Cooking oil and evaporation

DoingTheNeedful

I poked around and couldn't find any posts about this specifically, so I thought I'd throw it out there.

Say a recipe calls for 0.75 cups of olive oil. Some of it gets used to roast some diced tomatoes, and some of it gets used to sautee other diced veggies. Now, if you were to, say, *drink* 0.75 cups of olive oil, say hello to something like 1,400 calories, right? But when you cook with oil like this, some of it is going to cook away. How should I account for 0.75 cups of olive oil in a recipe if I want to use the MFP recipe tool?

quara

mmm, I'm pretty sure you account for the whole thing. That's what I'd do, anyway. Unless you drain some of the leftover oil later.

menjivas

I always account for the whole thing. It's better to overestimate your calories than underestimate it.

ShellyMacchi

I don't know if much evaporates, but it certainly gets absorbed by the food that was cooking in it.
If being used to roast something like veg, maybe try measuring whatever amount is left after veg are cooked and removed, and enter the difference as used in your recipe?
Doubt this is any clearly defined way to 'know'.. but if there is I sure would love to know myself *S*

Samana06

I account for the whole thing ... usually I only use a few tablespoons ... you can cut a little off if you put the food on a paper towel or napkin and let some of the oil drain off!

paxtonphat

now thats no different than saying you would have to count the all the calories from the oil that french fries are cooked in as well. so that can't be right. I would measure the oil you have left over after cooking the veggies and subtract that from beginning total not sure how much evaporates but you can blot some of the excess oil off the veggies with a paper towel as well.

elainegsd

Typically you count the whole thing. If you are deep frying something, and there is LOADS of oil left in the pan, then it might be different. If what you are using is sort of absorbed by the food you are cooking, then you will consume it. Oil doesn't evaporate, water evaporates.

MobiusMan

even if the oil evaporates (which it doesn't unless you burn it off) you have to count it all. Oil concentrates when heated (if you paint you'll know triple boiled linseed oil as a cutting agent for oil paint) However, all the fats and nutrients stay put. Sorry you have to account for it all.

Vicky14174

oil does not evaporate. it gets absorbed into the food. 3/4 (.75) of a cup of oil is a lot of oil. I don't know of any recipe that calls for that much oil unless you are making dipping sauce for bread.

Cytherea

I agree, I don't think it cooks away unless you drain it. That's my experience when cooking with oil. Most recipes use the oil in other ways- like in a sauce, you sautee the onions and garlic in it, but then you wouldn't drain the oil out because you need it in the sauce itself.

I never use more than 2 tbsp oil when cooking (and I cook for two, so only half of that at most is what I actually eat). You can definitely get away with a LOT less than you're used to.

If you don't record it all, the only person you'll be hurting is yourself.

And obviously, cooking with oil isn't the same as deep frying with oil; and nobody would say that you should record all the oil used in deep frying, because there is visibly oil LEFT that is not eaten, whereas in cooking, this does not happen. In that case, you would want to weigh/measure the oil before and after cooking and the difference will tell you how much of it ended up in the food and therefore how much to count.

DoingTheNeedful

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I'll have to modify that recipe going forward so that it doesn't use so much oil. The whole thing came out to about 800g of tomato soup, and a 100g serving comes out to about 250 calories. So of course I ate two servings right? Sheesh. Anyway, whatever, better luck next time.

And next time it'll be perhaps a quarter cup instead of three quarters.

wolfchild59

3/4 cup of oil in a pan is pretty much pan-frying or sautéing in oil whatever you put in it.

I use a good non-stick pan and the only time I use anything is a quarter second spray of no-calorie cooking spray when I do my eggwhites. (though, there have been times I've forgotten the spray and it wasn't an issue)

Even if you don't have a non-stick pan, a tablespoon or two (depending on the amount of food going into the pan) of oil should be all you ever need for something like tomatoes.

quara

That's the lovely thing about counting your calories - once you get started, you really find out where the hidden traps are, and then you can modify the recipe the next time accordingly! Good luck!

fitoverfifty

Oil doesn't evaporate.....if you see any steam it's from the vegetables you are cooking.
I've never used that much oil in any recipe....unless you are deep frying. Olive oil is not good for deep frying as it turns into an unhealthy oil at high temperatures.