food oddity

acstansell

So, based on a suggestion from the boards, I threw ground turkey into a recipe that I make. It wasn't bad - but here's something that I discovered...

I tend to use ground sirloin (90/10) and that's 190 calories for a 4 oz. serving - equaling about 760 calories for the whole pound, which I obviously don't eat in this recipe (it serves 4)

The ground turkey I bought (93/7) was 170 calories for a 4oz. serving - and there were 19.2oz in the package - which was 5 servings an 850 for the entire package.

So, I only save about 20 calories per serving but overall, the dish really gained almost 90 calories...

The point of this math is - why switch to ground turkey if they are going to "trick" you buy actually selling you more than a pound. And yes, I know I could have cut out the last 1/4 of a pound and saved it for something else, but it's much easier to measure and get the accuracy if I use the whole package.

So - again, I ask - what really is the benefit? The calories gained are minimal (if at all), the taste needs doctored (which can lead to more sodium and potential calories), it's more expensive (almost a buck more) and the fat difference between ground sirloin is minimal (I could even get extra lean sirloin that is 95/5 if I went to a different grocery store).

Thoughts?

jakejacobsen

just buy 1 pound packages

1a1a

I've never tried turkey, I feel too guilty about all those birds trapped in battery farms but, I happily keep eating what I was eating before (which always kinda clean anyway), just less. I'd keep using the beef, just less. And hide a bunch of veges in there somehow,

shovav91

With a difference that minimal, it's best to do what your taste-buds and body tell you. Enjoy what you eat; don't force yourself to be less happy with a meal to save a few calories!

jarrettd

i did some extreme label comparing and came to the same conclusion. I don't even think the cholesterol was any lower. And if satisfaction suffers due to taste difference, you'll compensate later. The math doesn't work. Go with the beef.

acstansell

just buy 1 pound packages

I would love too, but when I bought the turkey, they didn't sell have the one pound packages. I'll try to look for them the next time, but since I use ground sirloin, I may just stick with that - the difference is so minimal... now if I were using ground chuck, that would be different.

peachNpunkin

Thank you for putting the math to it. It makes sense. I prefer ground red meat verses ground turkey. However, I also know that the ground turky has less saturated fat than ground meat. But, I think it is a preference thing. All in all, Ground turkey is the better choice. It is a healthier protien.

acstansell

i did some extreme label comparing and came to the same conclusion. I don't even think the cholesterol was any lower. And if satisfaction suffers due to taste difference, you'll compensate later. The math doesn't work. Go with the beef.

WORD! I was actually quite annoyed when I realized this difference as I was making the dish! When I added it and it came up to 850 from 760 I was like WTF? I thought this would be BETTER!

I think this would be a much larger margin if you were eating something like ground chuck or ground round... but I've been eating lean ground sirloin for years... and when compared to turkey, it's no better really.

I'm probably not buying it again - I felt less hunger satisfaction with the dish tonight as well... so that's saying something too.

acstansell

Thank you for putting the math to it. It makes sense. I prefer ground red meat verses ground turkey. However, I also know that the ground turky has less saturated fat than ground meat. But, I think it is a preference thing. All in all, Ground turkey is the better choice. It is a healthier protien.

I'll agree with you that turkey is a better choice and a healthier protein overall. I'm betting you are right - that the fat count is better with turkey, which is something I didn't consider. I'm up in the air about it right now, but i may try again if I can find the pound packages...

I found this same situation with turkey bacon too - I switched back to pork center cut bacon because it's the same sodium count as turkey bacon, but fewer calories and the package has less in it, so you are eating less. Plus, I seem to have more satisfaction from the pork bacon (when I eat it, which is RARE). I much prefer the taste of beef, but I worry about the health risks involved in eating too much of it (which is yet another reason why I may not give up on the ground gobbler).

UponThisRock

I've always found the purported superiority of ground turkey to be an odd idea