measure pasta before or after cooking?

WeddedBliss1992
WeddedBliss1992 Posts: 414 Member
edited November 16 in Food and Nutrition
the pasta i bought says that 2 oz is a serving size, but it doesn't specify if this is pre-cooked measure, or after cooking. which do you use? most of my other foods will indicate.
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Replies

  • WickedPineapple
    WickedPineapple Posts: 698 Member
    Measure pasta before boiling.
  • megomerrett
    megomerrett Posts: 442 Member
    75g dry or 180g wet.
  • ainarsraciks
    ainarsraciks Posts: 166 Member
    It's gonna weight more when it is cooked so if you wanna save up few calories, just in case it's not listed for cooked, measure when cooked. If you measure when cooked you may ingest fever calories than intended but you will not ingest more than intended.

  • WeddedBliss1992
    WeddedBliss1992 Posts: 414 Member
    thanks everyone :)
  • KaneNLN
    KaneNLN Posts: 39 Member
    weigh it dry.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    The
    ainarsraciks wrote: »
    It's gonna weight more when it is cooked so if you wanna save up few calories, just in case it's not listed for cooked, measure when cooked. If you measure when cooked you may ingest fever calories than intended but you will not ingest more than intended.

    what is the point of weighing if you aren't going to do it correctly?
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    The
    ainarsraciks wrote: »
    It's gonna weight more when it is cooked so if you wanna save up few calories, just in case it's not listed for cooked, measure when cooked. If you measure when cooked you may ingest fever calories than intended but you will not ingest more than intended.
    what is the point of weighing if you aren't going to do it correctly?
    You can't weigh the food before it is cooked if you don't cook it. Weighing a cooked item and then using the nutritional info for the pre-cooked item will guarantee that you are underestimating. I would much rather underestimate than overestimate.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    edited April 2015
    seska422 wrote: »
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    The
    ainarsraciks wrote: »
    It's gonna weight more when it is cooked so if you wanna save up few calories, just in case it's not listed for cooked, measure when cooked. If you measure when cooked you may ingest fever calories than intended but you will not ingest more than intended.
    what is the point of weighing if you aren't going to do it correctly?
    You can't weigh the food before it is cooked if you don't cook it. Weighing a cooked item and then using the nutritional info for the pre-cooked item will guarantee that you are underestimating. I would much rather underestimate than overestimate.

    I'm not really sure what you are saying. If you are planning to eat the pasta uncooked, then it would impossible to weigh it cooked.

    If you weigh it properly (uncooked) the calories shouldn't change when it's cooked, unless you cook it something that contains calories (like say, drunken pasta).

    But, if cook in water then weigh it cooked, but use the uncooked calories you are purposedly falsifying the calories. That's not overestimating. You are weighing water and assigning calories as if it were pasta. So, I do not see the point in wasting time weighing or logging.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    seska422 wrote: »
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    The
    ainarsraciks wrote: »
    It's gonna weight more when it is cooked so if you wanna save up few calories, just in case it's not listed for cooked, measure when cooked. If you measure when cooked you may ingest fever calories than intended but you will not ingest more than intended.
    what is the point of weighing if you aren't going to do it correctly?
    You can't weigh the food before it is cooked if you don't cook it. Weighing a cooked item and then using the nutritional info for the pre-cooked item will guarantee that you are underestimating. I would much rather underestimate than overestimate.

    I'm not really sure what you are saying. If you are planning to eat the pasta uncooked, then it would impossible to weigh it cooked.

    If you weigh it properly (uncooked) the calories shouldn't change when it's cooked, unless you cook it something that contains calories (like say, drunken pasta).

    But, if cook in water then weigh it cooked, but use the uncooked calories you are purposedly falsifying the calories. That's not overestimating. You are weighing water and assigning calories as if it were pasta. So, I do not see the point in wasting time weighing or logging.
    Let's say I brought leftover pasta home from a party. I have a bowl of cooked pasta. I never had access to it in order to measure it before it was cooked.

    I need to estimate how many calories are in that pasta. I can make a wild guess or I can measure what I have. After I measure what I have, I'm stuck guessing how much of that is water from the cooking process. Water increases the weight without adding calories so weighing after cooking and then using the pre-cooked nutritional value means that I'm underestimating. I know that I'm recording more calories than my serving contains and that's better than recording fewer calories than I'm actually eating.

    Since I'm trying to lose weight, my main concern is that I don't overestimate.
  • WeddedBliss1992
    WeddedBliss1992 Posts: 414 Member
    wow.
    now i have no clue what to do! LOL

    i can just use a separate pan for my pasta, measure out 2 oz of dry, cook in separate pan than the rest of the family's, then eat mine. it will be interesting to measure it after i cook it, and see the post-cooked weight in ounces as compared to the pre-cooked weight.

    i have so many "extra" calories today, it won't really matter, but it might on another day.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited April 2015
    WeddedBliss1992 wrote: »
    wow.
    now i have no clue what to do! LOL

    i can just use a separate pan for my pasta, measure out 2 oz of dry, cook in separate pan than the rest of the family's, then eat mine. it will be interesting to measure it after i cook it, and see the post-cooked weight in ounces as compared to the pre-cooked weight.

    i have so many "extra" calories today, it won't really matter, but it might on another day.
    If you are doing the cooking, measure before you cook. That's the value you want. It's just that you can't always get that value unless you are the cook. ;)

    Cooking yours separately so that you know exactly how much your serving weighed before you cooked it is ideal.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    seska422 wrote: »
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    seska422 wrote: »
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    The
    ainarsraciks wrote: »
    It's gonna weight more when it is cooked so if you wanna save up few calories, just in case it's not listed for cooked, measure when cooked. If you measure when cooked you may ingest fever calories than intended but you will not ingest more than intended.
    what is the point of weighing if you aren't going to do it correctly?
    You can't weigh the food before it is cooked if you don't cook it. Weighing a cooked item and then using the nutritional info for the pre-cooked item will guarantee that you are underestimating. I would much rather underestimate than overestimate.

    I'm not really sure what you are saying. If you are planning to eat the pasta uncooked, then it would impossible to weigh it cooked.

    If you weigh it properly (uncooked) the calories shouldn't change when it's cooked, unless you cook it something that contains calories (like say, drunken pasta).

    But, if cook in water then weigh it cooked, but use the uncooked calories you are purposedly falsifying the calories. That's not overestimating. You are weighing water and assigning calories as if it were pasta. So, I do not see the point in wasting time weighing or logging.
    Let's say I brought leftover pasta home from a party. I have a bowl of cooked pasta. I never had access to it in order to measure it before it was cooked.

    I need to estimate how many calories are in that pasta. I can make a wild guess or I can measure what I have. After I measure what I have, I'm stuck guessing how much of that is water from the cooking process. Water increases the weight without adding calories so weighing after cooking and then using the pre-cooked nutritional value means that I'm underestimating. I know that I'm recording more calories than my serving contains and that's better than recording fewer calories than I'm actually eating.

    Since I'm trying to lose weight, my main concern is that I don't overestimate.

    Oh, I see. That's totally not what was asked about in the OP, but yeah, guessimate is the best you can do with food prepared by others.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    WeddedBliss1992 wrote: »
    wow.
    now i have no clue what to do! LOL

    i can just use a separate pan for my pasta, measure out 2 oz of dry, cook in separate pan than the rest of the family's, then eat mine. it will be interesting to measure it after i cook it, and see the post-cooked weight in ounces as compared to the pre-cooked weight.

    i have so many "extra" calories today, it won't really matter, but it might on another day.

    This might be a good idea. Once you've cooked 2 oz of pasta a few times, you'll get pretty good at eye-balling what it looks like cooked so you don't have to cook it separately. Also, if you know you cooked 6 oz total, then 2 oz would be 1/3 of the whole pan, so you could measure it out that way if cooked together.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I just weigh it all dry, figure out how many servings it is, then weigh it cooked and figure out how many grams a serving is.

    For what it's worth, I need 1.5 serving of pasta to be satisfied as a main course.
  • alicaramik2
    alicaramik2 Posts: 71 Member
    I made this mistake in the beginning. Two ounces of cooked pasta is such a tiny amount, I almost gave up on ever having it again. Two ounces of dry pasta is a pretty reasonable amount (still a whole lot less than I used to eat) so that makes my Italian heart happy. One thing I have been doing is using a different shapes pasta for myself. That way I don't have to cook it separately. For example, penne for me and spaghetti for everyone else. It's easy to pull out my serving without having to re-measure after cooking.
  • MamaJ1974
    MamaJ1974 Posts: 443 Member
    alicaramik2 wrote: »
    I made this mistake in the beginning. Two ounces of cooked pasta is such a tiny amount, I almost gave up on ever having it again. Two ounces of dry pasta is a pretty reasonable amount (still a whole lot less than I used to eat) so that makes my Italian heart happy. One thing I have been doing is using a different shapes pasta for myself. That way I don't have to cook it separately. For example, penne for me and spaghetti for everyone else. It's easy to pull out my serving without having to re-measure after cooking.

    That is very clever.
  • SyntonicGarden
    SyntonicGarden Posts: 944 Member
    Weighing it when it's been cooked is silly. Pasta absorbs water. Al dente pasta will have less water than over-cooked pasta. Weigh it before. And +1 for different shapes. ;)

    Personally, with stuff like this, I weigh it all after it's cooked, then weigh my own portion. Then I say "If it's 16 oz cooked, and I took 4 oz, then I took 1/5 of the box." Then I use that math to figure out what the dry weight was. Proportions and whatnot.
  • WeddedBliss1992
    WeddedBliss1992 Posts: 414 Member
    me thinks i shall not be making pasta much :p
  • lmr0528
    lmr0528 Posts: 427 Member
    For pasta, definitely weigh before cooking since it soaks up all the water.
  • boredlimodriver
    boredlimodriver Posts: 264 Member
    hahaha. potatoes.

    weigh it dry
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    edited April 2015
    alicaramik2 wrote: »
    I made this mistake in the beginning. Two ounces of cooked pasta is such a tiny amount, I almost gave up on ever having it again. Two ounces of dry pasta is a pretty reasonable amount (still a whole lot less than I used to eat) so that makes my Italian heart happy. One thing I have been doing is using a different shapes pasta for myself. That way I don't have to cook it separately. For example, penne for me and spaghetti for everyone else. It's easy to pull out my serving without having to re-measure after cooking.

    Oh wow that sounds like a pain to have to dig through all the pasta to find your shapes, lol. I'd rather just use another pan.
    SyntonicGarden wrote: »
    Weighing it when it's been cooked is silly. Pasta absorbs water. Al dente pasta will have less water than over-cooked pasta. Weigh it before. And +1 for different shapes. ;)

    Personally, with stuff like this, I weigh it all after it's cooked, then weigh my own portion. Then I say "If it's 16 oz cooked, and I took 4 oz, then I took 1/5 of the box." Then I use that math to figure out what the dry weight was. Proportions and whatnot.

    Got to weigh it before though. The box weight is never accurate.
  • SophiaSerrao
    SophiaSerrao Posts: 234 Member
    WeddedBliss1992 wrote: »
    me thinks i shall not be making pasta much :p

    lol, too much math for pasta haha = )

    I think that when you log it, you can search for pasta "raw" or "boiled". So as long as you use the entry you weighed, you should be fine. (That would mean using a generic search instead of the one on your container, but I doubt the difference is too noticeable :))
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    alicaramik2 wrote: »
    I made this mistake in the beginning. Two ounces of cooked pasta is such a tiny amount, I almost gave up on ever having it again. Two ounces of dry pasta is a pretty reasonable amount (still a whole lot less than I used to eat) so that makes my Italian heart happy. One thing I have been doing is using a different shapes pasta for myself. That way I don't have to cook it separately. For example, penne for me and spaghetti for everyone else. It's easy to pull out my serving without having to re-measure after cooking.

    Oh wow that sounds like a pain to have to dig through all the pasta to find your shapes, lol. I'd rather just use another pan.

    I thought the same thing.
  • gramarye
    gramarye Posts: 586 Member
    alicaramik2 wrote: »
    I made this mistake in the beginning. Two ounces of cooked pasta is such a tiny amount, I almost gave up on ever having it again. Two ounces of dry pasta is a pretty reasonable amount (still a whole lot less than I used to eat) so that makes my Italian heart happy.

    Same here. I was so disheartened until I realized I was supposed to measure my pasta dry (and, tangentially, my meat raw). Every pasta box I have specifies that the serving is 2 oz dry, and about 1 cup cooked. I much prefer measuring to "about 1 cup.)

    But seconding that as long as you choose a consistent measurement (i.e. always selecting "angel hair pasta cooked"), it should balance out. It still won't be as accurate, I would think, but close enough.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    WeddedBliss1992 wrote: »
    me thinks i shall not be making pasta much :p

    I live in Italy and make pasta everyday in hundreds of different ways and forms. Here, 100g dry, is a portion. I always make mine separately in a small pan, and often make 50 or 70g for myself. I also am careful of how much sauce I put on, whereas the family (all males) can eat alot more. This is what works for me. Pasta is so good! I hope you don't decide to give it up. :)
  • eba2003
    eba2003 Posts: 43 Member
    You weigh it dry/uncooked. Trust me, I'm Italian, living in Italy.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    WeddedBliss1992 wrote: »
    the pasta i bought says that 2 oz is a serving size, but it doesn't specify if this is pre-cooked measure, or after cooking. which do you use? most of my other foods will indicate.

    that is dry...before cooking.
  • bennettinfinity
    bennettinfinity Posts: 865 Member
    Weigh it dry.

    When cooking for more than one, weigh the pasta again *after* cooking (to determine total cooked weight - not for logging), then weigh out your portion (to determine the percentage of the total you are eating), then use that percentage against the total *DRY* weight, and you have the calories for your portion - no need to cook separately or use different shapes.
  • sharlenethornton
    sharlenethornton Posts: 2
    2oz of dry spaghetti is approximately one cup cooked.
  • maxit
    maxit Posts: 880 Member
    I weigh and cook 6 oz of pasta. I weigh the cooked pasta (colander first, tare, then with pasta) and eat a third of the cooked pasta by weight. It's not as cumbersome as it sounds lol
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