Weighing Meat

lharbury
lharbury Posts: 6 Member
edited November 16 in Health and Weight Loss
do I weigh meat before or after cooking? I think a raw 4oz hamburger patty weighs much less after it's cooked.

Replies

  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    Raw is more accurate - the cooked weight will depend a lot on cooking time and method
  • PeachyPlum
    PeachyPlum Posts: 1,243 Member
    Before.

    You're correct, the weight after cooking is much less, but nutrition data is calculated on the raw item.
  • itschanelle
    itschanelle Posts: 86 Member
    PeachyPlum wrote: »
    Before.

    You're correct, the weight after cooking is much less, but nutrition data is calculated on the raw item.

    What about the "grilled chicken" type entries?
  • cosmo_momo
    cosmo_momo Posts: 173 Member
    If you don't already know about it, use this website to accurately measure the calories in things that don't have package nutrition labels (fruit, veg, meat, etc.) http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods

    A lot of time I'll just type in (food name usda) and that usually comes up with the same entries. Also, yes the raw measurement will be more accurate because the cooking time/heat alters the moisture content in the food. (Evaporation)
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Raw, whenever possible.
  • lharbury
    lharbury Posts: 6 Member
    edited April 2015
    When I cook meat, the fat is released into the pan and I don't eat it. If it's ground meat, I rinse I with hot water in a colander. I was hoping to not count that weight (fat) into my daily totals. But I'll stick with the protocol and weigh before cooking. Thank you all.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    You rinse your burgers?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited April 2015
    lharbury wrote: »
    do I weigh meat before or after cooking? I think a raw 4oz hamburger patty weighs much less after it's cooked.

    You can do either or...just pick the correct entry. I usually weigh my meat raw when it's something like a burger, steak, chicken breast, etc...this is obviously not possible when you're doing a roast or something which is when I weigh it out cooked.

    As long as you are choosing the correct entry in the database, it shouldn't matter...i.e. if you are weighing your brisket cooked, choose "brisket, cooked - usda" or something along those lines.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    I don't have the article, but Google Hillbilly Housewife and Ground beef. Data is there on ratios of fat in ground beef, and results of rinsing/draining fat in higher fat ground beef.
    lharbury wrote: »
    When I cook meat, the fat is released into the pan and I don't eat it. If it's ground meat, I rinse I with hot water in a colander. I was hoping to not count that weight (fat) into my daily totals. But I'll stick with the protocol and weigh before cooking. Thank you all.

  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
    I weigh all meat before.

    For casserole type dishes involving chicken to avoid confusion, I weigh each piece and cut it down to the proper serving size before hand.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    edited April 2015
    I've done both. As long as you don't cook the meat to a cinder, it makes no difference as long as you use the correct entry.

    My weight loss slowed down for a while and some people suggested that I might be mis-measuring the chicken, since I eat so much of it. As it turns out, not surprisingly, weighing the chicken before cooking and using the nutritional info for raw chicken and weighing it after cooking and using the nutritional info for cooked chicken gave basically the same answer. Some pieces were marginally higher or lower one way or the other but, overall, there wasn't enough difference to, well, make a difference.

    Edited to add: Except for one package of chicken of a brand that had been on sale. It apparently had more water/liquid than any of the rest and the raw weight appears to have overstated the calories in that stuff. There was a marked difference in how much the weight changed relative to the other chicken I grilled.
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
    Weigh it raw if possible.

    Not the end of the world if you don't, just pick an appropriate database entry for cooked. The amount of accuracy you are sacrificing isn't worth stressing about.
  • lharbury
    lharbury Posts: 6 Member
    Thanks. Honestly I haven't compared the weight of before and after cooking. I just see fat in the pan and congratulate myself for not eating it. And yes, If I'm using ground meat I rinse it in a colander with hot water. (always have)
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