How to log an ear of corn???

sefajane1
sefajane1 Posts: 322 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi, I bought some fresh corn and am really looking forward to eating it (it's been 2 years since my last one! 😭) and I'm sorting out my food diary for today and have just tried searching the USDA database and then the database here for the correct (ish) nutritional value.
There's soooo many options!
I'll be boiling the cobs in plain salted water.
Normally I choose "raw" values for most foods but, raw in this case would include the weight of the actual cob. How would I know what proportion of the raw weight is cob and what is corn? I'll only know that after I've eaten it but then the cob has been cooked so, different weight.
I'm so confused and just want to eat the blooming thing!
Help me, please?! 😁

Replies

  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,940 Member
    I’d think you’d be close enough if you weigh the whole cob before cooking and then after you’ve eaten the kernels from it. The difference will be what you’ve consumed. I’d log that as cooked corn.

    I wouldn’t worry too much if it’s 2 years since you had fresh corn, just enjoy it! It’s not as if any tiny discrepancy in logging that infrequently will impact anything! 😂
  • sefajane1
    sefajane1 Posts: 322 Member
    BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »
    I’d think you’d be close enough if you weigh the whole cob before cooking and then after you’ve eaten the kernels from it. The difference will be what you’ve consumed. I’d log that as cooked corn.

    I wouldn’t worry too much if it’s 2 years since you had fresh corn, just enjoy it! It’s not as if any tiny discrepancy in logging that infrequently will impact anything! 😂

    But it's the start of fresh corn season here and I want to eat a LOT of it this season to make up for missing it 😅
    So, if say I'm off by 50-100 calories each time, that's too many extra calories (I'm older, short, sedentary so don't have much of a calorie leeway).

    I will follow your suggestion of logging the eaten kernal weight, if I can find an entry for plain, boiled in salted water cobs 👍
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,092 Member
    edited July 2019
    Why not find an entry for cooked kernels and weigh the whole ear after cooling and the used cob after eating, and log the difference as cooked corn kernels?

    Personally, I usually use the entry based on the USDA nutrition database for ears of corn based on their length. I feel like that's a good enough approximation.

    Edited to correct typo.
  • sefajane1
    sefajane1 Posts: 322 Member
    Aha! I've just found a USDA entry for boiled, no salt. I'll use that and just not salt the cooking water 👍
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
    Just weight it before and after eating. You really only have to do one. And, it has about 1.5-2oz kernels depending on how you eat it.
  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,940 Member
    sefajane1 wrote: »
    Aha! I've just found a USDA entry for boiled, no salt. I'll use that and just not salt the cooking water 👍

    I’ve always read not to salt the water when cooking corn on the cob, or any other corn for that matter. It toughens the skin of the kernel. Same with dried pulses etc.
  • sefajane1
    sefajane1 Posts: 322 Member
    BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »
    sefajane1 wrote: »
    Aha! I've just found a USDA entry for boiled, no salt. I'll use that and just not salt the cooking water 👍

    I’ve always read not to salt the water when cooking corn on the cob, or any other corn for that matter. It toughens the skin of the kernel. Same with dried pulses etc.

    After I typed about cooking it in salted water I remembered that corn here (Turkey) is a lot tougher than the UK corn that I used to eat so I wouldn't add salt to the water for that reason, it does make it much tougher.
  • sefajane1
    sefajane1 Posts: 322 Member
    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    Just weight it before and after eating. You really only have to do one. And, it has about 1.5-2oz kernels depending on how you eat it.

    They're all different sizes and weights, thats why I wanted calories per gram. I never use generic sizes/volumes.
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
    Just weigh it before and after.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    Why not find an entry for cooked kernels and weigh the whole ear after cooling and the used cob after eating, and log the difference as cooked corn kernels?

    Personally, I usually use the entry based on the USDA nutrition database for ears of corn based on their length. I feel like that's a good enough approximation.

    Edited to correct typo.

    These are both good options.

    I'm weird and always cut my corn off the cob before cooking (I just like eating it better that way), so that makes it easy for me.
  • sefajane1
    sefajane1 Posts: 322 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    Why not find an entry for cooked kernels and weigh the whole ear after cooling and the used cob after eating, and log the difference as cooked corn kernels?

    Personally, I usually use the entry based on the USDA nutrition database for ears of corn based on their length. I feel like that's a good enough approximation.

    Edited to correct typo.

    I'm weird and always cut my corn off the cob before cooking (I just like eating it better that way), so that makes it easy for me.

    You heathen 😂😂😂

  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    240578066925521p?$690$&wid=690&hei=690.
  • Motorsheen
    Motorsheen Posts: 20,508 Member
    Q: How to log an ear of corn???

    A: Verrrrry Carefully.
  • sefajane1
    sefajane1 Posts: 322 Member
    Motorsheen wrote: »
    Q: How to log an ear of corn???

    A: Verrrrry Carefully.

    😂 🤣 😂 🤣
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    Weigh one ear before and after then use that as your estimate the rest of the summer. I can’t deal with the idea of weighing eaten food leftovers like apple cores, corn cobs, and banana peels 😬
  • gboybama
    gboybama Posts: 53 Member
    Without meaning to sound obnoxious, I would suggest to just make an educated guess.

    That's the type of log entry where I tell myself, "I didn't get fat eating boiled corn."

    Which means, I stress way less about exactly weighing broccoli, fruits or even grilled chicken breast. I'll find an MFP entry that seems high and one that seems low and pick one in the middle.

    I save my logging scrutiny for stuff like IPA's, ice cream, fries or peanut butter. (calorie dense stuff)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    When I logged (I don't anymore) I just eyeballed the size and picked something that would be close. It's not going to be off by some crazy amount of calories. None of this is an exact science. If you're really worried about it, weight it, eat it, and then weigh the cob and the difference in weight is what you would log. But for me something like "medium corn on the cob" or some such description would have worked just fine.

    You can't let perfect be the enemy of good or good enough.
  • sefajane1
    sefajane1 Posts: 322 Member
    gboybama wrote: »
    Without meaning to sound obnoxious, I would suggest to just make an educated guess.

    That's the type of log entry where I tell myself, "I didn't get fat eating boiled corn."

    Which means, I stress way less about exactly weighing broccoli, fruits or even grilled chicken breast. I'll find an MFP entry that seems high and one that seems low and pick one in the middle.

    I save my logging scrutiny for stuff like IPA's, ice cream, fries or peanut butter. (calorie dense stuff)

    If that works for you then that's great. It's not for me though.

  • sefajane1
    sefajane1 Posts: 322 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    When I logged (I don't anymore) I just eyeballed the size and picked something that would be close. It's not going to be off by some crazy amount of calories. None of this is an exact science. If you're really worried about it, weight it, eat it, and then weigh the cob and the difference in weight is what you would log. But for me something like "medium corn on the cob" or some such description would have worked just fine.

    You can't let perfect be the enemy of good or good enough.

    At the time of opening this thread I was overwhelmed by all the differing, random, generic database entries as I need to be precise. Since then, I've found nutritional info' that I can use.

    Generic doesn't work for me but I'm happy for you that it does.

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