Raw meat versus cooked meat weights in journal

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  • kbmnurse
    kbmnurse Posts: 2,484 Member
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    i wonder about the same thing with pasta. Do you weigh uncooked or cooked? Let's face it 2oz is not a lot either way. LOL
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    I log by raw weight because the cooked weight will change depending on how long you cook it but the calories will stay pretty much the same. The most important thing though is to pick the database entry that matches. So if you're going by raw weight, make sure you use the entry for raw (or use what's on the package). If you're going by cooked weight, make sure you pick an entry for cooked. Also just be consistent. Use the same entries every time.

    This is one of those things that I chalk up to margin of error. You're not going to be able to be 100% accurate. Do the best you can, be consistent, and adjust as needed based on your results.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    i wonder about the same thing with pasta. Do you weigh uncooked or cooked? Let's face it 2oz is not a lot either way. LOL

    2 oz is uncooked weight.

    eta: with any packaged food, the weight will be for the item as packaged.
  • claudie08
    claudie08 Posts: 159 Member
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    A dietician told me that meat should be weighed raw.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,020 Member
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    the problem it though if I am cooking a loin and cutting off a chuck and eating it I am going to do that after cooking instead of before. I record my intake based on cooked weight for everything…. Am I actually eat way more calories than I think?

    Weigh the entire piece of meat before and after cooking. Divide the precooked weight by the cooked weight of the whole piece of meat (e.g., 3 lbs precooked divided by 2.75 lbs cooked = 1.09). Weigh the cooked piece you're going to eat. Multiply that by the figure you got from the first calculation. Log the result as the amount of raw meat consumed (e.g., 4 oz cooked for your serving X 1.09 = 4.36 oz. Log as 4.36 oz of raw meat) (and use that 1.09 multiplier for every serving of meat you eat from that whole loin, roast, whatever. If you typically eat the same cuts prepared the same way, and you find yourself getting the same number as the ratio of raw to cooked weight every time you prepare that cut, you could eventually skip the weighing of the whole piece of meat, but if you change brands, cuts, grades, etc., you should check it again.)
  • yodireeves
    yodireeves Posts: 1 Member
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    I cooked 1.63 pounds of Beef Top Round (cut very thin for fajitas) and ended up with 1.41 afterwards. So it only lost about 2 oz. If you split that between 8 servings it comes out to .25 per serving. Of course this beef was very low in fat.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    But if you grill meat and lose the fat, surely there,s less cals than if you ate it raw. Makes sense to me anyway.

    You are right. It makes sense. But that is not how it works. The fat lost is already calculated into the calorie count of raw meat.
    People rarely eat raw meat. Is is assumed that it will be cooked.
  • cstage1
    cstage1 Posts: 1
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    I just found this online - it's the USDA's cooking yields for all different kinds of meat. http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Place/12354500/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry.pdf
  • jtotyler
    jtotyler Posts: 5
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    I had the same question so I contacted foster farms who sells boneless skinless chicken breasts at costco. The rep who emailed me back stated the norm for nutritional values are based on how the product is sold unless it states otherwise. So if you buy raw chicken you weigh it raw. If you buy cooked meat it is of course is the weight cooked. Hope this helps sorry if you now have to cut the protein intake back a little.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
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    Here's the skinny on it. There are USDA entries for RAW and COOKED.

    Raw meat is generally the smarter choice to weigh and log. Shrink is based on meat quality, cooking style, serving, etc. I can vary from raw weight by as much as 50%.

    As for the lost fat, sure, there will be some but it's not going to be a huge impact overall unless the fat was strictly on the outside of the meat, not intramuscular, and fully rendered out.

    Use raw entires if the meat you have is raw. Use cooked if all you have is the cooked weight. Variance, chalk up to variance.
  • missjones513
    missjones513 Posts: 345 Member
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    I use the cooked options in the database like someone else said. It's difficult to weigh meat raw sometimes. Especially when you make a whole pack of chicken tenderloin and then divide it up for your lunches.
  • Princess_Jules
    Princess_Jules Posts: 1
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    I agree that raw is the measure to go by, unfortunately it is not always practicle. for instance, I often large batch cook a bunch of chicken breast. They are all different weights and sizes and I do not have to time or inclination to try to track and label each one on the grill by its pre cooked weight. In this case how would you track it? 4 ounces cooked is approximately ?? ounces raw.

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