Meat weights, cooked, thawed, frozen?

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JumpinJill
JumpinJill Posts: 63 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi there. I got a food scale recently. I was surprised to see that my measuring cups were fairly accurate to the weights on the packages which is good to know. My main reason for the scale was for things that you can't put into a measuring cup, like meats and cheese. I love cheese and I was disappointed to see how much an oz. really was :(

So my question. I am making some Chicken. It is frozen now. The bag says 120 calories per 140 grams. But it doesn't say whether that is cooked, frozen, raw etc. So when do I measure it? I will be boiling it so I would think it will pick up some water weight if I weigh it cooked, so I don't know. How can I get an accurate measurement? Please answer if you know about other fresh meats too or if there is a general rule. Or just tell me if I am being an idiot and it will weigh the same whether frozen/raw/cooked.

Replies

  • nuj2013
    nuj2013 Posts: 1 Member
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    following :)
  • KristinaB83
    KristinaB83 Posts: 440 Member
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    I usually weigh it when it's thawed and raw... But I'm not totally positive that that's what you're supposed to do.
  • 100toloose
    100toloose Posts: 151 Member
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    I always measure it after cooking ,just incase .. I rather to overcalculate my cals than under ..
    However it is a great question.. Can anyone help to answer?
  • eylia
    eylia Posts: 200 Member
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    I usually wait and weigh the thawed meat too, the moisture/fluid particles retract when it's frozen, though I'm not sure how much that would affect the weight.
  • dawnee68
    dawnee68 Posts: 32 Member
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    I weigh mine raw and thawed out too.
  • Melionfire
    Melionfire Posts: 343 Member
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    Which ever way you choose to measure it make sure to find that option in Mfp. If you weigh it cooked find the cooked option of your choice of meat.
  • tx_mom72
    tx_mom72 Posts: 96
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    I always weigh raw whenever possible. As to the weight after it's cooked will depend on how long it's cooked. Ex - steak....rare, med-rare etc will contain more juices. The more it's cooked, the moisture content will be less therefore weigh less.....hope that helps :)
  • Richard_Gould
    Richard_Gould Posts: 1
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    What think you about weighing before cooking, & after, then seeing the difference?
    My guess is that there won't be much difference. On the one hand, frozen water weighs a little less than unfrozen water, but cooking will cause contraction of the fibres in the meat, forcing out the thawed water.
    Care to do the 2 weights then tell us the answer?
  • tanigrrrrr
    tanigrrrrr Posts: 137 Member
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    I always weigh cooked.
    There is an unmeasurable amount of water content in your meat, which you are counting calories for.
    However I always measure it as "cooked" rather than raw..
  • lynn1982
    lynn1982 Posts: 1,439 Member
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    Thawed and raw. If you were to go to a restaurant and order an 8oz steak, for example, that 8oz refers to the uncooked (and thawed if applicable) weight.

    Also, keep in mind that a cooked piece of meat will weigh a bit less than a raw piece of meat.
  • JumpinJill
    JumpinJill Posts: 63 Member
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    What think you about weighing before cooking, & after, then seeing the difference?
    My guess is that there won't be much difference. On the one hand, frozen water weighs a little less than unfrozen water, but cooking will cause contraction of the fibres in the meat, forcing out the thawed water.
    Care to do the 2 weights then tell us the answer?

    Wish I would have thought of that before I threw it into the water! Next time, or perhaps someone else will try it out :) Would be interesting to see if there was a big difference or not.
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
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    Here is how I do my meats...

    I always thaw first.

    A serving of raw meat is 4 oz so I weigh out how many servings I want...let's say I want 4 so I weigh out 16 oz.

    Then I cook it and weigh it again...(you will lose about 1 oz per serving). How ever much it weighs I divide by 4 (servings that I needed) and that tells me what each serving should weigh.

    Normally a serving size of cooked meat is 3 oz.

    The calorie count might change slightly after cooking but usually not enough to be concerned about. I grill most of my meat so any excess fat drains off.

    Hope this helps. I know it is a pain to have to weigh before and after but it is the only method that I know of to get accurate portion sizes.
  • JumpinJill
    JumpinJill Posts: 63 Member
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    Thawed and raw. If you were to go to a restaurant and order an 8oz steak, for example, that 8oz refers to the uncooked (and thawed if applicable) weight.

    Also, keep in mind that a cooked piece of meat will weigh a bit less than a raw piece of meat.

    Excellent point! I suppose most meat is bought raw as well so weighing it raw would make sense and that seems to be the general consensus. Thank you everyone.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
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    I don't use meat weights, mine are made of iron.

    Which is interesting, because doesn't meat have iron in it? :huh:
  • MyIdaho54
    MyIdaho54 Posts: 81 Member
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    I measure weight after cooking and track intake by using the USDA nutrient content for that particular cooked meat in MFP. I like to grill 5 to 10 pounds of chicken at one time and then package + freeze in 6 oz lots. My wife uses the chicken on salads and I use it as my main course meat at lunch or dinner.
  • LatinaGordita
    LatinaGordita Posts: 377 Member
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    i eat my meat after cooking -- not raw, so to me it would make sense if the package of chicken said 140 cals per serving , they mean cooked since I doubt perdue would encourage us to eat the chicken raw.

    That's my logic and I'm sticking to it.

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