How to weigh pasta, rice...?

RachNRoll
RachNRoll Posts: 192 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey everyone,

sort of stupid question: do you weigh your rice / pasta / quinoa / couscous dry or cooked? granted that when cooked it absorbs water and expands, gets heavier but then again that weight is water, meaning no calories, is this accurate or the right thing to do?

In other words, if I boil 100 gr of pasta does it have the same calories as 100gr of dry pasta?

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    The weight you use must match the data you have. If the data is for dry pasta (eg about 4 calories per gram) then weigh dry and multiply by the data values. If the data is specifically for cooked pasta the way you cooked it then go with that and use the cooked weight.
  • senennieves
    senennieves Posts: 106 Member
    i personally use measuring cups: as far as rice i only eat half a cup, veggies half to 3/4 of a cup and meat 1 serving to 1 and a half serving depending on what it is, and i only drink water or coffee or orange juice.
  • brandnew222
    brandnew222 Posts: 42 Member
    Weigh when dry and log it. When cooked it's gonna have the same calories but of course not the same weight.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
    Dry whenever possible.
  • senennieves
    senennieves Posts: 106 Member
    carbs are my personally addiction so i have to watch my carb intake specially rice, pasta and potatoes, lol
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Weigh before you cook. As long as you have the dry food entry in your diary
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited May 2016
    100 grams of pasta will weigh a lot more after you've cooked it, so 100 grams of cooked pasta will have less calories than 100 grams of dry pasta. How much water it absorbs, will depend on cooking time and variety and how well you drain it. So it's always best to weigh it dry, even if you could use values for cooked too.

    Measuring pasta in cups is so inaccurate that it's only recommended if you can't, for whatever reason, use a scale.
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
    Raw is more accurate. However, just pick the correct database entry, any inaccuracy is at an insignificant level in regards to long term goals.

    I have a packet of pasta in my cupboard where the packaging states a calorie count for raw weight per 100g, and another that states it for cooked weight per 100g.

    Both are correct.
    senennieves wrote: »
    i personally use measuring cups: as far as rice i only eat half a cup, veggies half to 3/4 of a cup and meat 1 serving to 1 and a half serving depending on what it is, and i only drink water or coffee or orange juice.

    You might as well just pick numbers from a hat.
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
    Weigh it dry.

    Weigh it with a food scale.
  • RachNRoll
    RachNRoll Posts: 192 Member
    ASKyle wrote: »
    Weigh it dry.

    Weigh it with a food scale.

    thank you all for your input. Seems like this is the way to go :) (I have a food scale and I weigh everything I can). Will do it like this from now on ;)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Dry. If making multiple batches, weigh it dry, then cooked, and divide by the number of servings to know how many grams is a serving when cooked.

    It's been pretty consistent for me so far with the same brand of pasta, so I know that if I have to (like, there's leftover pasta in the fridge but I didn't weigh it), I can wing it at 130g a serving.

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