food weights or measurements/when to measure?

jenlipe

The bag of chicken says 120 calories for 4 oz. Is that raw or cooked? Bags of frozen veggies list amount and calorie. Is that before or after cooking. Both make a difference in how much.

NormalSaneFLGuy

Typically raw and it should say on the package. I think it's like 4oz raw/3oz cooked for 120 calories.

Edit: The reason the value change is because when it cooks you lose moisture. The calorie content is the same, but you lost the weight of the water.

dinosnopro

I usually measure after it has been cooked, unless it says precooked weight, but who knows I could be doing it wrong too.

jenlipe

Neither say before or after cooking. Generally I have always measured the veggies after cooking or microwaving. But dumped some in a veggie broth to make a quick soup and measured frozen. I am betting there is a lot less in the frozen measure than the cooked.

wolfchild59

If you are looking at a package label then the information is for the state that the food is in inside the package. So if you have a package of raw chicken then it's 4oz of raw chicken.

The exception to this is if it states something like "cooked weight", "as-prepared", or something similar.

In general, when not dealing with packaged foods, always weight raw and then cook. 4oz of raw chicken could end up 3.5oz or 3oz when it cooked, depending on how it's cooked and how much moisture is lost, but it's always 120 calories.

That's why when you see an ad for a burger that says it's a 1/4 pound, there's always fine print at the bottom that says pre-cooked weight. And when you order a 12oz steak at a restaurant, it's a 12oz cut of meat, they aren't going to cut a 14oz piece of meat for someone that wants a well-done steal and a 13oz piece of meat for someone that orders it rare.

Mokey41

If you are looking at a package label then the information is for the state that the food is in inside the package. So if you have a package of raw chicken then it's 4oz of raw chicken.

The exception to this is if it states something like "cooked weight", "as-prepared", or something similar.

In general, when not dealing with packaged foods, always weight raw and then cook. 4oz of raw chicken could end up 3.5oz or 3oz when it cooked, depending on how it's cooked and how much moisture is lost, but it's always 120 calories.

That's why when you see an ad for a burger that says it's a 1/4 pound, there's always fine print at the bottom that says pre-cooked weight. And when you order a 12oz steak at a restaurant, it's a 12oz cut of meat, they aren't going to cut a 14oz piece of meat for someone that wants a well-done steal and a 13oz piece of meat for someone that orders it rare.

^^^
This. Most things that get cooked are measured raw. If you measure meat after cooking you can be seriously over eating.

SheriMae3

Mokey41 wrote: »

...If you measure meat after cooking you can be seriously over eating.

And conversely, with foods that gain volume during cooking, you could be seriously cheating yourself out of calories. Case in point; steel cut oatmeal. The calorie count of 150 is based on 1/4 cup so one could mistakenly count the calories of a 1 cup bowl of prepared oatmeal as 600.

When I prepare a batch of oatmeal I immediately separate it into fourths and the calorie count per serving remains the same as they state on the label. If you happen to get 6 servings then the calories drop to 100 per each.