How should I log cooking oil?

Options
abbynormalartist
abbynormalartist Posts: 318 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I made some killer pork chops for dinner tonight but I don't know how I should log the oil that I used to fry them. I'm pretty good about weighing and logging food so I'd like to make sure I'm tracking this correctly next time. For tonight I used three tableapoons of canola oil for three pork chops for the whole family, but there was a ton of oil left over in the pan. I just logged a tablespoon of oil for myself but that doesnt seem right. Suggestions or better ideas for the future are very welcome!! Thank you!!

Replies

  • Kelkat405
    Kelkat405 Posts: 166 Member
    Options
    I’ve wondered this too
  • joelchmielak1
    joelchmielak1 Posts: 48 Member
    Options
    I count it as fully used even if there is left over in the pan.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
    Options
    Measure how many tablespoons are left? Divide what was used by 3? I dunno. This is why I throw ground turkey in a pan with hot sauce. Your dinner sounds good though.
  • creatureofchaos
    creatureofchaos Posts: 65 Member
    Options
    Count it all. If you have a lot of extra left in the pan, use less oil or a cooking spray.

    It’s all but impossible to accurate calculate what does and doesn’t get absorbed by your food. It depends on way too many factors. Even if you drain off the pan and measure, what’s left in there is not going to be purely fat, and you’d have to make sure you separately out any juices or other things. Why bother.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,392 Member
    Options
    I put the oil bottle on the scale, tar, use oil, weigh again and log the grams as ml.

    Advantages:
    I don't need to wash a spoon from counting the oil
    Oil is less dense than water and hence I'm overestimating the oil calories a little bit
    I also don't count oil left in the pan. That would really be overdoing it. But I normally don't use a lot of oil anyway as I don't cook food that requires lots of oil for frying onions and the likes.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,400 Member
    Options
    When I cook porkchops, they melt off their own fat, so measuring the left over fat in the pan won't work. I use alot less oil than you--try that. Or, often I grill them with no oil at all and they come out fine. I have a non stick grill pan that I put on the stove.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
    Options
    i use an olive oil spray and give the pan a quick squirt. much easier.

    on the rare occasions when i use OIL ... i divide the amount of oil by number of servings. 1 tsp oil for 2 servings is a half tsp. no its not all consumed. but its all a guessing game anyways.
  • abbynormalartist
    abbynormalartist Posts: 318 Member
    Options
    Thanks! I'll just use less and log it all.
  • murp4069
    murp4069 Posts: 494 Member
    Options
    I always log it all even if there is leftover in the pan. I'd rather overestimate my calories than underestimate, especially when logging a calorie dense item like oil.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    Options
    I just log it all. Makes up for some of the extra calories that I don't count from sweeteners, coffee, tea, spices...etc. To me, 50 or so calories in either direction is okay as long as my weight is doing what it should be doing. I would rather simplify than complicate. I only complicate things when I feel like playing with numbers, other than that, I don't worry about oil left in the pan, ice condensation on a chicken breast, or that older bread has more calories per gram than fresh.

Categories