meat portions pre or post cook?

kokoasummer

Hey guys, I was wondering if there was a proper way to get the weight of meat? Would u weigh it on a scale before u cooked it?or after? Made hamburgers the other night and grilled them, but wasn't sure how to get the most correct calorie content for it, since the weight seems to change a lot after sitting on a grill.
And turkey bacon on a burger- pretty tastey! :-)

maria9274

weigh pre cook

stormieweather

Before cooking. I weigh my food and pre-package it with the weights marked on the bags. For burgers, I weigh them all before I cook and make sure they're the same (or very close). Then that's the weight I log, no matter what burger I eat.

McKayMachina

ALWAYS before unless it specifies "cooked" on the nutrition label (which is rare).

Biffybeans1

Rule of thumb is when meat is cooked the cooked weight decreases about 25% from the pre-cooked starting weight. For calorie count I guess you use the pre-cooked calorie/nutrition numbers. However, I weigh my meat portion after it's been cooked to know the actual ounces I'm going to eat after it's cooked. I try to keep my meat intake for a meal to no more than 3-4 ounce servings.

McKayMachina

I weigh my meat portion after it's been cooked to know the actual ounces I'm going to eat after it's cooked. I try to keep my meat intake for a meal to no more than 3-4 ounce servings.

This is not going to be correct for figuring calories. Always weigh before. Usually most of what is lost in the cooking process is water. I do not recommend this approach. And why limit meat to 3-4 oz.? Seems odd.

Biffybeans1

Ok, I mostly weigh my foods precooking weight. The question as to why I only eat 3-4 oz. meat per day is health related. I use a wheelchair full time, cannot do ANY exercises that work against gravity, and can't afford private/personal trainer. In essence I am nearly completely sedentary which makes losing weight much different for me than most people. I did, however, visit a licensed nutritiionist at a hospital and she recommened no more than 3-4 oz. of meat per day. I definitely get more protein than 3-4 oz. per day.....I just don't get my protein primarily from meat.