Confused about chicken

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Replies

  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,311 Member
    edited March 2020
    Why would I want to, un-necessarily, assign myself more calories? Would that not mean that I would under-eat at a level that I didn't want to? How would that work for me when trying to maintain my weight?

    As mentioned, even if logging isn't accurate, it can be corrected if it is consistent. However, i do find it easier to be consistent by consistently trying to be accurate.

    But then again i view the whole weighing and measuring exercise as a bit of a game and a grand experiment. Which means I view it more as entertainment as opposed to stress inducing imposition!
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    zfitgal wrote: »
    I can't measure raw I cook all my chucken at once and then freeze it once its cooked for the week.

    if you eat it all throughout the week, it doesn't matter if you had 20 grams more one day and 20 grams fewer the next day. just add it all up and divide it equally for the number of days you eat it.
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    I read 'weigh raw unless you buy already cooked chicken'. So why can't we cook the chicken ourselves and then weigh it? I guess I'm not understanding the difference?

    because you have no choice if you buy cooked chicken. but weighing it raw and using the raw data is going to be more accurate.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    extra_medium wrote: »
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    I read 'weigh raw unless you buy already cooked chicken'. So why can't we cook the chicken ourselves and then weigh it? I guess I'm not understanding the difference?

    because you have no choice if you buy cooked chicken. but weighing it raw and using the raw data is going to be more accurate.

    Not if it's bone-in.

    And for chicken there should not be much variation in the cooked weight. Overcooked chicken is terrible and undercooked chicken is worse (and seems like a health hazard).
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 2,024 Member
    I weigh meat cooked or go by the label if listed (which is raw) This is just how I have always done it, and have never had a problem with my calories not being close. But that's just me.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,304 Member
    yes me too night hawk.

    I guess, as always, it is the balance between convenience and accuracy - and where is the 'accurate enough' point.
  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 989 Member
    The entry for 'cooked chicken' may have been cooked in oil, sprayed with oil, basted with butter or left untouched. If you just select a 'cooked chicken breast' you don't know that the cooking method (and therefore the number of calories) matches your cooking method. I always weigh raw and add any oils, butter, spices etc.
  • Mrsindepenant1
    Mrsindepenant1 Posts: 196 Member
    Sometimes I’ll create a recipe, I’ll weigh the chicken raw and log the weight and add any additives that I’ll be using such as oil or onions, spices etc and then I’ll choose the number of serves I want from it. Then once cooked I’ll weigh it again and divide the weight into portions because the weight changes from raw to cooked. That’s if I’m cooking for more than one person or meal.
    If I’m cooking for one then I’ll just log the chickens raw weight using the green tick and log any other bits and bobs I’m having with it. I find choosing raw best because cooked chicken can be cooked in so many different ways and that’s why they all have different calories but you don’t actually know how it’s been cooked exactly.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    Strudders67 wrote: »
    The entry for 'cooked chicken' may have been cooked in oil, sprayed with oil, basted with butter or left untouched. If you just select a 'cooked chicken breast' you don't know that the cooking method (and therefore the number of calories) matches your cooking method. I always weigh raw and add any oils, butter, spices etc.

    Raw and cooked entries can be wrong. If you learn to recognize the cooked entries from the USDA (which have cooking method such as "roasted"), then those are just as good as the USDA raw entries.

    Personally, I had no issues using cooked entries when I was logging consistently. What always seemed to me the most difficult part of logging meat other than chicken/turkey was identifying the correct cut (they don't always match up) and dealing with the various options for fat amount (trimmed and inch amounts). I couldn't use labels since I get my meat from a farm. But even with estimating or guessing for that it didn't interfere with my weight loss.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,304 Member
    Strudders67 wrote: »
    The entry for 'cooked chicken' may have been cooked in oil, sprayed with oil, basted with butter or left untouched. If you just select a 'cooked chicken breast' you don't know that the cooking method (and therefore the number of calories) matches your cooking method. I always weigh raw and add any oils, butter, spices etc.

    well, that comes under the 'accurate enough' tipping point.

    and youcan pick an entry that matches your cooking method - roasted ,grilled etc

    If I cook a roast chicken I am happy to use a reliable entry for roast chicken.

    Small variables are too small to matter.

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