Weighing food

SarahLopez81

Sorry for asking what. Might seem like an obvious question to some but when weighing pasta, rice and veg (such as sprouts). Does the weight mean for wet and cooked or dry and uncooked? Thanks

Strudders67

As food items change during the cooking process and will never always change exactly the same, it's normally best to use an "uncooked" entry and weigh it before cooking.

For veg, whoever logged the entry may have boiled their sprouts or carrots to death, whereas you may prefer them al-dente. The two would have a different weight, whereas the raw produce will be consistent. I normally search for an entry with the word Raw in it. The same applies to meat and fish.

For rice, I use a USDA cooked white rice entry, but that's because I cook in bulk and freeze it in smaller portions so the cooked-weight entry makes more sense. If I ever cook a single portion, I'll find an entry that matches what it says on the packet. My portions are small and, for as often as I eat rice, any calorie difference isn't going to have a significant impact on my logging.

With pasta, I've found an entry for Tesco - Conchiglie Pasta Shells (75g Raw, 170g Cooked) that matches what it says on the bag. I always weigh it dry as different cooking times will result in different amounts of water being absorbed. Certainly when I enter 75g, I get the 300 calories that the packet says for 75g raw / 170g cooked, whereas if I enter 170g, I get 680 calories!

It's not always clear in the entry - I compare database entries to what it says on the pack.

Justin_7272

Most package label information is dry weight. Here's a good strategy if you have multiple portions, leftovers, etc.

Weigh your food before cooking, for example 16oz uncooked potatoes or 12oz raw chicken. Cook, then weigh; let's say your potatoes are 8oz cooked and chicken is 8oz cooked. You know know your potatoes lose 1/2 their weight and chicken is reduced 3/4.

When you plate your food, you plate 4oz potatoes and 6oz chicken. To calculate raw weight for tracking you multiply your cooked weight by the inverse of the amount lost (potatoes x 2/1, chicken x 4/3). So you have plated 8oz raw potatoes and 8oz raw.

This is especially useful if you're not eating everything you cook all at once, or if you're cooking for multiple people, as it allows you to weigh your own portion based on your cooking method. For leftovers simply weigh and apply the same multiplier.

If you use the same cooking method often, you can also use the multiplier in case you forget to weigh before cooking. There are also raw vs cooked weight charts available online.

For meats, see (start on pg. 29)
https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400525/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry.pdf

SarahLopez81

Thanks all. That’s brill. Xx

cwolfman13

sarahfancypantry6693 wrote: »

Sorry for asking what. Might seem like an obvious question to some but when weighing pasta, rice and veg (such as sprouts). Does the weight mean for wet and cooked or dry and uncooked? Thanks

dry or uncooked unless it is specified on the label. Bacon for example is often "2 slices pan fried XXX calories" or whatever.

Strudders67

Interesting wolfman13 - presumably differences in different countries. I've just checked the bacon in my fridge and the nutrition info definitely says "as sold". It's rare, at least in the UK, for anything to be for the cooked item.

I still check everything I select from the database against the packet.