Which calorie count to use?

mpr836
mpr836 Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
When I enter a food like 2 slices of bacon, I’ll have multiple options with wildly different calorie counts. One entry will say 80 calories another will say 400. And everything in between. No other differentiation. Which option so I choose?

Answers

  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,243 Member
    Find the right one for what you're making.

    Check out the USDA site "Food Data Central." Do a search. Look in the Legacy Foods area. You'll find "Pork, cured, bacon, unprepared."

    393 calories per 100 grams. That's close to your 400 calorie figure. That site also figures "one slice" is an ounce, and they say that's 110 calories. A thin slice of bacon that was less than an ounce uncooked could be 80 calories. It depends what you have. Your scale is your friend!

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,941 Member
    This. And also keep in mind that this is a very international food database. The thin and small slice of bacon that I had with my breakfast on a recent trip was more like a duvet for my baked beans. Thus the definition of small, thin, etc are very individual. Go with grams, and don't forget to log the cooking oil.
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,221 Member
    Use a proven database and weigh the bacon then choose the MFP data entry that matches the calories.

    These what can be highly inaccurate MFP data entries are a big reason that people underreport calories as they can tend to just pick the lowest one they can find and use that. That’s especially problematic if that’s a food that they consume regularly
  • Hobartlemagne
    Hobartlemagne Posts: 565 Member
    tomcustombuilder wrote: »
    Use a proven database and weigh the bacon then choose the MFP data entry that matches the calories.

    Absolutely. There's no standard for "slice"
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,092 Member
    yirara wrote: »
    This. And also keep in mind that this is a very international food database. The thin and small slice of bacon that I had with my breakfast on a recent trip was more like a duvet for my baked beans. Thus the definition of small, thin, etc are very individual. Go with grams, and don't forget to log the cooking oil.

    Cooking oil for bacon??
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,941 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    yirara wrote: »
    This. And also keep in mind that this is a very international food database. The thin and small slice of bacon that I had with my breakfast on a recent trip was more like a duvet for my baked beans. Thus the definition of small, thin, etc are very individual. Go with grams, and don't forget to log the cooking oil.

    Cooking oil for bacon??

    You just throw bacon into the pan without anything oily? Yeah, it does release fat eventually but the taste is different.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,243 Member
    I don't add any oil before cooking bacon, although I prefer to cook it in the oven when I (rarely) cook it. I save the rendered fat, and if I used some other oil the fat would be contaminated with the other oil.
  • Hobartlemagne
    Hobartlemagne Posts: 565 Member
    Restaurants will bake bacon on parchment paper on a sheet pan. Even heat and much less fuss.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,243 Member
    Hobartlemagne wrote: »
    Restaurants will bake bacon on parchment paper on a sheet pan. Even heat and much less fuss.

    And it tastes better baked.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,327 Member
    The cooked and raw calories on bacon will vary a huge amount because of all the fat that is rendered out of it. That will be part of the issue as well.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,092 Member
    yirara wrote: »
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    yirara wrote: »
    This. And also keep in mind that this is a very international food database. The thin and small slice of bacon that I had with my breakfast on a recent trip was more like a duvet for my baked beans. Thus the definition of small, thin, etc are very individual. Go with grams, and don't forget to log the cooking oil.

    Cooking oil for bacon??

    You just throw bacon into the pan without anything oily? Yeah, it does release fat eventually but the taste is different.

    Yes, I just throw the bacon into the cold pan, and turn the heat on fairly low. I want my bacon to taste like bacon, not some other cooking oil.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,092 Member
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    Hobartlemagne wrote: »
    Restaurants will bake bacon on parchment paper on a sheet pan. Even heat and much less fuss.

    And it tastes better baked.

    I don't know about tasting better -- it tastes pretty much the same to me, if cooked to the same degree of doneness -- but it certainly takes far less attention and, in my experience, isn't as likely to go from undercooked (for my taste) to slightly burned (for my taste) in a relatively short amount of time -- like what it takes to pour the water that has just come to a boil for coffee or tea, and then you turn back to the bacon and ... darn!
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,092 Member
    yirara wrote: »
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    yirara wrote: »
    This. And also keep in mind that this is a very international food database. The thin and small slice of bacon that I had with my breakfast on a recent trip was more like a duvet for my baked beans. Thus the definition of small, thin, etc are very individual. Go with grams, and don't forget to log the cooking oil.

    Cooking oil for bacon??

    You just throw bacon into the pan without anything oily? Yeah, it does release fat eventually but the taste is different.

    I wonder if we're talking at cross purposes. Maybe different bacon in different countries? I'm in the U.S., where I believe the bacon is a much fattier cut than elsewhere.

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