Oats calorie confusion

melissalatzel25

hi guys- busy making a huge batch of vegan black bean burgers...

it calls for 1 cup of dry oats
i entered it into MFP and 1 cup = 607 cals

then when i started cooking i placed my measuring cup (its a proper 250ml/8oz measuring cup) on the scale, set it to zero and filled it up with oats. that gave me 90g = 350 calories

theres a big difference between 350 and 607 cals !?

any ideas why?

melissalatzel25

Old_Cat_Lady

You're not using the brand name for your entries? Ex: Quaker instant oats. Give name brand, people will look up the correct info for you. (I always go by weight when it comes to oats - never volume).

melissalatzel25

TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »

You're not using the brand name for your entries? Ex: Quaker instant oats. Give name brand, people will look up the correct info for you. (I always go by weight when it comes to oats - never volume).

when it comes to wholefood plants i use the admin entries as plants typically have the same nutrients no matter what brand supplies it, you know?

anyway maybe ill check tomorrow according to the label....

but anyway lets say i go by the admin-entried oats, its a big difference in calories !

cmriverside

melissalatzel25 wrote: »

hi guys- busy making a huge batch of vegan black bean burgers...

it calls for 1 cup of dry oats
i entered it into MFP and 1 cup = 607 cals

then when i started cooking i placed my measuring cup (its a proper 250ml/8oz measuring cup) on the scale, set it to zero and filled it up with oats. that gave me 90g = 350 calories

theres a big difference between 350 and 607 cals !?

any ideas why?

A dry serving of plain uncooked oats is about 40 grams, for 150 calories-ish. That is a quarter cup.

janejellyroll

melissalatzel25 wrote: »

TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »

You're not using the brand name for your entries? Ex: Quaker instant oats. Give name brand, people will look up the correct info for you. (I always go by weight when it comes to oats - never volume).

when it comes to wholefood plants i use the admin entries as plants typically have the same nutrients no matter what brand supplies it, you know?

anyway maybe ill check tomorrow according to the label....

but anyway lets say i go by the admin-entried oats, its a big difference in calories !

How are you determining which entries are admin entries? There are plenty of non-brand entries that have bad information.

timtam163

Double check against the USDA database or the food label itself. I always thought half a cup was about 200 cals... that's what it says on my oatmeal...

janejellyroll

timtam163 wrote: »

Double check against the USDA database or the food label itself. I always thought half a cup was about 200 cals... that's what it says on my oatmeal...

156 grams is about a cup and that is 607 calories, I believe.

rmgnow

I eat oats daily. 607 is right for a cup

melissalatzel25

rmgnow wrote: »

I eat oats daily. 607 is right for a cup

But next time , if you have a scale try measure and enter that amount in grams and see what the grammage gives you calorie wise, maybe youll have very different results like me

melissalatzel25

How are you determining which entries are admin entries? There are plenty of non-brand entries that have bad information.[/quote]

because the admin entries ones are more complete, and when you see the serving size options you get a full array of options that are standard to their style, cups and grams etc... member entries are pretty easy to spot once trying to select your serving size... im using MFP for over 10 years i can tell

eg: apples, raw, with skin
quinoa, cooked, boiled, no salt added .... once you click it you see with many different meausuring options. (grams, oz, cups, tablespoon etc

theyre more complete descriptions....

if a member wrote the apple exactly the same way as admin entry, and you want to see the serving sizes youll get like 100g and 1g option (sometimes different but something like that , so i can always tell

Alatariel75

This is why I always go by weight and not cup with solid foods. I bet you could pack 607 calories worth of oats into the 1 cup.

dill_milk

I scan the barcode on the bag of oats...

JeromeBarry1

08120, Cereals, oats, regular and quick, not fortified, dry

janejellyroll

melissalatzel25 wrote: »

How are you determining which entries are admin entries? There are plenty of non-brand entries that have bad information.

because the admin entries ones are more complete, and when you see the serving size options you get a full array of options that are standard to their style, cups and grams etc... member entries are pretty easy to spot once trying to select your serving size... im using MFP for over 10 years i can tell

eg: apples, raw, with skin
quinoa, cooked, boiled, no salt added .... once you click it you see with many different meausuring options. (grams, oz, cups, tablespoon etc

theyre more complete descriptions....

if a member wrote the apple exactly the same way as admin entry, and you want to see the serving sizes youll get like 100g and 1g option (sometimes different but something like that , so i can always tell

I think this could work as a very general rule of thumb, but members also have the option to enter grams and cups. I've seen some options with more complete serving size choices and they've still been wrong.

ryenday

I don't eat oats very often and when I have, I always used the measuring cup and scanned entry. So I was curious and just checked.

Here is was what I found.

Oats: Quaker old fashioned
Serving size: 1/2 cup or 40 g @150 calories (according to nutritional label)

I put oats into 1/2 measuring cup weighed it. I got 41 g (I did this accurately, placing empty measuring cup on scale and then using the zero out functionality then weighed cup with oats inside)

So the grams to measure cup were approx accurate for the type of oats I use. Obviously YMMV depending on type of oat and how tight you pack it. But for my oats I am getting about 300 calories per cup. (80 g)

ritzvin

melissalatzel25 wrote: »

hi guys- busy making a huge batch of vegan black bean burgers...

it calls for 1 cup of dry oats
i entered it into MFP and 1 cup = 607 cals

then when i started cooking i placed my measuring cup (its a proper 250ml/8oz measuring cup) on the scale, set it to zero and filled it up with oats. that gave me 90g = 350 calories

theres a big difference between 350 and 607 cals !?

any ideas why?

Is it definitely the same type of oats..steel cut and quick/rolled oats would have a very different bulk density. Or maybe yours just poured out that much more 'fluffily' (did you maybe shake the container) than usual, or is it very dry where you are (absorbing less moisture from the air than typical), or ..?

ETA: How did the weight-volume match up with the numbers on the actual container? Was it just MFP that gave a discrepancy?

DX2JX2

melissalatzel25 wrote: »

hi guys- busy making a huge batch of vegan black bean burgers...

it calls for 1 cup of dry oats
i entered it into MFP and 1 cup = 607 cals

then when i started cooking i placed my measuring cup (its a proper 250ml/8oz measuring cup) on the scale, set it to zero and filled it up with oats. that gave me 90g = 350 calories

theres a big difference between 350 and 607 cals !?

any ideas why?

You likely measured wrong. 90g of dried oats is only about half a cup. Unless the physics are different where you are, a quarter cup of oats weighs about 40 grams. A full cup should be 160 grams or so. While oats are difficult to measure by volume, the usual error is measurement by volume will give you more than the measurement by weight because of how oats settle, etc.

ryenday

I

DX2JX2 wrote: »

You likely measured wrong. 90g of dried oats is only about half a cup. Unless the physics are different where you are, a quarter cup of oats weighs about 40 grams. A full cup should be 160 grams or so. While oats are difficult to measure by volume, the usual error is measurement by volume will give you more than the measurement by weight because of how oats settle, etc.

Not the oats in my cabinet - and I weighed the 1/2 cup at 41 g to confirm the label.



Or does dry oats mean something else?

DX2JX2

ryenday wrote: »

Not the oats in my cabinet - and I weighed the 1/2 cup at 41 g to confirm the label.

Or does dry oats mean something else?

Nope - you are correct. I misremembered a quarter vs. a half cup as the serving size on the label (but did remember the 40g correctly!)

AnnPT77

The oats in your recipe (the screen grab) says "oats", not "oatmeal" or "rolled oats". I'm thinking maybe "oats" are the grain, quite dense, therefore more caloric. At best, it doesn't say which type of oats it means, so it's like using a "chicken" entry without knowing whether it's fried chicken or raw chicken.

If what you used is really oatmeal, a.k.a. rolled oats, that's very different: Kind of fluffy, so fewer calories in a cup than the actual grain. And, as others have said, it will make a difference whether you're using old-fashioned rolled oats, quick rolled oats, instant rolled oats, let alone steel-cut oats.

earlnabby

cmriverside wrote: »

melissalatzel25 wrote: »

hi guys- busy making a huge batch of vegan black bean burgers...

it calls for 1 cup of dry oats
i entered it into MFP and 1 cup = 607 cals

then when i started cooking i placed my measuring cup (its a proper 250ml/8oz measuring cup) on the scale, set it to zero and filled it up with oats. that gave me 90g = 350 calories

theres a big difference between 350 and 607 cals !?

any ideas why?

A dry serving of plain uncooked oats is about 40 grams, for 150 calories-ish. That is a quarter cup.

Depends on the type of oats. It is closer to 1/4 cup for steel cut but it is more like 1/2 cup for rolled oats. Oat berries will be different yet.

earlnabby

melissalatzel25 wrote: »

TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »

You're not using the brand name for your entries? Ex: Quaker instant oats. Give name brand, people will look up the correct info for you. (I always go by weight when it comes to oats - never volume).

when it comes to wholefood plants i use the admin entries as plants typically have the same nutrients no matter what brand supplies it, you know?

anyway maybe ill check tomorrow according to the label....

but anyway lets say i go by the admin-entried oats, its a big difference in calories !

Instead of the admin-entered, for whole foods you should be using the USDA entries. They are the most accurate and are an average of testing the same food item grown in many different regions and from different growing conditions.

arobertson117

Would just scanning the bar code solve the entry / conversion problem?