Calories in beef mince drained of fat

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ctrlaltdelboy
ctrlaltdelboy Posts: 30
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all, I thought I'd share my findings today in calculating the calories in beef mince (ground beef in American English) once it's been cooked and all the fat has been drained away.

I had an 800g pack of Tesco Value Beef Mince - according to the nutrition label this contains 2560 calories, however once cooked I drained off 241g of fat. (somewhat higher than the fat content claimed on the label, which says 28g per 100g = 224g total - I had 17g more than this +7.5%)

Looking up the nutritional value of 240g of beef fat online I found this to be 2160 calories, which when deducted from the whole leaves a value of just 400 calories, or 50 calories per 100g (70g cooked drained)

this seems too low to me?

looking up the nutritional value of beef mince at http://www.nutrientfacts.com I find that the calories are displayed both as a total amount and an amount from fat - although there's no listing for such a high fat content at this product. there are values for various fat percentages as follows:

per 100g
regular @ 20% fat - 290 calories with 170 from fat = 120 from meat
lean @ 15% fat - 240 calories with 140 from fat = 120 from meat
extra lean @ 15%(?) fat - 260 calories with 140 from fat = 140 from meat

so presumably if the mix of 100g between fat cals & meat cals continues to trend as above as the fat content rises, using the info on the tesco value mince which shows 320 cal per 100g this would translate as 100 cal from the meat and 220 cal from the quoted 28% fat?

but if the fat content is actually 7.5% higher than quoted, the adjusted figure would be 236 cal from fat, leaving just 84 of the total 320 cal in the cooked & drained meat?

This figure of 84 cal seems like the best one to work with in respect of the 70g meat remaining from 100g of raw mince once it's been cooked and drained of fat.

does this seem right to you?

Replies

  • ctrlaltdelboy
    ctrlaltdelboy Posts: 30
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    bump - just wondering if anyone has any input on this topic?

    I've started using a value of 100 cal per 100g of raw mince used in my recipes as a nice round number for ease of use given my findings above.
  • comicaltone
    comicaltone Posts: 1 Member
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    I did exactly what you did in draining fat, weighing it and came to the same conclusion as you that it must be too low. I'm glad you went further though because the 100 cal per 100g seems reasonable.

    Tony
  • maria1993
    maria1993 Posts: 112
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    You may think that the fat is 7.5% higher. But in reality the weight of the drained "fat" would have also included extra water that was cooked off of the meat
  • suzymo
    suzymo Posts: 1
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    Thank you everyone, this really helps people like myself who can't get their heads round the maths.
    I'll just use 100 cals per 100g..
  • elmsallmissile
    elmsallmissile Posts: 86
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    You may think that the fat is 7.5% higher. But in reality the weight of the drained "fat" would have also included extra water that was cooked off of the meat


    Wot she said!
  • Mmmary212
    Mmmary212 Posts: 410 Member
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    I gave up calculating the fat before and after cooking.....but I just wanted to say, when you drain that fat, send it over my way. Mmmm...beef fat.
  • elmsallmissile
    elmsallmissile Posts: 86
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    I gave up calculating the fat before and after cooking.....but I just wanted to say, when you drain that fat, send it over my way. Mmmm...beef fat.

    Wot she said as well ;-)
  • mrsjanice
    mrsjanice Posts: 1
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    Interesting findings. I have concluded myself that mince is very expensive if you buy extra lean so I buy a cheaper brand with more fat and drain as much of the fat out as physically possible. Does this then equate to extra lean mince?
  • TONYAGOOCH
    TONYAGOOCH Posts: 470 Member
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    Interesting findings. I have concluded myself that mince is very expensive if you buy extra lean so I buy a cheaper brand with more fat and drain as much of the fat out as physically possible. Does this then equate to extra lean mince?

    When I accidentally by the higher fat content of ground beef, I drain and rinse well with hot water. Then I will return it to the pan and add seasonings.
  • alexis831
    alexis831 Posts: 469 Member
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    Interesting findings. I have concluded myself that mince is very expensive if you buy extra lean so I buy a cheaper brand with more fat and drain as much of the fat out as physically possible. Does this then equate to extra lean mince?

    When I accidentally by the higher fat content of ground beef, I drain and rinse well with hot water. Then I will return it to the pan and add seasonings.

    I do this too. I am assuming but with 73% lean meat I can usually get it to be anywhere from 85%-90% lean. This is with calculating the water and fat both. If you sit the fat on the table the fat separates from the water and congeals. Ikky I know but then you can get a better estimate of the weight once it separates. You can even drain the water out and weight the fat at that point. That will give you a more accurate account of the fat removed. I rinse my meat too… no way to calculate that though!  Its all best guess!

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