Beans - Dried vs Canned Calories - Frustrated!
BarbaraHelen2013
Posts: 1,941 Member
So…as a Vegetarian I use a lot of beans. Mostly I cook them in smallish batches from dried - 200g dried weight per batch.
I have multiple ‘recipes’ set up which I edit every batch to reflect the exact cooked weight of the batch so I can accurately count what I’m using.
The frustration arises when I compare the resultant calories with the calories in the same weight of canned, drained equivalent beans. My ‘recipe’ beans are significantly higher in calories than the canned beans.
Example: I cooked 200g of Black Beans today. The batch weighs 425 - 430g cooked on average.
Using a raw bean entry of 341cals per 100g dried the count of the batch is obviously 682 cals. Batch weighed 427g today. This means an 80g serving is 128 calories.
Looking up the canned/tetra packed, drained Black Beans I use when I don’t cook from dried (and any other shop bought cooked, drained Black Beans) the calories for an 80g serving are only 73-78 calories.
This same discrepancy plays out no matter what variety of bean I cook. It’s not a huge difference to some people, I realise, but that 50 calories difference is significant to this very short, older woman!
I stick with the calculated ‘Recipe’ calories but why the difference?
I have multiple ‘recipes’ set up which I edit every batch to reflect the exact cooked weight of the batch so I can accurately count what I’m using.
The frustration arises when I compare the resultant calories with the calories in the same weight of canned, drained equivalent beans. My ‘recipe’ beans are significantly higher in calories than the canned beans.
Example: I cooked 200g of Black Beans today. The batch weighs 425 - 430g cooked on average.
Using a raw bean entry of 341cals per 100g dried the count of the batch is obviously 682 cals. Batch weighed 427g today. This means an 80g serving is 128 calories.
Looking up the canned/tetra packed, drained Black Beans I use when I don’t cook from dried (and any other shop bought cooked, drained Black Beans) the calories for an 80g serving are only 73-78 calories.
This same discrepancy plays out no matter what variety of bean I cook. It’s not a huge difference to some people, I realise, but that 50 calories difference is significant to this very short, older woman!
I stick with the calculated ‘Recipe’ calories but why the difference?
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Replies
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Vegetarian here too!
I use mainly frozen beans because I don't like all the added sodium of the canned versions, but honestly the main REAL reason I prefer cooking with frozen is because of that same reason you mention. I've never been able to understand how to calculate canned bean calories either. I thought it was drained weight but that doesn't add up. And if the calories by weight includes liquid, well that just makes things too tricky for my little brain to figure out.5 -
This may be an oversimplification for your preferences, but for canned legumes (drained, rinsed) or home-cooked ones, I just use the USDA entries that are named things like "Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt" (or "with salt" as applicable), "Lentils, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt", etc., then use the drop-down to change the default serving from 1 cup (which is almost always the default on the real USDA entries in the database) to 100 grams, and set my number of servings to whatever I ate (1.89 servings if 189g, for example).
Close enough, for me, to get predictable weight results for 6+ years now, while eating a lot of legumes (I'm also vegetarian).
YMMV.8 -
This may be an oversimplification for your preferences, but for canned legumes (drained, rinsed) or home-cooked ones, I just use the USDA entries that are named things like "Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt" (or "with salt" as applicable), "Lentils, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt", etc., then use the drop-down to change the default serving from 1 cup (which is almost always the default on the real USDA entries in the database) to 100 grams, and set my number of servings to whatever I ate (1.89 servings if 189g, for example).
Close enough, for me, to get predictable weight results for 6+ years now, while eating a lot of legumes (I'm also vegetarian).
YMMV.
This is what I do as well.
OP, is it possible you like to cook your beans firm, and the canned beans are cooked much softer? That would account for your beans being more calorie dense than canned beans.7 -
chris89topher wrote: »Vegetarian here too!
I use mainly frozen beans because I don't like all the added sodium of the canned versions, but honestly the main REAL reason I prefer cooking with frozen is because of that same reason you mention. I've never been able to understand how to calculate canned bean calories either. I thought it was drained weight but that doesn't add up. And if the calories by weight includes liquid, well that just makes things too tricky for my little brain to figure out.
Here in the UK we don’t have frozen beans available (other than Green Beans & Broad Beans -(Fava?)). I’ve certainly never seen beans such as Black Beans, Chickpeas, Kidney, Pinto, Cannellini etc. On the other hand our canned beans don’t have added salt! I’ve always taken the calories for canned as drained weight, though now you’ve put that thought in my head I’ll be doing some calculations to see if the numbers do, indeed, add up! 🤔
@AnnPT77 - Thank you, that’s what the sensible, sane person would do, I realise! I’m sure it’s close enough over the long term but I have to admit I’m more than a little obsessive after all the years of logging. I have a mind set of ‘if I cannot pin this food down as accurately as humanly possible I’m just not going to eat it!’ 🙄 I need to learn to let it go as long as I know I’ve done due diligence and know that I’ve reached goal weight so tiny discrepancies probably aren’t disastrous
@lynn_glenmont - I think you’ve hit the nail on the head and I’ve wondered the same thing myself before now. It’s one of the reasons I prefer to cook beans from dried in the first place. I like them a bit firmer than a standard canned version - it also means I can up the flavour with add ins in the cooking water but it’s mainly a texture thing. I’m just surprised that the difference is so great! The beans are still yielding and floury, I’m not eating them still crunchy! 😂
So I will probably carry on using my own calculated calories, because that has to be the most accurate and try not to worry about the annoying difference! 🤷♀️6 -
BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »chris89topher wrote: »Vegetarian here too!
@BarbaraHelen2013
I use mainly frozen beans because I don't like all the added sodium of the canned versions, but honestly the main REAL reason I prefer cooking with frozen is because of that same reason you mention. I've never been able to understand how to calculate canned bean calories either. I thought it was drained weight but that doesn't add up. And if the calories by weight includes liquid, well that just makes things too tricky for my little brain to figure out.
Here in the UK we don’t have frozen beans available (other than Green Beans & Broad Beans -(Fava?)). I’ve certainly never seen beans such as Black Beans, Chickpeas, Kidney, Pinto, Cannellini etc. On the other hand our canned beans don’t have added salt! I’ve always taken the calories for canned as drained weight, though now you’ve put that thought in my head I’ll be doing some calculations to see if the numbers do, indeed, add up! 🤔 🤷♀️
Yes, if you look at the can it'll say x calories for x weight, but then it'll say "3.5 servings per container" of that weight for example. BUT.....then when you drain and weigh, the total weight doesn't add up to the net weight of the can or number of servings. It's maddening! Lol. So I never believe the can and just use frozen where I can instead. Sadly, the only frozen beans sold that I've ever found are Blackeyed peas, limas and edamame shelled beans.2 -
This may be an oversimplification for your preferences, but for canned legumes (drained, rinsed) or home-cooked ones, I just use the USDA entries that are named things like "Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt" (or "with salt" as applicable), "Lentils, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt", etc., then use the drop-down to change the default serving from 1 cup (which is almost always the default on the real USDA entries in the database) to 100 grams, and set my number of servings to whatever I ate (1.89 servings if 189g, for example).
Close enough, for me, to get predictable weight results for 6+ years now, while eating a lot of legumes (I'm also vegetarian).
YMMV.
This is what I always did as well. Can't let perfect be the enemy of good or good enough.3 -
This is not exactly on topic but it relates to beans. I have always been confused about the canned bean calories as well. The number of servings on the can (3.5) never reflects how many I get when I drain the beans (2). Most beans are 130 calories per serving on the can. When I use the usda entry for canned drained beans I also get 130 calories per serving. But, the calorie difference between 3.5 servings and 2 servings ends up being a significant difference and as someone who eats a lot of beans, I would like to get this right. I sometimes cook them from dry but don’t always have the option to. I hope someone more experienced will chime in.1
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I don't eat beans much but has anyone weighed the whole can with all the contents? Could that be why you're not getting the actual 3.5 serving per can?1
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I don't eat beans much but has anyone weighed the whole can with all the contents? Could that be why you're not getting the actual 3.5 serving per can?
I have. The weight of total servings equals the net weight on the front of the can. The problem is that includes the liquid. In my mind, you'd have to either drain it, then divide that weight by 3.5 or just go by the generic Usda for cooked drained beans I guess? My OCD is having problems resolving this puzzle. That's why I try to stick to frozen. 😂3 -
I'm also in the UK and have noticed the same thing - so much so that I've started buying tinned chickpeas again, to use in recipes where I'm bulk cooking. The tins in my cupboard (Tesco own brand) say that the nutrition info is 'as sold, drained'.
On the bag of dried chickpeas in my cupboard, I have a note telling me how many grams of dry weight, once soaked, roughly equates to what I'd normally get out of a drained tin. But that's the soaked (and drained) weight, not soaked, drained and then cooked. As I usually cook them with something, I have no idea how much they change their weight after being cooked. I shall experiment further but, logically, if cooking makes them less dense, I'd need even more of the dry weight to end up with a similar output to a drained can.2 -
I don't eat beans much but has anyone weighed the whole can with all the contents? Could that be why you're not getting the actual 3.5 serving per can?
I can't remember; think I maybe did that at first, decided it was way too imprecise even for me, as I was going to drain/rinse the beans anyway. I believe the nutrition stats/servings are for the whole of what's in the can. I'd note that IME some of the cheaper brands *seem* to have more liquid, too.
ETA:Strudders67 wrote: »I'm also in the UK and have noticed the same thing - so much so that I've started buying tinned chickpeas again, to use in recipes where I'm bulk cooking. The tins in my cupboard (Tesco own brand) say that the nutrition info is 'as sold, drained'.
On the bag of dried chickpeas in my cupboard, I have a note telling me how many grams of dry weight, once soaked, roughly equates to what I'd normally get out of a drained tin. But that's the soaked (and drained) weight, not soaked, drained and then cooked. As I usually cook them with something, I have no idea how much they change their weight after being cooked. I shall experiment further but, logically, if cooking makes them less dense, I'd need even more of the dry weight to end up with a similar output to a drained can.
I'm not saying they don't exist, but I've never seen a US can of beans labeled that way here. It's been just the number of servings, a weight & volume per serving, that I've noticed.0 -
Since my son has Type 1 Diabetes and his insulin dose is determined by carbs eaten, we are pretty obsessive about weighing everything and I can tell you lots of foods can be off compared to what is on the label. Even sliced bread. Never go by number is servings.
Here is an article (old but still holds true)
https://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/diet-tips/how-canned-food-labels-lie-hint-youre-being-cheated-tuna.3 -
Tealady02762 wrote: »Since my son has Type 1 Diabetes and his insulin dose is determined by carbs eaten, we are pretty obsessive about weighing everything and I can tell you lots of foods can be off compared to what is on the label. Even sliced bread. Never go by number is servings.
Here is an article (old but still holds true)
https://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/diet-tips/how-canned-food-labels-lie-hint-youre-being-cheated-tuna.
@Tealady02762 That article shows we aren't crazy.
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The canned beans thing drives me crazy too. I tend to use them in recipes large enough so that I can use a whole can and then do the serving size cals x 3.5 and then log my portion of whatever the total in the dish ends up being.
If I use less than a whole can I do it Ann's way, but I always use the dried entries when cooking from dried.1 -
It was worth a shot just because it's something I would totally do and, also, not think about doing.
Yes, that makes sense! 😀0 -
Canned beans are more thoroughly cooked and so are more easily digested by your system -- more energy is thus realeased into your body especially in the earlier part of digestion. Beans you cook yourself will probably never get quite be as soft and will therefore be slightly less digestable leaving more resistant/insolubale materials to pass through your system and not be absorbed and released as energy. I read about this in a lot of GI literature that is presented over here:
https://glycemicindex.com/
The same thing actually applies for things like bread for example. Bread with more grainy bits will actaully release less energy (and also release energy more slowly) than bread made with very finely milled flours -- as the latter is more easliy digested and turned into energy by the human body whereas the former leaves more solid mass to pass through.
If you want to be resally accurate you just have to two methods of counting -- one for tinned and one for cooked yourself. I tend to scan in barcodes of tinned items and use that as the counter and if I was cooking myself I would use another metric.
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