Raw vs cooked food and weight?

NeuroticVirgo
NeuroticVirgo Posts: 3,671 Member
edited September 22 in Food and Nutrition
So I just got a food scale, and was playing with it this morning. My potatoes weighed 15 oz raw, but only 6 oz after they were cooked (I baked fries). Thats a huge difference.... So the question is, do I count the 15oz or the 6 oz?

I'd assume the 15oz, but I was just curious about this, I never realized how much food changed when you cook it.

Replies

  • ChubbieTubbie
    ChubbieTubbie Posts: 481 Member
    Yeah, definitely the 15 oz. That's so sad though!
  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
    It depends... if it's a packaged food, usually they will specify. If they don't, you can go by how much of the package you ate (so if they say a serving size is 6 oz or 1/2 of the bag, and you know you ate half of the bag, then go with that.

    If you cooked regular potatoes (not packaged), you can go with this site to verify nutrition - they have nutrition for both cooked and raw unprocessed foods.

    http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/
  • jamie1888
    jamie1888 Posts: 1,704 Member
    I think there are options on most foods to select "cooked" or "raw". So, you can measure before or after cooking. Just make sure you select the right one when you log it.
  • CoryIda
    CoryIda Posts: 7,870 Member
    I think you need to go with the larger number.
  • lutzsher
    lutzsher Posts: 1,153 Member
    If it isn't specified it will always be the raw weight.
  • Mahooka
    Mahooka Posts: 21 Member
    I think there are options on most foods to select "cooked" or "raw". So, you can measure before or after cooking. Just make sure you select the right one when you log it.

    This is correct. You either log the weight of the raw potatoes or the weight of the baked fries.

    You didn't eat 15 oz of baked fries and you didn't eat 6 oz of raw potato
  • elainegsd
    elainegsd Posts: 459 Member
    It depends on which entry in the database you choose. If you choose something like "Potatoes, raw" then use the 15 ounces. If you choose something like "Potatoes, baked" (or however you would describe your cooking technique) then use the other number.
  • rshunk
    rshunk Posts: 167 Member
    From what I have read you should typically weigh food after cooking. Most items in the database here give a cooking method so I would think that you should weigh after, unless it says otherwise of course.
  • Mahooka
    Mahooka Posts: 21 Member
    I think we are making this harder than it should be.

    I would ask you "what did you eat?" Remember we are logging what we ate here.

    If you answered raw potato, I would log 15 oz of raw potato.
    If you answer baked fries, I would log 6 oz of baked fries.

    I don't know a lot of people that eat raw potatoes but I would use those in a recipe.
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