Fat rendered while cooking

Cassandraw3
Cassandraw3 Posts: 1,214 Member
in Food and Nutrition
We had Italian sausages slow cooked in marinara sauce for dinner last night (and lunch today) and there is obvious grease along the top of the sauce. The macros on the sausage alone are mostly fat with some protein. I'm curious as to if there have been any studies or research done on the amount of fat that cooks out of foods, particularly high fat meats.

I am asking purely out of curiosity. I have no intention of micromanaging my macros to this point.

Replies

  • jenniday1229
    jenniday1229 Posts: 27 Member
    Valid question. I've also wondered about this.
  • gearhead426hemi
    gearhead426hemi Posts: 919 Member
    I am not 100% sure about your question but unless you are actually removing the fatty residue left none of the fats are being cooked out. As the fatty oils break down they will float to the top. They aren't cooked out just separating. I butcher a lot of my own meat and very lean meats will require you to add fat from either pork or beef to make sausage. The fat is what helps bond all the seasoning and meat in the sausage. That being said the macros include all the fats in the meat since most people still consume all the fatty oils. I don't know if that helps or not but I hope it does.
  • Cassandraw3
    Cassandraw3 Posts: 1,214 Member
    I understand that the fatty oils are separating. I usually try to spoon as much off the top as I can or drain the pan, depending on how things are cooked. I was just wondering if any studies were done on the average amount of fat that gets separated while cooking.
  • gearhead426hemi
    gearhead426hemi Posts: 919 Member
    edited November 2018
    Cassandraw3 wrote: »
    I understand that the fatty oils are separating. I usually try to spoon as much off the top as I can or drain the pan, depending on how things are cooked. I was just wondering if any studies were done on the average amount of fat that gets separated while cooking.

    Here is a quick article to check out. I doubt it would be possible to be 100% accurate since the fat and meat is all ground and mixed together.

    https://www.bestfoodfacts.org/lean-to-fat-ratio/

  • Ruatine
    Ruatine Posts: 3,424 Member
    This is an interesting topic - one that I've had run through my head from time to time (usually while frying bacon :D ). I don't even try to account for it in logging. I log everything raw, even though some of the fat will be lost while cooking. There is a part of me that wishes that it were easy to measure the amount of fat lost in cooking certain meats. There is also the part of me that says *kitten* it, I'm eating all that fat; I logged it. :joy:
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,961 Member
    Ruatine wrote: »
    This is an interesting topic - one that I've had run through my head from time to time (usually while frying bacon :D ). I don't even try to account for it in logging. I log everything raw, even though some of the fat will be lost while cooking. There is a part of me that wishes that it were easy to measure the amount of fat lost in cooking certain meats. There is also the part of me that says *kitten* it, I'm eating all that fat; I logged it. :joy:

    Pork, cured, bacon, pre-sliced, cooked, pan-fried
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,088 Member
    Well, you could weigh the cooked off fat, or just take the hit. Last is probablyvtue easiest. I tend to use leaner cuts these days, so I do not worry about it.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,961 Member
    psychod787 wrote: »
    Well, you could weigh the cooked off fat, or just take the hit. Last is probablyvtue easiest. I tend to use leaner cuts these days, so I do not worry about it.

    One problem with that is some cuts of meat (especially ground meat/mince) will also be losing water during cooking, so you can't always weigh it and assume it's all fat.
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
    I'd like to get to the bottom of this because sometimes I fry a slice of bacon in a pan and add shallots and shrimp to absorb the flavor (and, they absorb the rendered fat). I count the raw bacon slice as 80 cal but is this right?
  • Cassandraw3
    Cassandraw3 Posts: 1,214 Member
    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    I'd like to get to the bottom of this because sometimes I fry a slice of bacon in a pan and add shallots and shrimp to absorb the flavor (and, they absorb the rendered fat). I count the raw bacon slice as 80 cal but is this right?

    Are you weighing the slice of bacon? It is ~117 calories per 28g raw. Although, the fat to lean meat ratio varies from slice to slice as well. Not all slices of bacon are equal from different brands/butchers as well. Some are thin cut, some are thick. That is why weighing would provide a more accurate assessment.
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
    Cassandraw3 wrote: »
    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    I'd like to get to the bottom of this because sometimes I fry a slice of bacon in a pan and add shallots and shrimp to absorb the flavor (and, they absorb the rendered fat). I count the raw bacon slice as 80 cal but is this right?

    Are you weighing the slice of bacon? It is ~117 calories per 28g raw. Although, the fat to lean meat ratio varies from slice to slice as well. Not all slices of bacon are equal from different brands/butchers as well. Some are thin cut, some are thick. That is why weighing would provide a more accurate assessment.

    I weigh everything that can be weighed. I was a lab technician in a products research lab years ago. I love the process. I just wish I had my old Mettler lab scale, but $5,000 is too steep for the kitchen.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    edited November 2018
    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    I'd like to get to the bottom of this because sometimes I fry a slice of bacon in a pan and add shallots and shrimp to absorb the flavor (and, they absorb the rendered fat). I count the raw bacon slice as 80 cal but is this right?

    If you're putting something in the pan to soak up the fat and you will be eating it, now or later, then you are most likely consuming all the possible calories in the bacon at some point so just log the raw slice.

    Unfortunately, this is one of those situations where it's impossible to be exact. I never had an issue with undershooting my calorie goal, so I personally would always log what I put in a dish, even if some of the fat remained in the pan. I figured it created a little wiggle room for me when I ended up going a little over my calorie goal!

Categories