Logging frozen chicken accurately

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Replies

  • GauchoMark
    GauchoMark Posts: 1,804 Member
    So I tried using the USDA database and came to this page( http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/857?fg=&format=&offset=&sort= ) which confuses me.


    Would the way I posted in the original post work?

    search for the food on mfp. The USDA foods are the ones that don't have the * before them.
  • GauchoMark
    GauchoMark Posts: 1,804 Member

    So then, on the 13 oz of chicken breast I ate Saturday, there were 2 grams of fat. Frankly, I'm not concerned about losing .5 grams of fat when cooking.

    I wouldn't be either. But when I eat 3 chicken patties for my dinner- 27g fat total, it can certainly add up :D

    Same with beef, etc.

    This doesn't even matter but you should always weigh the food after you cook it and what not.

    ok, dmenchac, you win. does that help you feel better?

    Again, no one is even talking about patties. Patties =/= breasts.

    You only read half of my statement above about cooking meat loses fat and water. The other half said that chicken breast has very little fat, so you are losing mostly water. The only thing that changes is how much those calories weigh because of the water reduction.
  • MissFit0101
    MissFit0101 Posts: 2,382
    ok, dmenchac, you win. does that help you feel better?

    Again, no one is even talking about patties. Patties =/= breasts.

    You only read half of my statement above about cooking meat loses fat and water. The other half said that chicken breast has very little fat, so you are losing mostly water. The only thing that changes is how much those calories weigh because of the water reduction.

    :drinker: :drinker: :drinker:
  • dmenchac
    dmenchac Posts: 447 Member
    ok, dmenchac, you win. does that help you feel better?

    Again, no one is even talking about patties. Patties =/= breasts.

    You only read half of my statement above about cooking meat loses fat and water. The other half said that chicken breast has very little fat, so you are losing mostly water. The only thing that changes is how much those calories weigh because of the water reduction.

    :drinker: :drinker: :drinker:

    I CANNOT STOP TALKING ABOUT CHICKEN PATTIES
  • DirtyTrickster
    DirtyTrickster Posts: 202 Member
    So I tried using the USDA database and came to this page( http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/857?fg=&format=&offset=&sort= ) which confuses me.


    Would the way I posted in the original post work?

    search for the food on mfp. The USDA foods are the ones that don't have the * before them.

    Thanks for the tip about the *

    So about 375 calories for 8oz og cooked chicken?

    Also, I bake mine, would that be = to roasting?

    For future reference, what would be the best way to search for a specific food? I would have never thought to type in Chicken - Breast, meat only, cooked, roasted
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
    So I tried using the USDA database and came to this page( http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/857?fg=&format=&offset=&sort= ) which confuses me.


    Would the way I posted in the original post work?

    search for the food on mfp. The USDA foods are the ones that don't have the * before them.

    Thanks for the tip about the *

    So about 375 calories for 8oz og cooked chicken?

    Also, I bake mine, would that be = to roasting?

    For future reference, what would be the best way to search for a specific food? I would have never thought to type in Chicken - Breast, meat only, cooked, roasted

    Another reason to weigh raw...searching "chicken breast raw" will bring a good entry up much quicker.
  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,661 Member
    a couple of things:

    1) just use the cooked entry from the USDA database. Search for "Chicken - Breast, meat only, cooked, roasted"

    2) You usually lose about 75% of the weight when you cook meat, so you could do it that way.

    Unless you eat your chicken rare or extremely overcooked, I wouldn't worry too much about not getting it exact. It will be close enough if you use the correct "cooked" entry.

    assuming you mean that you lose 25% of the weight

    I agree that with a chicken breast this is not going to amount to much.

    I always just assumed that the nutrtion label was cooked, but it makes sense that its raw because people can prepare it in many differnt ways.

    i don't understand why this has to be so hard though. just cook the chicken and weight it. log it with what you think is the closest thing you can find in the data base.

    will it be 100% accurate? no, just like very thing else you log theres a good chance its off a little.

    i was going to say that weighing it frozen and then cooked is pointless, but if you always bought the same brand and you always cooked it the same way, and you wanted to figure out exactly (really approximately in reality tho) how much water you lose each time, so that you could use that label rather then something out of the database... i guess that might be worth it.

    otherwise, if your doubtful of the accuracy of cooked chicken in the database, average three outside sources and make your own food in the database.
  • DirtyTrickster
    DirtyTrickster Posts: 202 Member
    So I tried using the USDA database and came to this page( http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/857?fg=&format=&offset=&sort= ) which confuses me.


    Would the way I posted in the original post work?

    search for the food on mfp. The USDA foods are the ones that don't have the * before them.

    Thanks for the tip about the *

    So about 375 calories for 8oz og cooked chicken?

    Also, I bake mine, would that be = to roasting?

    For future reference, what would be the best way to search for a specific food? I would have never thought to type in Chicken - Breast, meat only, cooked, roasted

    Another reason to weigh raw...searching "chicken breast raw" will bring a good entry up much quicker.

    I don't mind weighing raw (or frozen), its the tallying up the total calories once cooked that is confusing to me
  • GauchoMark
    GauchoMark Posts: 1,804 Member
    assuming you mean that you lose 25% of the weight

    Yes, you lose 25%, retain 75%. Typo in my original post.
    Thanks for the tip about the *

    So about 375 calories for 8oz og cooked chicken?

    Also, I bake mine, would that be = to roasting?

    For future reference, what would be the best way to search for a specific food? I would have never thought to type in Chicken - Breast, meat only, cooked, roasted

    From a caloric standpoint, I equate roasting = baking = grilling. As long as you aren't breading it or loading it down with sauces, I'd think it would be close.

    As far as finding things easier, I would never just type that in either. I'd probably type "chicken breast cooked" and see if that brings it up. If not, sometimes I go to http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list and search there, then copy and paste the title over to MFP.
  • Barmaidsah
    Barmaidsah Posts: 29 Member
    So I usually buy a large bag of Perdue - Frozen Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts and cook a bunch of it for the week. I then cut it up and put it in a container and pull from it for my daily lunch.

    I've just realized that I need to weigh the chicken before cooking it to get the most accurate calorie content.

    Problem is that all of the pieces are different sizes. Some are huge and some are tiny.

    So I'm trying to figure out how to do this while weighing the chicken before cooking it.


    Here is the only thing I can think of:

    Weigh frozen chicken
    ex. 30oz frozen - 825 calories (27.5c per ounce frozen)

    Cook chicken and reweigh
    ex. 23 oz cooked - 825 calories (35.9 per ounce cooked)

    Separate into groups for lunch and try to calculate calories
    ex: 8oz cooked - 287c cooked


    Does this look correct?

    This is fine, it's easy. Either pre portion, or just weigh whatever you grab for your lunch and multiply by whatever you came up with for your calorie per ounce. Since *pretty much* only water will be lost in cooking, (I know, I know some fat as well, but in chx breast that will be negligible), you protien/carbs etc might be a touch off, but not much.
  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,661 Member
    From a caloric standpoint, I equate roasting = baking = grilling. As long as you aren't breading it or loading it down with sauces, I'd think it would be close.

    agree with that.

    its all an estimate, even a candy bar out of a wrapper is NOT guranteed to be EXACTLY the number of calories/macro nutrients as are listed on the wrapper, but its going to be damn close
  • golferd
    golferd Posts: 400 Member
    Take the after cooked weight divided by Pre cooked. 8/16=50%. Then the percentage to get back to starting weight in this example is 100%. Therefore, if you are eating 8ounces after cooked weight you would need to log as 16 ounces. Labels are always based on precooked.

    If you are cooking in bulk: assuming you are cooking 5 lbs of meat. You finish with 4 lbs after cooking it. 48/60=.80 or every pound is 20% water. You will need to add back in 25% when logging. If you use grams you can be very accurate.
  • Keepcalmanddontblink
    Keepcalmanddontblink Posts: 718 Member
    I weigh mine raw and thawed, but than again, I cook one piece at a time or chop it into pieces, divide it up into how many dishes I want and than weigh it before cooking it. I know that isn't much help. Sorry.

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