Weighing meat - raw vs. cooked

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shannonstube
shannonstube Posts: 64 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I know that the nutritional information provided for meat is typically based on the weight of the meat raw, but what do you do when you can't weigh the exact portion you are going to eat before cooking? For example, today I made a roast in the slow cooker. Obviously I will not be eating the whole roast. Is there some conversion for raw weight to cooked weight?

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  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    edited January 2015
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    There should be some food entries for beef, cooked. You just have to look closely and you want to find the ones without the asterisk [*] at the beginning. For example, in my frequent food diary entries I have:

    Beef - Ground, 90% lean meat / 10% fat, crumbles, cooked, pan-browned (hamburger)

    Beef - Loin, bottom sirloin butt, tri-tip steak, lean only, cooked, broiled

    Beef - Short loin, top loin, lean only, prime, cooked, broiled (Kansas City Strip, New York Strip, Club Steak)
  • Walter__
    Walter__ Posts: 518 Member
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    I'd rather weigh things raw. Cooked weight can vary so much depending on cooking method and doneness.

    If I make a big batch of something, I'd calculate it all raw then just portion it all out. So if I made a batch of something and it took me 3 days to finish.. I'd just portion the total raw calorie count it into thirds each day in my food log.
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
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    Most of the beef sold for roast in my area is chuck. If my roomie cooks it and I have not had a chance to weigh it raw, I will use the non-asterisked entries for cooked beef which correspond to the USDA Foods List database. Search MFP for "Beef - chuck, cooked." Notice that the non-asterisked entries generally have serving units in ounces, pounds, grams, and kilograms.

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  • Elise4270
    Elise4270 Posts: 8,375 Member
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    Generally how much of a difference is there in cooked weights? Ive never differentiated, yet.
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
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    Elise4270 wrote: »
    Generally how much of a difference is there in cooked weights? Ive never differentiated, yet.
    I assume you mean the difference between raw versus cooked. There are too many variables, such as type of meat, moisture content, fat/oil content, and method of cooking to make a general comparison. Anecdotally, I have noticed that the weight of cooked meat is anywhere from 75% to 90% less than the weight of the raw meat prior to cooking.

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