Meat nutrient content: raw values or cooked?

MyIdaho54

Most of the meat entries in the food library do not state if they are raw weight or cooked weight. When should I weigh before or after cooking to accurately track my macro intakes?

SnowWhiteFanatic

I would think cooked.

livingleanlivingclean

put all meat in as raw weight. find an entry that specifically says raw, and preferably one without a * (the ones without a * are mfp entered, not used entered so should be accurate)

weighing cooked meat is not accurate as the weight will change depending on cooking time and method. if you're cooking a few portions at once, weigh the meat raw for what size and number of portions you want. cook it. weigh it again, divide that number by the portions you made and split it up accordingly

chezjuan

I weigh my meat raw whenever possible. I try to use the entries that are from the USDA database. If I cannot weigh raw for some reason, I search for an entry that matches the cooking method I used, again trying to find the entry from the USDA database.

You definitely want to use the entry that matches the state of the meat when you weigh it, otherwise you will end up with an inaccurate count - using the "raw" entry for the cooked weight would tend to underestimate calories, and vice versa.

MyIdaho54

Thanks for the replies. I like to cook meat ahead on the weekend.. For example, I grill up 5 pounds of skinless chicken breast that my wife and I will eat over then next week or two. I put 4 oz of grilled meat into separate baggies for use in meals for snacks. So for some meals I need to use the raw (ones made fresh or others I'll need to grilled nutrient content.

Sreneesa

I do it cooked.

When searching for nutrition I search for cooked nutrition as I am not eating it raw.