Portion size: Before or after cooking?

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Goldenwoof
Goldenwoof Posts: 535 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all,

I had always weighed my portions (in this case, chicken breast) before grilling it. Just out of curiosity, I weighed it after grilling today in addition to weighing it before. My pre-grilling weight was 10oz, and my post-grilling weight was 6oz.

So, when figuring out a portion (4oz), is that before or after grilling?

Thanks!

Replies

  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    Before.
  • lisalsd1
    lisalsd1 Posts: 1,520 Member
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    I experimented with this early this week. Before cooked weight of ground beef was an ounce and cooked down to .7 oz. I figure you can do either before or after IF you log it into MFP as either raw or cooked weight.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    before unless otherwise stated...as it often is with bacon. Bacon is generally cooked serving size. Some things I have to weigh after the fact...like roasts and what not...obviously I'm not going to cut off a hunk of roast and weigh it before I cook it.
  • GingerLolita
    GingerLolita Posts: 738 Member
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    It depends on how you log it. If you log "grilled chicken", it will be 6 ounces. If you log it as "chicken breast", that will likely refer to raw chicken, so it'd be 10 ounces.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    before unless otherwise stated.

    In the database you'll find "cooked" and "raw" entries without the * before them. I think those come from the USDA database. I often used cooked as I make more than one serving at once and it's difficult to keep track of which pork chop is the one I measured. However I did test it, the entry for 10oz was very similar in nutrients for the 6oz cooked.
  • paulaseye
    paulaseye Posts: 1
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    good question. I have not been that vigilant. I guess I'd better start.
  • Goldenwoof
    Goldenwoof Posts: 535 Member
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    Thanks for all the replies! I did some other looking around the 'net, and it seems that "before" is definitely correct unless stated otherwise.

    Much appreciated!
  • walleymama
    walleymama Posts: 174 Member
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    The loss in weight is due almost entirely to water (moisture) when cooking. So the way I see it, you've still got the same amount of protein, carbs, etc in the food (i.e., those things that have a calorie count), even though it is lighter after cooking. Weighing before errs on the side of caution.

    OTOH you have foods that absorb water when cooking, like rice and pasta, and gain weight. So long as you are clear about what the calorie count refers to (i.e. pasta nutritional info is usually based on uncooked weight) you will be okay.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Yeah it depends what entry you use, but it's still kinda odd sometimes. The same piece of chicken lost 20% calories between the raw and cooked entry... so raw is probably more accurate if you can (pretty much impossible for me).

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