Tracking Burgers, Bacon, and other uncooked food
pattyproulx
Posts: 603 Member
Hey guys,
I was just wondering how you guys tracked your frozen burgers, bacon, and other 'fatty' foods whose nutritional information is from raw.
If you look at the packaging, on a package of bacon, it provides the information for uncooked bacon. However, when you cook it, a ton of the fat comes off. Same with frozen burgers - I lose a lot of the fat in the BBQ.
I sometimes try to find a 'cooked' category of bacon, but based on those numbers I think they cook it for much longer than I, so sometimes, I add a bit of bacon grease to my diary since I figure mine were more fatty than the ones I picked from the list.
Just wondering if people have tricks for this - I also don't really want to just say 0.8 or something, because even though the calories might be more accurate, it skews my macros.
Thanks!
I was just wondering how you guys tracked your frozen burgers, bacon, and other 'fatty' foods whose nutritional information is from raw.
If you look at the packaging, on a package of bacon, it provides the information for uncooked bacon. However, when you cook it, a ton of the fat comes off. Same with frozen burgers - I lose a lot of the fat in the BBQ.
I sometimes try to find a 'cooked' category of bacon, but based on those numbers I think they cook it for much longer than I, so sometimes, I add a bit of bacon grease to my diary since I figure mine were more fatty than the ones I picked from the list.
Just wondering if people have tricks for this - I also don't really want to just say 0.8 or something, because even though the calories might be more accurate, it skews my macros.
Thanks!
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Replies
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Bump... :ohwell:0
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I count everything raw regardless so I over compensate to make sure I am as close as possible....0
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To be honest, it really isn't going to make that much of a difference so I just log it as it is. Yes it might lose some fat but it's not really that much is it? Too much hassle to worry otherwise and as I can't measure how much fat it's lost, I'd rather overestimate than underestimate.0
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To be honest, it really isn't going to make that much of a difference so I just log it as it is. Yes it might lose some fat but it's not really that much is it? Too much hassle to worry otherwise and as I can't measure how much fat it's lost, I'd rather overestimate than underestimate.
^This!
For things like hamburger, they are often in the database as "yeild from 1/4 pound raw." This is how "Quarter Pounders" are made at McD's. They aren't a quarter pound AFTER they've been cooked, they are a quarter pound BEFORE.
The calories that would be lost from cooking bacon are negligible. Some bacon packages (like Kunzler Lower Sodium) give the calorie content of microwaved cooked. Microwaving it probably doesn't eliminate as much fat as frying it, but it is so negligible that it isn't worth the brain energy trying to figure out how many fewer calories it is.0 -
Thanks for the feedback!
Ya, I've decided to start tracking burgers as ground beef, cooked (yield from x raw). Might do the same with bacon and add a bit of bacon grease to the diary to compensate for the fact that I eat mine a little less cooked.
I'll disagree with those that say there is little difference though.
Bacon actually does make a huge difference (maybe it's because I eat a lot of it too). But 1 tbsp of bacon grease is ~120 calories. When I cook up 3-4 strips of bacon, there's easily more than 1 tbsp in there (I'd bet there's more than 2 a lot of the time).0 -
Well maybe you should think about buying bacon with less fat in it because I don't get nearly as much as that from mine and quite frankly, the thought of that much being in the pan while it's cooking would put me right off!0
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Well maybe you should think about buying bacon with less fat in it because I don't get nearly as much as that from mine and quite frankly, the thought of that much being in the pan while it's cooking would put me right off!
Agreed.... BLECH!0 -
Thanks for the feedback!
Ya, I've decided to start tracking burgers as ground beef, cooked (yield from x raw). Might do the same with bacon and add a bit of bacon grease to the diary to compensate for the fact that I eat mine a little less cooked.
I'll disagree with those that say there is little difference though.
Bacon actually does make a huge difference (maybe it's because I eat a lot of it too). But 1 tbsp of bacon grease is ~120 calories. When I cook up 3-4 strips of bacon, there's easily more than 1 tbsp in there (I'd bet there's more than 2 a lot of the time).
Ya it's good to track it this way and I totally agree with you: it's important to remember that there is a difference. I recently had the same issue with cooked white rice - turns out uncooked rice has far more calories than cooked rice.
for example:
130 calories in 3½ or 100g when steamed or boiled
356 calories in 3½ or 100g when raw.
For people like me - who use this counter as a tool to maintain a healthy weight - 226 cals is a massive difference! Ultimately, it could lead to a large weekly undereat - which is unhealthy.0 -
Thanks for the feedback!
Ya, I've decided to start tracking burgers as ground beef, cooked (yield from x raw). Might do the same with bacon and add a bit of bacon grease to the diary to compensate for the fact that I eat mine a little less cooked.
I'll disagree with those that say there is little difference though.
Bacon actually does make a huge difference (maybe it's because I eat a lot of it too). But 1 tbsp of bacon grease is ~120 calories. When I cook up 3-4 strips of bacon, there's easily more than 1 tbsp in there (I'd bet there's more than 2 a lot of the time).
Ya it's good to track it this way and I totally agree with you: it's important to remember that there is a difference. I recently had the same issue with cooked white rice - turns out uncooked rice has far more calories than cooked rice.
for example:
130 calories in 3½ or 100g when steamed or boiled
356 calories in 3½ or 100g when raw.
For people like me - who use this counter as a tool to maintain a healthy weight - 226 cals is a massive difference! Ultimately, it could lead to a large weekly undereat - which is unhealthy.
...I'm pretty sure that if you take dry rice and boil/steam it in water (assuming no added oil, butter, etc) the calories at the beginning and at the end are the same.
Are you sure that thae 226 cal difference isn't added oil, butter, etc.?0 -
Depending upon the pack of bacon as some give cals per rasher cooked or per cooked weight.
Bacon tends to loose a lot of water when grilled and 200g of raw bacon can go down to around 140 g cooked which can make quite a bit difference0 -
Difference in rice is due to volume. When you cook it you add water to the grain which causes the grain to swell and in turn increases the volume when measuring by cups etc. When measuring by weight, grams, you are measuring the water weight as well so yes, uncooked rice will be much more concentrated than cooked becuase the water hasn't been added yet.0
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Ya it's good to track it this way and I totally agree with you: it's important to remember that there is a difference. I recently had the same issue with cooked white rice - turns out uncooked rice has far more calories than cooked rice.
for example:
130 calories in 3½ or 100g when steamed or boiled
356 calories in 3½ or 100g when raw.
For people like me - who use this counter as a tool to maintain a healthy weight - 226 cals is a massive difference! Ultimately, it could lead to a large weekly undereat - which is unhealthy.
It's only because the rice absorbs water and takes up more space when cooked so effectively there is less in the cup when cooked0 -
A digital food scale will give you a MUCH clearer indication of what you are eating. Weighing the food after it is cooked tells you the actual amount of food you're putting into your body. There is a huge difference (percentage wise) between raw and cooked ground beef.
The nutritional info on the back of most bacon packages that I've seen state values for COOKED bacon, so the loss from cooking is already factored in.0 -
Thanks for the feedback!
Ya, I've decided to start tracking burgers as ground beef, cooked (yield from x raw). Might do the same with bacon and add a bit of bacon grease to the diary to compensate for the fact that I eat mine a little less cooked.
I'll disagree with those that say there is little difference though.
Bacon actually does make a huge difference (maybe it's because I eat a lot of it too). But 1 tbsp of bacon grease is ~120 calories. When I cook up 3-4 strips of bacon, there's easily more than 1 tbsp in there (I'd bet there's more than 2 a lot of the time).
Ya it's good to track it this way and I totally agree with you: it's important to remember that there is a difference. I recently had the same issue with cooked white rice - turns out uncooked rice has far more calories than cooked rice.
for example:
130 calories in 3½ or 100g when steamed or boiled
356 calories in 3½ or 100g when raw.
For people like me - who use this counter as a tool to maintain a healthy weight - 226 cals is a massive difference! Ultimately, it could lead to a large weekly undereat - which is unhealthy.
...I'm pretty sure that if you take dry rice and boil/steam it in water (assuming no added oil, butter, etc) the calories at the beginning and at the end are the same.
Are you sure that thae 226 cal difference isn't added oil, butter, etc.?
Oh dear god I'm an idiot.
It's all good fun :laugh:0 -
Thanks for the feedback!
Ya, I've decided to start tracking burgers as ground beef, cooked (yield from x raw). Might do the same with bacon and add a bit of bacon grease to the diary to compensate for the fact that I eat mine a little less cooked.
I'll disagree with those that say there is little difference though.
Bacon actually does make a huge difference (maybe it's because I eat a lot of it too). But 1 tbsp of bacon grease is ~120 calories. When I cook up 3-4 strips of bacon, there's easily more than 1 tbsp in there (I'd bet there's more than 2 a lot of the time).
try buying a better quality bacon or going with canadian bacon. same with ground beef try buying 96% lean and not frozen burgers. it will help with the fat.0 -
No, you're not. You are comparing calories by weight and it is valid. If you cook 100 grams of raw rice and eat it ALL, you're calories will be 356. But if you weigh out a portion of the cooked rice equal to 100 grams, you won't be eating all of the rice you cooked. That's because the cooked weight will be (by your numbers above) about 1/3 rice and 2/3 water.Thanks for the feedback!
Ya, I've decided to start tracking burgers as ground beef, cooked (yield from x raw). Might do the same with bacon and add a bit of bacon grease to the diary to compensate for the fact that I eat mine a little less cooked.
I'll disagree with those that say there is little difference though.
Bacon actually does make a huge difference (maybe it's because I eat a lot of it too). But 1 tbsp of bacon grease is ~120 calories. When I cook up 3-4 strips of bacon, there's easily more than 1 tbsp in there (I'd bet there's more than 2 a lot of the time).
Ya it's good to track it this way and I totally agree with you: it's important to remember that there is a difference. I recently had the same issue with cooked white rice - turns out uncooked rice has far more calories than cooked rice.
for example:
130 calories in 3½ or 100g when steamed or boiled
356 calories in 3½ or 100g when raw.
For people like me - who use this counter as a tool to maintain a healthy weight - 226 cals is a massive difference! Ultimately, it could lead to a large weekly undereat - which is unhealthy.
...I'm pretty sure that if you take dry rice and boil/steam it in water (assuming no added oil, butter, etc) the calories at the beginning and at the end are the same.
Are you sure that thae 226 cal difference isn't added oil, butter, etc.?
Oh dear god I'm an idiot.
It's all good fun :laugh:0 -
Thanks for the feedback!
Ya, I've decided to start tracking burgers as ground beef, cooked (yield from x raw). Might do the same with bacon and add a bit of bacon grease to the diary to compensate for the fact that I eat mine a little less cooked.
I'll disagree with those that say there is little difference though.
Bacon actually does make a huge difference (maybe it's because I eat a lot of it too). But 1 tbsp of bacon grease is ~120 calories. When I cook up 3-4 strips of bacon, there's easily more than 1 tbsp in there (I'd bet there's more than 2 a lot of the time).
Ya it's good to track it this way and I totally agree with you: it's important to remember that there is a difference. I recently had the same issue with cooked white rice - turns out uncooked rice has far more calories than cooked rice.
for example:
130 calories in 3½ or 100g when steamed or boiled
356 calories in 3½ or 100g when raw.
For people like me - who use this counter as a tool to maintain a healthy weight - 226 cals is a massive difference! Ultimately, it could lead to a large weekly undereat - which is unhealthy.
Well think about it: 100 grams of raw rice is how many servings? And of course the food is less calorie dense when it absorbs all that water!0 -
Thanks for the feedback!
Ya, I've decided to start tracking burgers as ground beef, cooked (yield from x raw). Might do the same with bacon and add a bit of bacon grease to the diary to compensate for the fact that I eat mine a little less cooked.
I'll disagree with those that say there is little difference though.
Bacon actually does make a huge difference (maybe it's because I eat a lot of it too). But 1 tbsp of bacon grease is ~120 calories. When I cook up 3-4 strips of bacon, there's easily more than 1 tbsp in there (I'd bet there's more than 2 a lot of the time).
You are buying the right kind of thick cut bacon!!! Nom nom nom0 -
There are some entries for cooked bacon in the database. Bacon will have less calories the more crispy it is. I like my bacon floppy and my body needs lots of fat so I don't care. I use the "bacon, baked" entry and then it's by weight which will be quite accurate since crispy bacon weighs less than floppy bacon.
However, I do enter my burgers in the raw form and it doesn't bother me. Perhaps it will offset something else that I underestimated.
And don't listen to the advice to get "low fat" options. The low fat nonsense needs to stop. Now.0 -
Try checking out the USDA website http://www.nal.usda.gov/ They tend to tell cooked vs. uncooked on their search engine.
Here's some info on how many calories/fat you're reducing by when you blot and rinse ground beef. http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/foodwise/news/reduce-fat-by-rinsing-cooked-ground-beef In the case of ground beef, I know it certainly can make a big difference, especially if you've had to buy a pack that has more than 5% fat.
Hope that's helpful.0 -
Thanks for the feedback!
Ya, I've decided to start tracking burgers as ground beef, cooked (yield from x raw). Might do the same with bacon and add a bit of bacon grease to the diary to compensate for the fact that I eat mine a little less cooked.
I'll disagree with those that say there is little difference though.
Bacon actually does make a huge difference (maybe it's because I eat a lot of it too). But 1 tbsp of bacon grease is ~120 calories. When I cook up 3-4 strips of bacon, there's easily more than 1 tbsp in there (I'd bet there's more than 2 a lot of the time).
Ya it's good to track it this way and I totally agree with you: it's important to remember that there is a difference. I recently had the same issue with cooked white rice - turns out uncooked rice has far more calories than cooked rice.
for example:
130 calories in 3½ or 100g when steamed or boiled
356 calories in 3½ or 100g when raw.
For people like me - who use this counter as a tool to maintain a healthy weight - 226 cals is a massive difference! Ultimately, it could lead to a large weekly undereat - which is unhealthy.
...I'm pretty sure that if you take dry rice and boil/steam it in water (assuming no added oil, butter, etc) the calories at the beginning and at the end are the same.
Are you sure that thae 226 cal difference isn't added oil, butter, etc.?
Oh dear god I'm an idiot.
It's all good fun :laugh:
No, you're not! I assumed that you were measuring dry and cooking. If you measure dry, cook, and then measure again the same amount of rice will weigh more - have a larger volume (as others have said) due to water absorption!0 -
i agree that the fat can vary for the bacon depending on how it is prepared. but i use those ready to eat bacon packs so this is not an issue for me0
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what you lose in the pan when cooking is all a bonus, if you're worried about how ever many calories are left... theres not a great deal you can do tbh, weighing it before and after isn't that accurate as you're heating it so you'll be removing water first and foremost, which means you'd have to factor in water and fat loss, best bet is to not lose sleep over it, if you're saying there's 200 calories worth there, make a custom food called cooked bacon with x amount of calories less per slice0
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Weigh it after cooking in that case.0
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Why would anyone, who lives in Canada, eat store bought meat? You have the best hunting and fishing in the world.0
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Well maybe you should think about buying bacon with less fat in it because I don't get nearly as much as that from mine and quite frankly, the thought of that much being in the pan while it's cooking would put me right off!
Maybe ya'll should just not buy bacon and make your own. Home cured bacon doesn't leak off fat like those store bought atrocities do.
To the op, so here's a thought. Weigh your bacon pre-cooking. Post cooking, weigh your bacon fat. Do this over a large number of slices and you'll get an average "shrink", and can adjust accordingly.
EG: Over 70 slices, 3 slices of bacon cooked in X manner releases Y grams of bacon fat, resulting in a variance from raw values of Z.0 -
Interesting. I've wondered this myself. I often buy minced beef that's 20% fat, but when I cook it in a pan I find myself routinely having to stop and spoon out huge volumes of fat to stop the meat drowning. Presumably the fat content listed is as given raw, but a huge amount of that fat gets drained down the sink before the meat has even left the pan.0
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I'll disagree with those that say there is little difference though.
Bacon actually does make a huge difference (maybe it's because I eat a lot of it too). But 1 tbsp of bacon grease is ~120 calories. When I cook up 3-4 strips of bacon, there's easily more than 1 tbsp in there (I'd bet there's more than 2 a lot of the time).
try buying a better quality bacon or going with canadian bacon. same with ground beef try buying 96% lean and not frozen burgers. it will help with the fat.
I only buy 96/4 ground beef if I am choosing to use red meat. As far as bacon goes, try opting for center cut bacon. It eliminates most of the fat that is in bacon. That is truly the only bacon that I really enjoy, otherwise I start feeling guilty for eating it.0 -
I'll disagree with those that say there is little difference though.
Bacon actually does make a huge difference (maybe it's because I eat a lot of it too). But 1 tbsp of bacon grease is ~120 calories. When I cook up 3-4 strips of bacon, there's easily more than 1 tbsp in there (I'd bet there's more than 2 a lot of the time).
try buying a better quality bacon or going with canadian bacon. same with ground beef try buying 96% lean and not frozen burgers. it will help with the fat.
I only buy 96/4 ground beef if I am choosing to use red meat. As far as bacon goes, try opting for center cut bacon. It eliminates most of the fat that is in bacon. That is truly the only bacon that I really enjoy, otherwise I start feeling guilty for eating it.
Center cut doesn't really mean anything though. If you want to reduce the fat in your bacon, breed is what matters. You want a Duroc, good muscle, little fat in the belly in comparison. I personally prefer Hampshire/Duroc cross, you still get great quantities of meat, but also a decent middle of the road layer of clean fat.
Similarly, you want to avoid Woolies, Kurobota, and Berkshires. Those are all grown to maximize fat content.0
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