How to log marinated meat?

Hungry_Shopgirl
Hungry_Shopgirl Posts: 329 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm unsure about how to log the calories for, say, a chicken breast that's been marinated in oil, soy sauce, spices etc.

If I marinate the chicken, then grill it and discard the rest of the juices, I haven't actually consumed all the calories in my marinade ingredients. But if I don't log them, then I'll be underestimating calories since obviously some of it was absorbed by the meat in the marinating process.

Any ideas how to log this accurately?

Replies

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,211 Member
    edited June 2016
    If you want to be really spot on, weigh the marinade before you put the chicken in, weigh what's left when the chicken is out, and divide the difference by the number of pieces/serves of chicken. Then you end up with the weight of the marinade absorbed.
  • RobD520
    RobD520 Posts: 420 Member
    Unbreaded chicken is not going to absorb much oil at all. Whatever is still on the meat will largely cook off. If I don't make a sauce; I don't worry about it.

  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I log 1 serving and call it a day.
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    Very little actually gets absorbed through marinading. You could weigh the chicken before and after and see how much of an increase in weight there is, but I bet the scale won't even register the difference.
  • cecsav1
    cecsav1 Posts: 714 Member
    Good info to have! Not my question, but thanks! :)
  • amykay9377
    amykay9377 Posts: 98 Member
    Mine is a very convoluted way of doing it, but I think it's pretty close.
    First, I put the marinade recipe into the recipe builder - but only 1/2 a recipe.
    Then when I log it I say I had 1/3 of the recipe (there are 3 of us I cook for).
    The reason I do it is this: I have a lot of marinade left over (I could measure it, but I'm not that strict about it), so I say that 1/2 of the marinade has been absorbed by whatever protein.
    Then, because I marinated 3 protiens, I ate 1/3 of the 1/2 recipe.
    Could I just say that I had 1/6 of a recipe? Yes, but I'm weird.
    Am I overestimating my caloric intake from marinades? Yeah, probably. But I'd rather overestimate than underestimate!
  • vixtris
    vixtris Posts: 688 Member
    When I marinate my meat (cooking for two) I halve the total amount I used on all of the meat. So, if I used 2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce, then I'll log 1 tbsp. I know I most likely did not consume a tbsp of it, but I would rather overestimate my calories in than underestimate it.
  • Hungry_Shopgirl
    Hungry_Shopgirl Posts: 329 Member
    Thanks for all the great replies! I will try your suggestions and measure the marinade before and after to see how much was absorbed.

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