How to calculate fried food recipe

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MaryCS62
MaryCS62 Posts: 266 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Anyone have a suggestion for calculating calories for fried foods (homemade)?
For Christmas day, my mom is making her (once a year!) rice balls. I can figure out the calories for them uncooked (approximately--I'll have to guess on the bread crumbs), but then they get fried & drained on paper towels. I don't know how much oil to add for the amount each one will soak up.
The obvious would be to measure the oil prior to frying, then after, & divide the difference by the number, but I'm not making them. I'm thinking maybe a teaspoon each?

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  • CarrieCans
    CarrieCans Posts: 381 Member
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    I would estimate higher than that. So far i have noticed that every time i fry something it soaks up twice as much as i think it would and sometimes even more. Also, different types of frying changes the amount of oil absorbed.

    I would really like to see what others suggest.
  • qhiggins86
    qhiggins86 Posts: 113 Member
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    I would agree with CarrieCans... but I'm also at a loss on how to log it as well, so I've just been avoiding the fried food thing for now.
  • Sydking
    Sydking Posts: 317 Member
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    The only real way to ever tell is by adding say 1L of oil, frying one of the rice balls.

    Then re measure the oil. The difference between the start and finish weight it the amount of oil i would log and use that as your guide going forward.


  • blueakama
    blueakama Posts: 399 Member
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    I had a look at calamari for comparison.

    Grilled calamari 8oz is 240 calories.
    Fried calamari 8oz is 896 calories. Holy.

    Hmm, looks like I won't be having calamari this weekend at the pub! I suggest you enjoy them in moderation and not worry too much about counting accurately.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    I go through the same thing with latkes (for Chanukah) -- they're always fried in oil, as is traditional, and then placed on paper towel to soak up the excess, and then reheated in the oven prior to serving. And of course, they're fried in batches, with 5-6 on a pan at once, and the oil is replenished any time it gets too low.

    Trying to calculate makes my head spin, so I just limit myself to one or two, estimate high, and tell myself it's a holiday and it's not the end of the world.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Once per year...I srsly wouldn't worry about it.
  • chouflour
    chouflour Posts: 193 Member
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    I wouldn't worry about it for once per year. However, I found an industry publication that indicated fried food takes up 8-25% of it's initial weight as fat. Anything with a varigated coating like breadcrumbs is likely to be on the higher side of absorption.

    http://fapc.biz/files/factsheets/fapc126.pdf
  • CarrieCans
    CarrieCans Posts: 381 Member
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    After this thread, the same topic came up at home last night. Somewhere online there is a math formula for determining how much oil is absorbed. My brain is still morning foggy but it wasn't too hard to find, maybe a wiki(?). Anyway, at the end it basically said there are too many factors to try and do a model.

    The only fact i know from experience is to keep your oil as hot as you can without burning it. The hotter the oil, the faster the moisture evaporates and makes the coating crunchy. The faster you can get it out of the oil, the less it will absorb.
  • MaryCS62
    MaryCS62 Posts: 266 Member
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    Thanks for the answers. Like I said, I'm not making them, so I can't answer for the oil. I did enter the recipe, & I think it came to 84 calories pre-frying--so maybe I'll enter one as 150 calories & call it a day. That, a stuffed mushroom & a couple of verrry thin slices of salami will be my treats for the day, along with a few cookies. The actual meal is very healthy -- roast pork, mashed white & sweet potatoes (& since mom will be using the commercial ones, I'll even know the actual calorie count!), vegetables & the stuffed mushrooms for the main meal.

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