Recording marinade calories??

cordesbl

So I have started doing more cooking, and I like to use marinade recipes that I find online or whereever. Obviously when I make the marinade, I am not eating the entire pool of liquid that my meat has been soaking in. A lot of the marinades I have done require a lot of olive oil, and if I were record the marinade as actual calories consumed, it would be a ton! How can I record this accurately when I am no actually consuming all of the marinade...???

ChristyU74

I'm replying, not because I have a great answer for you, but because I have wondered this myself! Sometimes, I just haven't even logged the marinade, but that's not accurate either.

mmapags

You are way overthinking this! The amount of calories the marinade would add that would not be cooked of is like 5. Think about it. Let's say you are marinating flank steak to grill. The acids in the marinade are what is most critical to tenderize the steak. There is a little fat, maybe a tablespoon about 190 calories, spread over the entire amount. The other flavorings have little calories if it's just things like worcestershire or herbs and spices. Then you leave most of the marinade in the bowl or bag you were using. Most of the calories were in the fat. So of the original 190, you have maybe 30% left, again pread over the entire steak. You put it on the grill and the fat get's melted off or renders. So now you have about a tenth of the original calories left or 19. There are about 6 portions to the steak. That gives you 3 left from the marinade! Worth worrying about? Only if your OCD! lol

PS: I am a professional chef.

megansmith7487

I was going to post this EXACT question yesterday!
I have been trying to do much of my own cooking as well, but have resorted to using bottled marinades (baby steps!) Although mine have relatively low calorie content the sodium levels are outrageous! (again, I know that if I made my own marinade I could resolve that issue!)
I made grilled lemon pepper chicken last night for dinner, and when I typed the recipe, I only calculated half the bottle of marinade (although I poured out much, MUCH more than that)

So I am bumping this to see the answers, more experienced people give!

rockerbabyy

i dont usually worry about marinade calories. like the chef said - the amount is negligible.

taso42

To be honest I almost never log marinade. Once in a blue I log something like 1tsp of olive oil. You can do something like this or use quick-add calories. Or do nothing at all. Go with your intuition on this one.

2Bgoddess

I make my own marinades and brush it on rather than soaking it. I count all of it, cuz it all stays on.

MelisRunning

I always count the marinade~it's part of the recipe, isn't it?

SuffolkSally

Hmm I've wondered this too - I just do a sort of best guess but as my weight gets nearer target I'm conscious I should be more accurate...

Vonwarr

I don't bother tracking it a lot of the time either, just be aware of the sodium in it. (I make my own rubs usually and try to keep them low sodium which helps a lot). If I feel like I used a lot, I usually add a tsp or so of olive oil to my meal tracking if I use a marinade or wet rub, but it's mostly to "overestimate" on my calories and to help keep me accountable.

A tasty rub garlic pepper rub I've been using on chicken is:

2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp lemon pepper (this has sodium in it)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper * this is spicy, I cut it to 1/4 tsp or less if I'm making for others who don't like spice as much

I generally add between 1-2 tbsp of olive oil to it. Add the olive oil one tbsp at a time, and judge the consistency of the rub. If it's too gritty then add a bit more. It should "paint" onto the meat nicely. If you have to scrape the brush across it's too thick, and if it's running off the chicken, it's too oily. This makes enough to fully coat at least 2 chicken breasts. I tend to use a spoon to pour onto the meat, and then brush it out from there (makes it go further).

A couple of drops of lemon juice after grilling makes for a really nice complimentary flavor!

AZKristi

Enter the marinade as a recipe with one serving. Weigh the marinade as prepared (before adding meat). Weigh again after the meat is removed. Calculate the percent of the marinade absorbed by the meat:

(Weight before - weight after) / weight before

You should get a number between 0 and 1. 1 would indicate that all of the marinade was absorbed (never gonna happen) so you will expect a number far lower than one. So, if you get 0.2, you know that the steak absorbed 20% of the marinade. If you ate the whole steak, you would add the weight of the meat and 0.2 servings of marinade.

Happy math!

jenbridges

You are way overthinking this! The amount of calories the marinade would add that would not be cooked of is like 5. Think about it. Let's say you are marinating flank steak to grill. The acids in the marinade are what is most critical to tenderize the steak. There is a little fat, maybe a tablespoon about 190 calories, spread over the entire amount. The other flavorings have little calories if it's just things like worcestershire or herbs and spices. Then you leave most of the marinade in the bowl or bag you were using. Most of the calories were in the fat. So of the original 190, you have maybe 30% left, again pread over the entire steak. You put it on the grill and the fat get's melted off or renders. So now you have about a tenth of the original calories left or 19. There are about 6 portions to the steak. That gives you 3 left from the marinade! Worth worrying about? Only if your OCD! lol

PS: I am a professional chef.

Thanks for putting it this way! I usually log half the marinade, but what you say makes total sense!

vjrose

I admit I tend to use predone marinades like the powdered you add oil and water to, calories are negligible but lots of sodium, so no not counted for calories but sodium

sun33082

I always count the marinade~it's part of the recipe, isn't it?

It's part of the recipe, but it doesn't all end up in your mouth.

Willbenchforcupcakes

If you wanted to be precise about it, make your marinade as a recipe in the recipe tab, and measure how much it makes. After marinating, measure how much you have left. Divide that by how many portions, and that is how much is actually in your portion. For example, your marinade recipe makes 1 cup, after marinating, you have 3/4 cup remaining, and you had 4 portions of meat. Each portion absorbed 1/16 of a cup of marinade, so I would take my marinade recipe, say it makes 16 portions, and add one to my meal.

taso42

Enter the marinade as a recipe with one serving. Weigh the marinade as prepared (before adding meat). Weigh again after the meat is removed. Calculate the percent of the marinade absorbed by the meat:

(Weight before - weight after) / weight before

You should get a number between 0 and 1. 1 would indicate that all of the marinade was absorbed (never gonna happen) so you will expect a number far lower than one. So, if you get 0.2, you know that the steak absorbed 20% of the marinade. If you ate the whole steak, you would add the weight of the meat and 0.2 servings of marinade.

Happy math!

The after weight also includes water that has been extracted from the meat. So it's not that straightforward...

/overthinking it

SuperSexyDork

You are way overthinking this! The amount of calories the marinade would add that would not be cooked of is like 5. Think about it. Let's say you are marinating flank steak to grill. The acids in the marinade are what is most critical to tenderize the steak. There is a little fat, maybe a tablespoon about 190 calories, spread over the entire amount. The other flavorings have little calories if it's just things like worcestershire or herbs and spices. Then you leave most of the marinade in the bowl or bag you were using. Most of the calories were in the fat. So of the original 190, you have maybe 30% left, again pread over the entire steak. You put it on the grill and the fat get's melted off or renders. So now you have about a tenth of the original calories left or 19. There are about 6 portions to the steak. That gives you 3 left from the marinade! Worth worrying about? Only if your OCD! lol

PS: I am a professional chef.

This is Awesome! Thank you for explaining it in such simple terms. I marinated asparagus in lime juice and tequila once and just added a small amount of calories (like 30) but you've explained exactly why I didn't count my last marinade.

mmapags

I make my own marinades and brush it on rather than soaking it. I count all of it, cuz it all stays on.

And none of it renders off as it's cooked? Are you pan cooking, grilling, baking? It would make a difference in terms of what stays on and what renders off.

One caveat is if you are using sugar based product in your marinades like a bourbon and brown sugar marinade. But if it's sugar free, it's inconsequential. If it makes you feel better, add a teaspoon of Olive Oil. Then divide by number of portions. 100 calories by say 6 portions? 16 calories? Does that realy make a difference?

blkanmld

I dont think you have to worry about the calories as much as the sodium.. I know I really didnt get into a good weight lose unitl I lowered my sodium intake..

mmapags

If you wanted to be precise about it, make your marinade as a recipe in the recipe tab, and measure how much it makes. After marinating, measure how much you have left. Divide that by how many portions, and that is how much is actually in your portion. For example, your marinade recipe makes 1 cup, after marinating, you have 3/4 cup remaining, and you had 4 portions of meat. Each portion absorbed 1/16 of a cup of marinade, so I would take my marinade recipe, say it makes 16 portions, and add one to my meal.

Personally, I'd rather spend my time cooking and enjoying the dinner but if I did what you are saying, how would you account for what is rendered off in the cooking process?? Also, as Taso said, how would you account for the moisture loss from the meat?? I'd rather spend this time chasing my wife around the kitchen! (I hear you can work off a few marinade calories that way! LOL)

cordesbl

You are way overthinking this! The amount of calories the marinade would add that would not be cooked of is like 5. Think about it. Let's say you are marinating flank steak to grill. The acids in the marinade are what is most critical to tenderize the steak. There is a little fat, maybe a tablespoon about 190 calories, spread over the entire amount. The other flavorings have little calories if it's just things like worcestershire or herbs and spices. Then you leave most of the marinade in the bowl or bag you were using. Most of the calories were in the fat. So of the original 190, you have maybe 30% left, again pread over the entire steak. You put it on the grill and the fat get's melted off or renders. So now you have about a tenth of the original calories left or 19. There are about 6 portions to the steak. That gives you 3 left from the marinade! Worth worrying about? Only if your OCD! lol

PS: I am a professional chef.

Unfortunately... I have a tendency to be slightly OCD lol. I haven't really been tracking it for the most part, but the reason I decided to post today was because I made a marinade today that called for a 1/2 cup of olive oil... So I thought "there is no way I am recording this." That is the main reason I was curious. Thanks for the input!

rcthale

The marinade calories that actually get to your mouth are probably less than a pat of butter. It's when you're using it as a salad dressing that it matters big time.

mmapags

You are way overthinking this! The amount of calories the marinade would add that would not be cooked of is like 5. Think about it. Let's say you are marinating flank steak to grill. The acids in the marinade are what is most critical to tenderize the steak. There is a little fat, maybe a tablespoon about 190 calories, spread over the entire amount. The other flavorings have little calories if it's just things like worcestershire or herbs and spices. Then you leave most of the marinade in the bowl or bag you were using. Most of the calories were in the fat. So of the original 190, you have maybe 30% left, again pread over the entire steak. You put it on the grill and the fat get's melted off or renders. So now you have about a tenth of the original calories left or 19. There are about 6 portions to the steak. That gives you 3 left from the marinade! Worth worrying about? Only if your OCD! lol

PS: I am a professional chef.

Unfortunately... I have a tendency to be slightly OCD lol. I haven't really been tracking it for the most part, but the reason I decided to post today was because I made a marinade today that called for a 1/2 cup of olive oil... So I thought "there is no way I am recording this." That is the main reason I was curious. Thanks for the input!

Glad to help! :flowerforyou:

ETA: Even if the recipe called for it, I'd probably cut that amount of oil unless what I was marinating was huge! The key thing in a marinade are the acids and the seasonings not the oil generally speaking.

ThePersnicketyOtter

However you do it, decide how much you think actually stays on. Add all the calories of it together as a recipe, then take a "serving" out of it. It'll probably be less than 50 calories, depending on what you put in it.

cordesbl

I don't bother tracking it a lot of the time either, just be aware of the sodium in it. (I make my own rubs usually and try to keep them low sodium which helps a lot). If I feel like I used a lot, I usually add a tsp or so of olive oil to my meal tracking if I use a marinade or wet rub, but it's mostly to "overestimate" on my calories and to help keep me accountable.

A tasty rub garlic pepper rub I've been using on chicken is:

2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp lemon pepper (this has sodium in it)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper * this is spicy, I cut it to 1/4 tsp or less if I'm making for others who don't like spice as much

I generally add between 1-2 tbsp of olive oil to it. Add the olive oil one tbsp at a time, and judge the consistency of the rub. If it's too gritty then add a bit more. It should "paint" onto the meat nicely. If you have to scrape the brush across it's too thick, and if it's running off the chicken, it's too oily. This makes enough to fully coat at least 2 chicken breasts. I tend to use a spoon to pour onto the meat, and then brush it out from there (makes it go further).

A couple of drops of lemon juice after grilling makes for a really nice complimentary flavor!

That sounds AWESOME!! Will def have to try! Thanks!!

Willbenchforcupcakes

If you wanted to be precise about it, make your marinade as a recipe in the recipe tab, and measure how much it makes. After marinating, measure how much you have left. Divide that by how many portions, and that is how much is actually in your portion. For example, your marinade recipe makes 1 cup, after marinating, you have 3/4 cup remaining, and you had 4 portions of meat. Each portion absorbed 1/16 of a cup of marinade, so I would take my marinade recipe, say it makes 16 portions, and add one to my meal.

Personally, I'd rather spend my time cooking and enjoying the dinner but if I did what you are saying, how would you account for what is rendered off in the cooking process?? Also, as Taso said, how would you account for the moisture loss from the meat?? I'd rather spend this time chasing my wife around the kitchen! (I hear you can work off a few marinade calories that way! LOL)

Considering most of the meat I would marinade is beef, and I take my beef blue rare, I don't think all that much renders off.

cordesbl

You are way overthinking this! The amount of calories the marinade would add that would not be cooked of is like 5. Think about it. Let's say you are marinating flank steak to grill. The acids in the marinade are what is most critical to tenderize the steak. There is a little fat, maybe a tablespoon about 190 calories, spread over the entire amount. The other flavorings have little calories if it's just things like worcestershire or herbs and spices. Then you leave most of the marinade in the bowl or bag you were using. Most of the calories were in the fat. So of the original 190, you have maybe 30% left, again pread over the entire steak. You put it on the grill and the fat get's melted off or renders. So now you have about a tenth of the original calories left or 19. There are about 6 portions to the steak. That gives you 3 left from the marinade! Worth worrying about? Only if your OCD! lol

PS: I am a professional chef.

Unfortunately... I have a tendency to be slightly OCD lol. I haven't really been tracking it for the most part, but the reason I decided to post today was because I made a marinade today that called for a 1/2 cup of olive oil... So I thought "there is no way I am recording this." That is the main reason I was curious. Thanks for the input!

Glad to help! :flowerforyou:

ETA: Even if the recipe called for it, I'd probably cut that amount of oil unless what I was marinating was huge! The key thing in a marinade are the acids and the seasonings not the oil generally speaking.

Currently marinating a pound-ish of pork tenderloin... the amount of liquid in the bag seems reasonable and is coating the whole thing so didn't even think to cut down... again the OCD tendency I have means I follow recipes to the T! Especially since I am fairly new to cooking and don't have the experience to know what spices/herbs are best and what goes well together. Hoping to improve this as I play around with different flavors!

mmapags

If you wanted to be precise about it, make your marinade as a recipe in the recipe tab, and measure how much it makes. After marinating, measure how much you have left. Divide that by how many portions, and that is how much is actually in your portion. For example, your marinade recipe makes 1 cup, after marinating, you have 3/4 cup remaining, and you had 4 portions of meat. Each portion absorbed 1/16 of a cup of marinade, so I would take my marinade recipe, say it makes 16 portions, and add one to my meal.

Personally, I'd rather spend my time cooking and enjoying the dinner but if I did what you are saying, how would you account for what is rendered off in the cooking process?? Also, as Taso said, how would you account for the moisture loss from the meat?? I'd rather spend this time chasing my wife around the kitchen! (I hear you can work off a few marinade calories that way! LOL)

Considering most of the meat I would marinade is beef, and I take my beef blue rare, I don't think all that much renders off.

The relative doneness pretty much has nothing to do with what will burn or melt off the surface of meat when cooked. Oil does not penetrate but is merely a medium. The acids are what penetrate breaking down the tissue and making more tender.

reyopo

I agree, calories probably negligible. But SODIUM can be a different story. I was wondering about this the other day when I ate some kebabs from a Lebanese restaurant.

Laddiegirl

Unless it has a lot of oil in it or I plan to baste the meat as I cook with the marinade I don't log it. If I do, then I make a "recipe" and "add to diary" rather than just logging the ingredients of the marinade and the meat.

mmapags

You are way overthinking this! The amount of calories the marinade would add that would not be cooked of is like 5. Think about it. Let's say you are marinating flank steak to grill. The acids in the marinade are what is most critical to tenderize the steak. There is a little fat, maybe a tablespoon about 190 calories, spread over the entire amount. The other flavorings have little calories if it's just things like worcestershire or herbs and spices. Then you leave most of the marinade in the bowl or bag you were using. Most of the calories were in the fat. So of the original 190, you have maybe 30% left, again pread over the entire steak. You put it on the grill and the fat get's melted off or renders. So now you have about a tenth of the original calories left or 19. There are about 6 portions to the steak. That gives you 3 left from the marinade! Worth worrying about? Only if your OCD! lol

PS: I am a professional chef.

Unfortunately... I have a tendency to be slightly OCD lol. I haven't really been tracking it for the most part, but the reason I decided to post today was because I made a marinade today that called for a 1/2 cup of olive oil... So I thought "there is no way I am recording this." That is the main reason I was curious. Thanks for the input!

Glad to help! :flowerforyou:

ETA: Even if the recipe called for it, I'd probably cut that amount of oil unless what I was marinating was huge! The key thing in a marinade are the acids and the seasonings not the oil generally speaking.

Currently marinating a pound-ish of pork tenderloin... the amount of liquid in the bag seems reasonable and is coating the whole thing so didn't even think to cut down... again the OCD tendency I have means I follow recipes to the T! Especially since I am fairly new to cooking and don't have the experience to know what spices/herbs are best and what goes well together. Hoping to improve this as I play around with different flavors!

One of the best ways to learn is to use a great basic cookbook like The Silver Palate New Basics. Not only are there great recipes but they get into a lot of the theory and tecnique. It's almost like taking a cooking class. Keep at it and you'll learn how to work with the elements!