Weighing food

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jclawst
jclawst Posts: 45 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Donyoubweigh food before or after cooking in order to assess how many grams you’re eating?

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  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,968 Member
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    before. Raw weights.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
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    Raw is much more accurate but if you are in a situation where you need to weigh after cooking then use the appropriate "cooked" entry instead. The USDA database is good for that as well.
  • WholeFoods4Lyfe
    WholeFoods4Lyfe Posts: 1,518 Member
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    Raw as much as I can, especially things like steak which cook off a lot of water weight depending on how well done they are.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    always raw, unless product packaging indicates its a cooked weight
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
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    Depends what the packaging says, some say uncooked some say cooked. For fresh food like potatoes, veggies etc always raw.
  • jclawst
    jclawst Posts: 45 Member
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    Yeah my main question was about meat I guess. I rarely consume pasta anymore at all, and have a slice or two per day of some relatively healthy bread called Dave’s killer bread 21 whole grain bread.

    Thanks for the replies
  • flagrantavidity
    flagrantavidity Posts: 218 Member
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    For meats, raw is going to be most accurate. Just be careful with cross contamination with raw foods.

    Yes, there are entries for cooked, you will probably only be off 10cals per 100 grams just depending how it’s cooked, raw is simply the most accurate.

  • flagrantavidity
    flagrantavidity Posts: 218 Member
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    AnvilHead wrote: »
    It usually helps to add "USDA" to your search terms, to help sift out some of the (many) bogus entries in the food database.

    I do this too. I track my macros and nutrients as well and something was off one day, so I went through my entries and noticed one of the usda entries was missing all nutrient information.

    If this matters to you, it’s a good idea to check your entries not matter what the source.

  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    Raw whenever I can, cooked when I can't, using the appropriate entry for each.
  • VUA21
    VUA21 Posts: 2,072 Member
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    Raw if possible. Particular with meat as a lot of weight from liquid can be lost through cooking, but not calories.

    To avoid cross contamination, use a piece of plastic wrap to prevent the meat from touching your scale. (Still wipe it down, just to be extra safe).
  • ruffneckred
    ruffneckred Posts: 69 Member
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    Recently started thinking about this. I just cooked 7.5 ozs of bacon, which weighed 2.8 ozs when cooked. I can see the amount of bacon grease that I poured off before cooking my eggs in the pan. Seems like a considerable amount of the 7.5 ozs will be there, plus what evaporated. The "fatsecret" website, shows quite a bit less calories in cooked. https://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/usda/bacon-(cured-pan-fried-cooked)?portionid=33869
    So which do I use?
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
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    ruffneckred wrote: »
    Recently started thinking about this. I just cooked 7.5 ozs of bacon, which weighed 2.8 ozs when cooked. I can see the amount of bacon grease that I poured off before cooking my eggs in the pan. Seems like a considerable amount of the 7.5 ozs will be there, plus what evaporated. The "fatsecret" website, shows quite a bit less calories in cooked. https://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/usda/bacon-(cured-pan-fried-cooked)?portionid=33869
    So which do I use?

    For bacon, I go with what the package says. Bacon, a lot of the time, gives the cooked calories per gram so weigh it afterwards and go from there. If yours says raw, then used the raw weight.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    ruffneckred wrote: »
    Recently started thinking about this. I just cooked 7.5 ozs of bacon, which weighed 2.8 ozs when cooked. I can see the amount of bacon grease that I poured off before cooking my eggs in the pan. Seems like a considerable amount of the 7.5 ozs will be there, plus what evaporated. The "fatsecret" website, shows quite a bit less calories in cooked. https://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/usda/bacon-(cured-pan-fried-cooked)?portionid=33869
    So which do I use?

    Did you compare the 2.8 oz cooked versus the 7.5 oz raw? I would go off the package, because there are some differences from one brand to another. Just make sure the diary entry you use is cooked or raw accordingly.
  • Neiross1
    Neiross1 Posts: 42 Member
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    jclawst wrote: »
    Donyoubweigh food before or after cooking in order to assess how many grams you’re eating?

    Weighing it after it is cooked is easier, it really doesn't matter as long as your are getting closer to your goal.

    Best of luck.
  • vallary14
    vallary14 Posts: 215 Member
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    The only “meat” I eat is chicken and turkey. I weigh my chicken after it’s cooked and just try to shoot for a portion that’s about 4oz. I would do the same if I cooked turkey breast, but turkey is usually in the form of lunch meat or my favorite turkey sausages!
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    Neiross1 wrote: »
    jclawst wrote: »
    Donyoubweigh food before or after cooking in order to assess how many grams you’re eating?

    Weighing it after it is cooked is easier, it really doesn't matter as long as your are getting closer to your goal.

    Best of luck.

    Depends on how you are cooking it. I usually add mine to recipes so before it gets mixed in with everything is much easier. Weighing before can also be more accurate due to changes in water weight resulting from different cooking methods, overcooking, etc.
  • kbmnurse1
    kbmnurse1 Posts: 316 Member
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    Before most of the time.
  • Candyspun
    Candyspun Posts: 370 Member
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    I do it in its final state.
  • braves3134
    braves3134 Posts: 64 Member
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    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    always raw, unless product packaging indicates its a cooked weight

    ^^^ this

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