I'm confused about couscous

kristendeyell
kristendeyell Posts: 80 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Is the darn nutrition facts on the back of the box for cooked or dry couscous? It's the same for some of the rice I cook too, it never says on the back of the box! This particular brand of couscous is Casbah Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil. :huh:

Replies

  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
    I log it for cooked, and that's the brand I normally make. 1/4 cup of uncooked couscous is a lot.
  • Rocbola
    Rocbola Posts: 1,998 Member
    The food so nice, they named it twice.
  • beattie1
    beattie1 Posts: 1,012 Member
    I have the same problem with pasta and rice too. These carbs are all around 100 cals / 100 grams when cooked, and around 250- 300 calories for the same units of uncooked food (assuming you don't add any fats or other "additives").

    The dried grain/ grain products absorb water on cooking so 100 grams when uncooked becomes 250 - 300 grams, depending how long you cook it. Do you have your pasta "al dente" or "soggy", for example?

    I came back to say that I checked the database here and at least one entry specifies that it refers to cooked couscous. Have a look - the high calorie entries are for raw couscous.

    Also edited to correct units!
  • Nickih4619093
    Nickih4619093 Posts: 91 Member
    I'm pretty sure the nutritional info is usually for dry pasta or rice..
  • jlynnm70
    jlynnm70 Posts: 460 Member
    I hate that the nutritional information is for DRY rather than cooked - who is going to eat it dry - or only make 1/4 cup out of the box??? Even if I was single I'd make the whole thing and eat leftovers.

    However, that being said - my husband told me to figure double when cooked (he's a chef so I'll trust him on it since it seems hard to find and it's a good place to start) So 1/4 dry become 1/2 cup cooked.
  • kristendeyell
    kristendeyell Posts: 80 Member
    Thanks! I was thinking that 160 calories for 1/4 cooked was a **** load of calories lol, it's better if it's actually 1/2 cup!
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
    dry. What it says on the box is meant to be the uncooked measurement or weight, unless it specifically says "prepared" or "cooked" or something along those lines. This is true for rice as well as pasta. Because cooking methods can vary so widely, they have to give the nutrition info based on the uncooked product or there would be less than zero accuracy and everybody'd be crying foul.
  • Linda_9518
    Linda_9518 Posts: 11 Member
    Oh wow! I've been cheating myself out of couscous and other things.... I always thought it was cooked....
    I wonder if Quinoa's the same? I love Quinoa...
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
    Oh wow! I've been cheating myself out of couscous and other things.... I always thought it was cooked....
    I wonder if Quinoa's the same? I love Quinoa...

    Yep, same deal. Same too with all the other grain type stuff - amaranth, farrow, spelt, oats, etc etc.... Cool that you get to eat more now huh!! :)
  • aNewYear123
    aNewYear123 Posts: 279 Member
    My bag of rice has "Serving Size: 1/4 cup (54g) uncooked; 3/4 cup prepared"
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
    OMG!!! I am totally eating half a cup cooked now! FFS!! I learn something new every day, thanx everyone lol
  • Linda_9518
    Linda_9518 Posts: 11 Member
    Yay! More quinoa ;)
  • kristendeyell
    kristendeyell Posts: 80 Member
    Really appreciate all the replies! I'm new to weighing foods so it's been a bit of a learning curve for me.
  • beattie1
    beattie1 Posts: 1,012 Member
    Weighing is very much more accurate than measuring volume.
  • veganbettie
    veganbettie Posts: 701 Member
    I hate that the nutritional information is for DRY rather than cooked - who is going to eat it dry - or only make 1/4 cup out of the box??? Even if I was single I'd make the whole thing and eat leftovers.

    However, that being said - my husband told me to figure double when cooked (he's a chef so I'll trust him on it since it seems hard to find and it's a good place to start) So 1/4 dry become 1/2 cup cooked.

    I just measure out portions, I'll do like 4 portions so 1 cup, then I weigh the food once it's cooked, and then I dived the cooked grams by 4 and I just eat one of the portions, it's not super hard, but it took me a little bit to get used to.

    Its been hard for me to get used to not just cooking a ton of food, and just eating, but it's working so I'm not going to complain.
  • nokitchen
    nokitchen Posts: 18 Member
    Just to confirm what others are saying, Casbah answers this specific question on their website (http://www.casbahnaturalfoods.com/faqs/index.php#faqid175). The answer is marked as "new" so perhaps they added it after seeing this thread!
  • beattie1
    beattie1 Posts: 1,012 Member
    Wow, that would be amazing!! :happy:

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