Dry or cooked weight?

awesomewastaken

Hi, me again with logging questions.

When measuring out food, should I enter the grams of the dry substance or after it has been cooked? I am steaming quinoa at the moment, the dry grains weighed 45 grams. Should I measure it again after it is done or just log the 45 grams?

diannethegeek

Generally speaking, the information on the nutrition label is for the raw or dry weight (unless the label specifies otherwise). Raw/dry will give you the more accurate information.

Some people need or prefer to weigh after cooking. If you choose to go that route, then just be sure that you're choosing an accurate entry in the database. Choose an entry that specifies cooking and choose one that uses the same cooking style that you used (ie. with meats especially you wouldn't choose a boiled entry if you grilled it, etc.)

autumnblade75

The dry weight is more accurate because you can't track how much water was absorbed and how much evaporated. Make sure the entry you log is for 45 grams of dry quinoa.

shadow2soul

If it's just for me, I weigh raw/dry unless otherwise specified on the label.

If it's a family meal I weigh the ingredients as I add them, add to recipe builder, then weigh the finished meal and divide by the number of servings I want it to be.