Ok, seriously confused myself.

Rusty675
Rusty675 Posts: 18
in Food and Nutrition
Right, I've recently started having wholewheat pasta for my lunch and when I went to add it to my diary there was a (cooked) option and another option. Anyway, I'm assuming the calories stay the same whether it's been cooked or dry.

e.g 100g of Dry pasta - 148calories (The brand I'm using)
100g of dry pasta turns into around 220g of pasta when it's been cooked in water.

Now am I right in thinking that the calorie content stays the same when cooked? As I done some searching and kept on finding conflicting answers which had confused me for the past hour or so lol.

In my defence, I've only just started to learn how to cook haha and have no real clue when it comes to stuff like this.

Replies

  • Rusty675
    Rusty675 Posts: 18
    Item in question: http://groceries.asda.com/asda-estore/search/searchcontainer.jsp?trailSize=1&searchString=wholewheat+pasta&domainName=Products&headerVersion=v1&_requestid=68258

    Is nutritional values for dry weight or wet weight? That's what has confused me.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    I believe UK labelling is dry/ raw weight unless specified.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    If you are cooking the pasta in water, then I can't see why the calorie content would change. The volume would certainly change though.
  • pixiechick8321
    pixiechick8321 Posts: 284 Member
    Get a scale. Weigh the pasta dry. Record it (ie, 57g ~= 200 calories). Cook it. Eat and enjoy.
  • BeingAwesome247
    BeingAwesome247 Posts: 1,171 Member
    Get a scale. Weigh the pasta dry. Record it (ie, 57g ~= 200 calories). Cook it. Eat and enjoy.

    UK or USA: weigh the pasta first then cook then eat haha
  • demorelli
    demorelli Posts: 508 Member
    Yeah you're not adding calories when you cook the pasta unless you add oil or something to the water. Just the weight and size change. (the number of calories per noodle doesn't change)
  • cyberiarob
    cyberiarob Posts: 229 Member
    Get a scale. Weigh the pasta dry. Record it (ie, 57g ~= 200 calories). Cook it. Eat and enjoy.

    Exactly. The nutritional value stays the same when it's cooked, it just weighs more because it soaks up the water.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    Right, I've recently started having wholewheat pasta for my lunch and when I went to add it to my diary there was a (cooked) option and another option. Anyway, I'm assuming the calories stay the same whether it's been cooked or dry.

    e.g 100g of Dry pasta - 148calories (The brand I'm using)
    100g of dry pasta turns into around 220g of pasta when it's been cooked in water.

    Now am I right in thinking that the calorie content stays the same when cooked? As I done some searching and kept on finding conflicting answers which had confused me for the past hour or so lol.

    In my defence, I've only just started to learn how to cook haha and have no real clue when it comes to stuff like this.

    What is your pasta absorbing to make it heavier?
  • Rusty675
    Rusty675 Posts: 18
    I had completely confused myself. I think it was just the fact that 100g when cooked in water looked like way too much food for the nutritional values lol.

    I weigh all my food anyway.

    Cheers for the help lol. Even the stupid questions have to get asked, right? :P
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    I don't think that 100 oz of dry pasta is going to be 140 calories. A 16 oz. box of macaroni shells is roughly 1680 calories. One serving of pasta is 2 oz dry and 200ish calories.
  • Rusty675
    Rusty675 Posts: 18
    Grams not Oz.

    Heres a picture of the nutritional values that I took from the packet.
    http://gyazo.com/a6986d6764942568e6eb508f016dd8c6.png?1357844273
  • mfp_1
    mfp_1 Posts: 516 Member
    Thanks, that picture helps.
    It's per 100 g cooked.

    In order to turn those values back into dry values (which I find more helpful), we'd need to know the cooking directions. Does it say something like 50 grams of pasta for 50 grams/ml of water?
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,261 Member
    Thanks, that picture helps.
    It's per 100 g cooked.

    In order to turn those values back into dry values (which I find more helpful), we'd need to know the cooking directions. Does it say something like 50 grams of pasta for 50 grams/ml of water?
    Pasta isn't cooked until all the water is absorbed and generally cooked in an abundance of water until done, so the amount of water makes no difference to how much water is absorbed, doneness dictates that, not the amount of water.
  • mfp_1
    mfp_1 Posts: 516 Member
    neanderthin wrote:
    Pasta isn't cooked until all the water is absorbed and generally cooked in an abundance of water until done, so the amount of water makes no difference to how much water is absorbed, doneness dictates that, not the amount of water.

    I agree. The amount of water matters in this case because Asda has quoted wet values not dry. We need to know how much water Asda says you should add. It's more an arithmetic problem than a cooking problem.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,261 Member
    neanderthin wrote:
    Pasta isn't cooked until all the water is absorbed and generally cooked in an abundance of water until done, so the amount of water makes no difference to how much water is absorbed, doneness dictates that, not the amount of water.

    I agree. The amount of water matters in this case because Asda has quoted wet values not dry. We need to know how much water Asda says you should add. It's more an arithmetic problem than a cooking problem.
    Your not getting it.
  • karen4ever
    karen4ever Posts: 46 Member
    well I think how they have done the nutrient values on this pack is rubbish, how is anyone meant to know how much dry pasta to cook in order to get a serving, send a complaint to asda to get it changed or atleast an explanation on how much dry pasta makes there 100g cooked pasta.


    the pasta I use tells me 1 portion is 75g (dry) which should come out as 180g (cooked). so you could work out a portion size from these numbers.

    .
  • gkoch
    gkoch Posts: 1
    100g of cooked pasta includes the weight of the water. It may have only taken 50g of dry pasta to make this.

    On the other hand, 100g of dry pasta could cook up in water to produce 200 g of cooked pasta. So that is why it shows more calories-it actually includes more "pasta"

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