Count calories when the food is raw or cooked?

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viraurelianus
viraurelianus Posts: 13
in Food and Nutrition
i suppose this question has been asked a lot of times, but i'd like an answer from someone who knows the answer for real.

should i consider the raw weight of a food or the cooked one? because with foods like lentils and rice it changes a lot. i suppose it should be counted when raw, because the cooked version has just some extra water, but this is just a supposition and i want a real answer.

Replies

  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Raw will be more accurate (unless the food's label gives the cooked weight - for instance: bacon). You can weigh food after cooking and get pretty close to accurate if you make sure to use the appropriate and accurate entry in the database (ie don't use a boiled entry if you grilled it, etc)
  • martyqueen52
    martyqueen52 Posts: 1,120 Member
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    Stick to one or the other and be consistent with it. I weigh cooked on all meats unless the back packaging states otherwise. Also, I freeze my meat which in turns adds ice which adds more weight.

  • Add713
    Add713 Posts: 53 Member
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    martyqueen52 wrote: »
    Stick to one or the other and be consistent with it. I weigh cooked on all meats unless the back packaging states otherwise. Also, I freeze my meat which in turns adds ice which adds more weight.

    I believe the ice comes from water which was in the food before u froze it. No weight is added.......

  • shadowofender
    shadowofender Posts: 786 Member
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    It's all about consistency. I try to log raw just because that's my preference and it's easier to find in the database sometimes. But there's nothing wrong with cooking and then weighing, you just have to find accurate entries or make sure the food label tells you portion size for cooked.

    Sometimes, especially if you're cooking for more than one person, you have to log cooked and that's no big deal.
  • TheStephil
    TheStephil Posts: 858 Member
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    I log raw unless the packaging says to weigh it cooked. Just pick a method and stick with it. Consistency is key.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    edited October 2014
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    I try to stick to measuring raw when I'm eating the food raw and measuring cooked when I'm eating the food cooked. Calorie counts actually change when cooking food because you're burning off some of the calories during the cooking process. In other words, cooked foods usually have less calories than their raw version. Meats, especially, change calories because a lot of the fat drains off while it cooks. The only exception to this is when I'm cooking a bunch of foods together in a casserole or soup.
  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
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    There is no "real" answer. The most important part of this is finding an appropriate entry in the database. Don't log cooked as raw or vice versa. That said, raw can be a bit more accurate as the length of time spent cooking something affects the amount of water weight in the cooked product. Generally the difference is small enough to be considered random variation, so it's not something to be overly concerned about.

    I personally prefer to log raw whenever possible, especially with items that absorb water like pasta, lentils, etc.

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