Cooking oil question

Quick question about using cooking oils! How do you y’all count the calories for the oil you use to cook with? I do a lot of roasting veggies with olive oil and there is a always excesss oil on the pan when they’re done roasting. Same thing for pan frying anything, like eggs. How do you measure the actual oil that’s going in to the food you’re making? Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,129 Member
    kzboncak wrote: »
    Quick question about using cooking oils! How do you y’all count the calories for the oil you use to cook with? I do a lot of roasting veggies with olive oil and there is a always excesss oil on the pan when they’re done roasting. Same thing for pan frying anything, like eggs. How do you measure the actual oil that’s going in to the food you’re making? Thanks in advance!

    I think probably best to log it all, because there's no guarantee what's leftover in the pan is all oil.

    I switched to frylight (1 cal spray) for roasting veggies most of the time and I have a very good non-stick pan for pan frying so no oil required even with eggs.
  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    edited February 2020
    I don’t use much oil when pan roasting, about 1-1/2 TBSP
    I weigh everything that goes into it, divide it into equal portions, for calories per serving. I count all the oil. I use parchment paper and the amount of oil left is negligible.
  • MaltedTea
    MaltedTea Posts: 6,286 Member
    Never thought about it that way. I just log the amount I put in the recipe.

    If this is really important to you, then could you not pour it out and measure in tablespoons/cups/oz, etc?
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    edited February 2020
    I log all the oil I use in food prep.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,420 Member
    edited February 2020
    I log the full amount I used. I'm only using about a third to a half of a TEASPOON per serving, so it's about 15-20 calories. I toss the vegetables in a bowl with the EVOO and spices to coat them instead of pouring it on them or on the pan.
  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    I log the full amount I used. I'm only using about a third to a half of a TEASPOON per serving, so it's about 15-20 calories. I toss the vegetables in a bowl with the EVOO and spices to coat them instead of pouring it on them or on the pan.

    I use a ziplock gallon bag, put everything in it, veggies, meat, spices/seasoning, oil. Mix it up well, pour on parchment lined, rimmed baking sheet and bake. Works great.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,841 Member
    I tend to count all the oil (I use just enough to coat the vegetables). There is usually some liquid left in the tray afterwards, but that's a mix of oil and juices from the vegetables, so I wouldn't subtract those liquids from the amount of oil added before cooking.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited February 2020
    I log it all. I also use relatively small amounts, which are both sufficient and don't tend to leave any leftover.
  • scarlett_k
    scarlett_k Posts: 812 Member
    Unless it's roast potatoes/parnsips with a Sunday roast I just count however many tablespoons or millilitres I use to toss the vegatables in. For Sunday roast stuff I just guess, as roasties are best
    (in my opinion) when they're cooked in significant oil, most of which is not served with the meal. But a roast dinner at the moment is very much a treat so guessing doesn't really impact my long term deficit. I might have to be more precise if I ate one every week!
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    I just log it all. If anything, it's a tiny buffer for other foods that I may have more calories than I expect.

    If you like to cook in a lot of oil (deep frying, for example), one option is to weigh it when you put it in then weigh the leftovers and subtract, or just use a close enough entry for that deep fried food.
    scarlett_k wrote: »
    Unless it's roast potatoes/parnsips with a Sunday roast I just count however many tablespoons or millilitres I use to toss the vegatables in. For Sunday roast stuff I just guess, as roasties are best
    (in my opinion) when they're cooked in significant oil, most of which is not served with the meal. But a roast dinner at the moment is very much a treat so guessing doesn't really impact my long term deficit. I might have to be more precise if I ate one every week!

    If you want to eat roasties often and feeling like it's making it harder for you, you could weigh a paper towel, tare, wipe off leftover oil in the pan, and weigh that and subtract. A couple of times is more than enough to guess a decent average.
  • scarlett_k
    scarlett_k Posts: 812 Member
    I just log it all. If anything, it's a tiny buffer for other foods that I may have more calories than I expect.

    If you like to cook in a lot of oil (deep frying, for example), one option is to weigh it when you put it in then weigh the leftovers and subtract, or just use a close enough entry for that deep fried food.
    scarlett_k wrote: »
    Unless it's roast potatoes/parnsips with a Sunday roast I just count however many tablespoons or millilitres I use to toss the vegatables in. For Sunday roast stuff I just guess, as roasties are best
    (in my opinion) when they're cooked in significant oil, most of which is not served with the meal. But a roast dinner at the moment is very much a treat so guessing doesn't really impact my long term deficit. I might have to be more precise if I ate one every week!

    If you want to eat roasties often and feeling like it's making it harder for you, you could weigh a paper towel, tare, wipe off leftover oil in the pan, and weigh that and subtract. A couple of times is more than enough to guess a decent average.

    Oh I know how to work it out, but I have no desire to cook or eat Sunday roast style potatoes any more regularly than "once in a blue moon".
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    kzboncak wrote: »
    Quick question about using cooking oils! How do you y’all count the calories for the oil you use to cook with? I do a lot of roasting veggies with olive oil and there is a always excesss oil on the pan when they’re done roasting. Same thing for pan frying anything, like eggs. How do you measure the actual oil that’s going in to the food you’re making? Thanks in advance!

    I found that I didn't need to use as much oil as I was using, so now I use less. There may be some left over in the pan, but it is very, very little.
  • astridtheviking
    astridtheviking Posts: 113 Member
    If I put it on my food, I log it all, even if it drips off. I also find I can get away with using less oil than I used to. I often use just a spritz of olive oil in my misto for roasting.