Question about calories in recipe

PurpleSliz

I have been making chicken cooked in the slow cooker with butter. I use about 4 tablespoons of butter for the whole pot of chicken, usually over a lb or so. After the chicken is cooked there is a lot of butter liquid left in the crockpot. I don’t consume it, so what I am wondering is how I would calculate that? Do I just assume I am eating 1 tablespoon of butter per serving?

BarbaraHelen2013

That’s what I’d do since there’s no practical way to determine how much of the liquid is butter, water or chicken juices.

My deficit is pretty tight (petite and older) so I prefer to err on the side of caution concerning the few ‘unknowables’ involved in tracking. In truth, I don’t put myself in the situation often anyway! I don’t use any fat to cook and if I’m marinading something it’ll be the sort of recipe where the marinade is also used in the process of cooking.

If you have more wiggle room in your deficit you could perhaps just count half the butter per portion if the ‘calorie wastage’ weighs on your mind. 🤷‍♀️

goal06082021

Genuine question: why are you preparing your chicken that way? If the answer is "because I like it," that's valid, I've just never thought to add fat to a slow-cooker recipe. It doesn't really get hot enough for the Maillard reaction (that good good browning that makes everything look and taste beautiful).

Strudders67

I've always erred on the side of caution too. My recipes track the ingredients and quantities initially used. Yes you may have a buttery liquid left, but some of that could include moisture that has come out of your chicken. You don't know.

The only time I don't do this is if I put 2 tbsp oil into a roasting pan for veg /potatoes, but use the same pan the next day to do another batch of potatoes. I log the full amount once, but don't log anything the next day.

However, if I regularly have excess oil / butter / whatever left over, I'll reduce the quantity next time I cook that dish.