way back on dishes too! I put my plate on the scale. Then I measure out an item. Hit zero. Measure the next item. Hit zero. Continue. You can quickly run out of tablespoon measures or 1/2 cups! Way easier for me. Tedious? Yes, but less so than with measuring devices.
Have you ever tried to measure a 1/2 cup serving of sticky rice?!? It's actually comical. Just weight it!1 -
Food scale cuts way back on dishes too! I put my plate on the scale. Then I measure out an item. Hit zero. Measure the next item. Hit zero. Continue. You can quickly run out of tablespoon measures or 1/2 cups! Way easier for me. Tedious? Yes, but less so than with measuring devices.
Have you ever tried to measure a 1/2 cup serving of sticky rice?!? It's actually comical. Just weight it!0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
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