Frozen calories?

When a food product says 100g (ovenbaked) does this mean the calories of the product once cooked e.g baked in oven

This is also written on raw meats so should I weigh after I cook my food or before?

Replies

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,832 Member
    Weighing raw products is usually the most reliable method, as the product may lose (or gain) more or less moisture depending on low long its cooked etc.
    But when you weigh raw, you need the nutritional data for the raw food.

    If you don't have that, and you only have the nutritional data for the cooked food, then you need to weigh the foods cooked. E. g. the ovenbaked example you gave.
  • goal06082021
    goal06082021 Posts: 2,130 Member
    I always err on the side of using the raw/dry weight of my ingredients when I cook - there's not a good way to account for changes in water content caused by the cooking process. Raw meat and produce, dry grains and pasta.

    For prepared or more processed foods, you must read the nutrition label carefully, and follow the package directions as closely as you can, if it does not list the nutrition info for the dry/frozen mix or raw ingredients. You might need to do some math to figure portion size as well, if the nutrition label only lists information for the unprepared mix - how do you figure out how much "1/4 cup mix" turns out to be after you've cooked your Zatarain's box jambalaya (or whatever)? (Answer: weigh the finished dish in grams, divide by the number of servings per the box, that's how many grams are in a serving.)
  • gpanda103
    gpanda103 Posts: 189 Member
    Weigh as packaged unless it says otherwise