Food scale measuring help

Deoxzi

Should I weigh meat before or after it's cooked? For example it says 4 oz of pork chop = 170 cals, but I'm assuming the weight would be different when comparing Cooked vs raw due to the different texture. So which way should I weigh it for the most accurate results?

Sarahb29

I heard cooked because if you weigh it uncooked or especially frozen you're also weighing water.

diannethegeek

The information on your nutrition label is usually for the raw weight (unless the label specifies otherwise). If you need/want to weigh it after cooking, that's fine. Just be sure you're choosing an accurate and appropriate entry from the database that specifies it's for the cooked weight (ie you wouldn't use a grilled meat entry if you boiled it, etc)

Ready2Rock206

Raw whenever possible to be most accurate. (and use a raw weight entry from the database)

CasperNaegle

the label is raw, to be exact weigh everything raw. We do prep lots of food and always add an ounce or so to the weight of cooked meat in a serving to make sure we are close.

zyxst

Ready2Rock206 wrote: »

Raw whenever possible to be most accurate. (and use a raw weight entry from the database)

I weigh meats raw/frozen and use the raw entry.

That sounds more sexual than I thought.

erickirb

Always raw, unless the label states otherwise

Habiteer

Raw.

I don't weigh raw foods on the scale though, too much of a hassle to clean up extra containers. Here's what I do:

Look at the package and see that I bought 3 pounds of meat. Cook all of it at once, save 2/3 of it in the fridge, eat 1/3 of it immediately. I put into MFP that I ate 1 pound of meat, and then I put the other 1/3 for tomorrow and another 1/3 for the day after tomorrow.

Estimating frozen foods like frozen chicken is a little harder, but I think each breast is about 12 oz. Try to drink extra whey protein in case I'm underestimating.

I usually use the scale for liquids, seasoning, dressings.

capaul42

Always weigh raw. As for dirtying extra containers that way...i don't. I use my cutting board to weigh my meat after I've trimmed fat off. I've never had extra containers to wash from weighing.

SusanMFindlay

Drawoc wrote: »

Estimating frozen foods like frozen chicken is a little harder, but I think each breast is about 12 oz. Try to drink extra whey protein in case I'm underestimating.

You must be getting some huge chicken breasts! Ours are usually in the 6-8 oz range (and smaller ones might go down to 4 oz).

Habiteer

SusanMFindlay wrote: »

Drawoc wrote: »

Estimating frozen foods like frozen chicken is a little harder, but I think each breast is about 12 oz. Try to drink extra whey protein in case I'm underestimating.

You must be getting some huge chicken breasts! Ours are usually in the 6-8 oz range (and smaller ones might go down to 4 oz).

They are ginormous in comparison to fresh chicken breast. I dislike preparing them and eating them, but they are convenient.

CoffeeNCardio

http://nutritiondata.self.com/

This is a GREAT nutrition info site for your issue. You can search the food by either raw or cooked, depending on your preference. For example, you might use raw if you're inputting a recipe of your own on MFP, whereas if you just baked a chicken breast, the cooked might be your choice. You look it up on the above website and then find the right entry, THEN copy paste the exact title of that entry into the MFP search, they are there 99% of the time. Then you can know for sure you're getting the cooked version (or raw), and it even clarifies HOW you cooked it (baked, broiled, boiled, rotisserie, etc) which is also helpful cause those can be a big difference.

jkal1979

Drawoc wrote: »

Raw.

I don't weigh raw foods on the scale though, too much of a hassle to clean up extra containers. Here's what I do:

Look at the package and see that I bought 3 pounds of meat. Cook all of it at once, save 2/3 of it in the fridge, eat 1/3 of it immediately. I put into MFP that I ate 1 pound of meat, and then I put the other 1/3 for tomorrow and another 1/3 for the day after tomorrow.

Estimating frozen foods like frozen chicken is a little harder, but I think each breast is about 12 oz. Try to drink extra whey protein in case I'm underestimating.

I usually use the scale for liquids, seasoning, dressings.

I put the pan I'm cooking in on the scale, zero it out, then weigh whatever meat I'm cooking. No extra container to clean.

Seffell

In the UK the calories are given on the pack more often for cooked than raw. It is also specified cooked how exactly. So I use whatever the pack label says.

zbobbsemple

Also, the meat could strink during the cooking process so I weigh it after.

duddysdad

If you want to be accurate, unless it says cooked weight, weight it raw. Even if it loses fat while cooking, you're still going to be more accurate that way. There are so many methods of cooking that you can't possible know with certainty that you are accurate.

JeromeBarry1

I purchase the meats raw in packages which are labeled and sold by weight and unfrozen. I keep a supply of zipper bags in sandwich, quart, and gallon sizes. I place the meat, the zipper bags, and the scale side by side and begin. First, I weigh one of the bags I intend to use. Then using that bag as a glove I grab a piece of raw meat and zip it into the bag, then weigh the bag with the meat inside, subtracting the bag weight. Then I write the identity and the weight of the bags contents on the bag with a Sharpie. For instance, I have a box of turkey breast cutlets. I'll weigh each and label each and freeze all but one of them One of them goes into the skillet. Afterward, I'll recognize the bag contents by my label, which will resemble "T 162 g". This way I don't have to deal with meat juices in random places around my kitchen, which is a bad thing. This way, I'm consistent across the cutlets in the box. All are weighed raw and unfrozen, all but one are subsequently frozen.

Francl27

Like people said, raw when possible, but you just have to make sure to use the appropriate entry... if taking the info from the package, if it doesn't specify raw or cooked, it's always raw.

I've lost weight just fine using mostly 'cooked' entries though.