Logging ground beef

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baciodolce18
baciodolce18 Posts: 113 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a 2 part question. Recently my family was cooking ground beef for something and they know I count and log and we were talking about it and my step dad mentioned to consider in my count that he drained the beef after cooking. Which made me ask if other people didn't since I've only ever known to drain the fat after cooking and he said he thought maybe others didn't.

So now I'm curious- do you drain your ground beef after cooking?

And do the ground beef logs account for draining or no draining?

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    1. Depends on the cooking method
    2. Probably not drained, but I always log it raw anyway
  • hiyomi
    hiyomi Posts: 906 Member
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    We always drain ours, because we don't like a mouth full of grease lol But I still log the calories as what it says.
  • dlkfox
    dlkfox Posts: 463 Member
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    Go to the USDA database and find the raw data and the cooked data. I have two different entries for bacon that I use. I use the raw grams when I weigh ahead and use the grease. I use the cooked grams when I weigh after cooking and just eat the bacon and pour off the grease. Same idea for ground beef.
  • missh1967
    missh1967 Posts: 661 Member
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    This guy gives a quick How-to if the meat is cooked. Each video is about 45 seconds.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHd_pTLUEyo

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gATbqBXWyTU
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
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    I tend to buy ground beef at the level of fat I intend to use in the recipe, so typically I don't drain. I pick between 85% lean and 95% lean depending on how much fat I want to be in the final recipe. Typically I do 85% for things like burgers where the beef carries the flavor and doesn't have a separate sauce, but 95% for things where I'm going to add a sauce or heavy flavoring anyway.
  • markrgeary1
    markrgeary1 Posts: 853 Member
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    dlkfox wrote: »
    Go to the USDA database and find the raw data and the cooked data. I have two different entries for bacon that I use. I use the raw grams when I weigh ahead and use the grease. I use the cooked grams when I weigh after cooking and just eat the bacon and pour off the grease. Same idea for ground beef.

    I like the approach. If I eat raw burger use the raw weight/calories. If you eat it cooked use the cooked weight/calories. Same with bacon.
  • baciodolce18
    baciodolce18 Posts: 113 Member
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    I do always use the cooked entry for meat. The only time I use raw is if I'm building a recipe.
  • stephinator92
    stephinator92 Posts: 162 Member
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    baciodolce18 wrote: »
    I do always use the cooked entry for meat. The only time I use raw is if I'm building a recipe.

    Same. I also always buy lean meat so I don't have much to drain off but I log it and weigh it as I'm creating my plate of food so it's more accurate
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    There is an article w/ backup references on the calorie content of browned, drained, rinsed ground beef. I think its by the Hillbilly Housewife. Too lazy to look for it right now, but with Google you can probably find it. The general idea there is that the main difference between 70, 80, 90, etc. is the amount of ground beef that results from a pound of raw meat since you're draining, rinsing most of the fat away. I typically buy 80% lean and drain + rinse it for things like dirty rice, sloppy joes, etc. And log using a drained, rinsed entry for 70%. Figure that's a way to err on the side of caution.
  • MarquBboy
    MarquBboy Posts: 1 Member
    edited April 3
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    You could calculate it if you measure the weight of the fat you skimmed off. Say you bought 1000 g of lean ground beef. In Canada that this 17 percent maximum fat i.e. 83 percent lean. Say you skimmed off 85 g of beef fat. (Just put it in the freezer for while and only count the stuff that hardens.) So... 17 percent of 1000 g is 170 g. You removed 85 g. The final fat percentage is (170 - 85) / (1000 - 170 + 85) = 0.093 or 9.3 % fat which means 90.3 percent lean. I would then just take it to be extra lean which in Canada is 10 percent fat maximum or 90 percent lean. This is likely a fair adjustment which won't leave you over counting. I would rather beat my calorie goal fair and know what it feels like than over count and not know where I am at.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,140 Member
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    I only use ground beef in my chili recipe. I buy 93/7 ground and I use the raw wt. in the recipe, plus all the other ingredients.
  • csplatt
    csplatt Posts: 1,013 Member
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    While I know raw weight is most accurate, I have been successful just measuring my meat after it’s cooked and drained. When its easier (burgers for example) I will weigh it raw.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,116 Member
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    baciodolce18 wrote: »
    I have a 2 part question. Recently my family was cooking ground beef for something and they know I count and log and we were talking about it and my step dad mentioned to consider in my count that he drained the beef after cooking. Which made me ask if other people didn't since I've only ever known to drain the fat after cooking and he said he thought maybe others didn't.

    So now I'm curious- do you drain your ground beef after cooking?

    And do the ground beef logs account for draining or no draining?

    Even though the calories will be high, I log the raw weight since the sheer amount of fiddling with numbers to account for the fat drained off and the water evaporated isn't worth the hassle to me. I would rather error on the high side with my logging numbers than think I was right on and be massively under recording what I actually ate.
  • John772016
    John772016 Posts: 113 Member
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    Zombie thread from 2016

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