Tracking rice?

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ca_price_
ca_price_ Posts: 2 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi, I'm getting a bit confused with how to track my basmati rice e.g weigh cooked or uncooked? The packet says '100g (hob cooked) kcal 127' and it states 1 portion is 70g.

I weighed 70g dry for myself and tracked it as 89kcal like it said above, but should I have weighed out a 70g portion after it was cooked?
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  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
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    Rice and pasta are always logged uncooked. Basmati dry is about 750 calories per cup. Weigh what you are going to cook then after cooking divide it up in as many equal servings as you need and log it based on the dry weight divided by the number of servings.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,122 Member
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    70 grams dry is a lot more calories than 70 grams cooked, boiling adds water so 70 grams will become a multiple of that cooked.

    My basmati rice is 350 calories per 100gr uncooked.
  • LiveOnceBeHappy
    LiveOnceBeHappy Posts: 432 Member
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    I use cooked rice entries in the database. Not perfect, but close enough for me. I do the same with quinoa.
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
    edited March 2022
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    LiveOnceBeHappy wrote: »
    I use cooked rice entries in the database. Not perfect, but close enough for me. I do the same with quinoa.

    I always wonder why people do this. Perhaps you can tell me?

    It is obvious that this thread is intended for guidance for a new person who is just getting into the swim of this logging calories thing. Now you know it is poor practice to use a cooked weight for rice or pasta. There are only about 1000 posts to that effect in endless threads. Every thread ends up with that conclusion.

    So why put your poor practice in the mix?

    Of course, you can count anything any way you want or not count at all or just guess. But, in this thread for a new person, do you honestly think it is helpful?
  • scarlett_k
    scarlett_k Posts: 812 Member
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    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    LiveOnceBeHappy wrote: »
    I use cooked rice entries in the database. Not perfect, but close enough for me. I do the same with quinoa.

    I always wonder why people do this. Perhaps you can tell me?

    It is obvious that this thread is intended for guidance for a new person who is just getting into the swim of this logging calories thing. Now you know it is poor practice to use a cooked weight for rice or pasta. There are only about 1000 posts to that effect in endless threads. Every thread ends up with that conclusion.

    So why put your poor practice in the mix?

    Of course, you can count anything any way you want or not count at all or just guess. But, in this thread for a new person, do you honestly think it is helpful?

    I'm not who you're replying to but this is my 2p: 5 years and 55kg into this, I can say I've always weighed rice cooked and if it's had any impact on my weight loss then it's not been noticeable.

    If I don't have to bother putting something on the scale twice in the process towards consuming it then that saves me effort.

    Small savings in effort like this means it's been less hassle to consistently stick to my plans and not just give up entirely.

    I don't weigh every vegetable I put into my cooking either. If it's not calorie dense (onions, carrots, tomatoes etc.) then I approximate it. Again, hasn't made any difference to my weight loss or maintaining.

    If I did start gaining, or maintaining if I were trying to lose weight, I know where to look to be stricter, but if I can get away with weighing as few things as possible and still get the results I want, great 👍 so that's my reasoning.
  • Bridgie3
    Bridgie3 Posts: 139 Member
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    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    LiveOnceBeHappy wrote: »
    I use cooked rice entries in the database. Not perfect, but close enough for me. I do the same with quinoa.

    I always wonder why people do this. Perhaps you can tell me?

    It is obvious that this thread is intended for guidance for a new person who is just getting into the swim of this logging calories thing. Now you know it is poor practice to use a cooked weight for rice or pasta. There are only about 1000 posts to that effect in endless threads. Every thread ends up with that conclusion.

    So why put your poor practice in the mix?

    Of course, you can count anything any way you want or not count at all or just guess. But, in this thread for a new person, do you honestly think it is helpful?

    The packet said it was a cooked weight, so when people add foods to MFP they put in the cooked calorie count.
    I grew up using dry weights too; easier, and then cooking it - but I think a lot of rice and pasta products are coming to us cooked now, so the idea of weighing cooked pasta and rice is no longer odd.
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
    edited March 2022
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    Of course if a mfg cooks it and puts it in a sealed plastic pouch they know the moisture content and therefore the calorie count. But, unless you have some lab equipment laying around, you won't be able to determine that to a level of plus or minus 10%. I know that because I was a lab technician in a P&G food lab.

    That 10% margin of error will translate to about 20- 40 calories per serving.
  • scarlett_k
    scarlett_k Posts: 812 Member
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    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    Of course if a mfg cooks it and puts it in a sealed plastic pouch they know the moisture content and therefore the calorie count. But, unless you have some lab equipment laying around, you won't be able to determine that to a level of plus or minus 10%. I know that because I was a lab technician in a P&G food lab.

    That 10% margin of error will translate to about 20- 40 calories per serving.

    As you say, plus OR minus. Law of big numbers. Over time it averages out. And if you only eat rice now and then, pfft who cares.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,398 Member
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    I would always weigh dry as the cooked weight depends on how much it's cooked and the amount of water absorbed, and how much it dried since cooking. Dry is always dry.
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
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    scarlett_k wrote: »
    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    Of course if a mfg cooks it and puts it in a sealed plastic pouch they know the moisture content and therefore the calorie count. But, unless you have some lab equipment laying around, you won't be able to determine that to a level of plus or minus 10%. I know that because I was a lab technician in a P&G food lab.

    That 10% margin of error will translate to about 20- 40 calories per serving.

    As you say, plus OR minus. Law of big numbers. Over time it averages out. And if you only eat rice now and then, pfft who cares.

    If you make really y sticky rice for sushi or other dishes that 20 to 40 can be 40 to 80. I don't like being off 80 calories per serving on anything. If I did, I would not even need a scale.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    ca_price_ wrote: »
    Hi, I'm getting a bit confused with how to track my basmati rice e.g weigh cooked or uncooked? The packet says '100g (hob cooked) kcal 127' and it states 1 portion is 70g.

    I weighed 70g dry for myself and tracked it as 89kcal like it said above, but should I have weighed out a 70g portion after it was cooked?

    Nutritional information for things like rice, pasta, etc is typically for dried weight. Most things in general are for dry or uncooked weight unless the packaging specifically states otherwise...like for bacon you will most often see something like XXX calories for 2 slices pan-fried or some such thing.

    Things like rice and pasta and such soak up water as they cook so the cooked product will weight much more...but water doesn't have calories...you didn't add any calories just by cooking the product in water.
  • perryc05
    perryc05 Posts: 209 Member
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    I use this guide: https://st-tech.com/food/calorie-counter/flour-noodles-pasta-rice-spaghetti

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