Calories in Mussel Meat (Raw vs Steamed)

jordan1182
jordan1182 Posts: 8 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Why would the calories in 3oz of steamed mussel meat (the shell fish) be higher than 3oz of the meat in raw form? I'm finding that discrepancy in a couple places. 195 cal (steamed) vs 73 cal (raw) for 3 oz. Perhaps the people posting steamed mussels nutrition are including their other ingredients? My default is to stick with the 73 cal. That is consistent with the regarded Calories Counter book by Natow and Heslin.
But I would appreciate any feedback by other shell fish lovers. Thanks.

Replies

  • eep223
    eep223 Posts: 624 Member
    Hm, maybe they lose water weight as they are cooked.
  • tackie8383
    tackie8383 Posts: 59 Member
    That's the only thing I can think. Made up example - maybe 3oz of raw mussel meat cooks down to 2oz of steamed- so those would be equal calories but if you wanted 3oz of steamed you'd have to start with more raw.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,266 Member
    That's the only thing I can think. Made up example - maybe 3oz of raw mussel meat cooks down to 2oz of steamed- so those would be equal calories but if you wanted 3oz of steamed you'd have to start with more raw.
    Yes, water is released making them more dense.
  • danimalkeys
    danimalkeys Posts: 982 Member
    they probably included other ingredients, I see that a lot on different cooked versions of foods. Especially when you see carbs in meats, when there are none, just protein and fat.
  • jordan1182
    jordan1182 Posts: 8 Member
    Thanks all for the input. I rarely but mussel meat that's already been steamed but just really curious on the comparison. Better to go with raw as the data on that is more consistent and you can gadge better.

    For any mussel lovers out there...here's my deduction... Mussels in the shell: About 1/3 of a mussel's weight is the meat. So, 1 LB of mussels in the shell is about 5 oz of raw meat. 3 oz of meat is about 73 cal. So your looking at about 120 cal per pound of mussels (in the shell). Of course not counting your add-on ingredients. Feel free to let me know if you think I'm off basis. Thx.

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