Calories on Frozen Food Products

SusieBanyon

I have Great Value Tater Tots which list the calories at 160 per 84g (/3oz). After cooking 252g (/9oz) I have 7.6oz of tots left. The calorie difference is 70 which might not seem too substantial but I want to eat the maximum amount that I can so every little bit helps. Should I log this lunch as the 9oz serving (which is what it was frozen) or as the finished 7.6oz serving?

I generally have this question about all frozen food things that weigh less when thawed/prepped. Like frozen pineapple pieces.

RelCanonical

The nutrition label will usually specify if it should be weighed uncooked or cooked. If it doesn't specify, uncooked is usually preferred, as varied cooking times can vary calorie count/weight. I like my tator tots to be nearly charred stumps of crunch, and weighing those would give me a widely different count for the same weight as you weighing following the directions, so that's why uncooked is generally better - it'll be the same for each weigh.

diannethegeek

I use the frozen weight unless the package specifies otherwise

jdhcm2006

Another vote for frozen.

JohnBarth

Most labels I've seen say "X Pieces" and give grams. Weigh them up, and I bet you'll find the closest value for frozen weight.

NovusDies

I weigh frozen. It is a better habit (for me) to weigh everything before cooking. For one thing it keeps me from forgetting if a number of things are getting done at the same time that require my attention. For another, the only way to know the tater tot is at peak readiness (unless you cook it to a charred stump like a non coffee drinking crazy person) is to taste one which is a step that might need repeating several times.

SusieBanyon

If they're burnt to a char (ash) then how could they be the same amount of calories as a totally intact tot? Maybe I'm overthinking it, but I feel like if it has been chared/burned to ashy and has very little substance left then it couldn't be as calorically rich as a full on potatoey tot. Even if it's not ashy, you're taking away some substance by over-cooking, right?

I just feel like in the case of pineapple chunks, thawed would be more accurate since you're losing water through the thawing process that was previously liquid. I feel the same about the tots - you're cooking out water, you're not cooking out potato. IDK.

deannalfisher

weigh them out frozen - log those calories and then prepare

AnnPT77

SusieBanyon wrote: »

If they're burnt to a char (ash) then how could they be the same amount of calories as a totally intact tot? Maybe I'm overthinking it, but I feel like if it has been chared/burned to ashy and has very little substance left then it couldn't be as calorically rich as a full on potatoey tot. Even if it's not ashy, you're taking away some substance by over-cooking, right?

I just feel like in the case of pineapple chunks, thawed would be more accurate since you're losing water through the thawing process that was previously liquid. I feel the same about the tots - you're cooking out water, you're not cooking out potato. IDK.

Mostly, what cooking takes away is water, via evaporation during heating. Since water has zero calories, the same ol' calories the food had at the start get concentrated in a lower weight of food. Often, it's lots lower.

Thawing, on the other hand, evaporates fewer calories than heating. But I'd still use frozen weight.

If the package doesn't specify frozen/cooked/thawed, assume "as packaged", which for frozen things is frozen.