do you weigh your meat (chicken..etc) before or after it's c

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koylefam
koylefam Posts: 142 Member
in Food and Nutrition
so when you weigh a chicken breast to eat, do you enter the weight before or after you cook it????

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  • pirate4hire
    pirate4hire Posts: 55
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    I've been weighing before cooking. Now I'm wondering if that's right. If not I apparently saved some calories!
  • MariaAlbinaxoxo
    MariaAlbinaxoxo Posts: 290 Member
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    As long as it's not frozen, I don't care if it's cooked or not before weighing.
  • koylefam
    koylefam Posts: 142 Member
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    I noticed if I weigh before cooking (like frozen) a 5oz frozen turns into a 3oz cooked... so which is right???
  • nowornever78
    nowornever78 Posts: 25 Member
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    bump
    I always wondered if it matters...
  • muffintopminx
    muffintopminx Posts: 541 Member
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    bump - would like to know too.
  • sunnybrunette126
    sunnybrunette126 Posts: 200 Member
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    I usually weigh before cooking... but now that you ask this... I'm just as curious. :smile:
  • sunnybrunette126
    sunnybrunette126 Posts: 200 Member
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    double post...
  • Moriarty_697
    Moriarty_697 Posts: 226 Member
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    I always weigh before. Don't know if that's right or wrong. It's just what works best for me.
  • Maggie_Pie1
    Maggie_Pie1 Posts: 322 Member
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    I weigh before cooking.

    But it depends on where you are getting your calorie information from. If you are looking at data for 'raw chicken', then do it raw. If you are looking at 'cooked chicken' then do it cooked.
  • TRIMoses59
    TRIMoses59 Posts: 86 Member
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    I always weigh after cooking. That is what I will be consuming so that is what I weigh!
  • alyssamiller77
    alyssamiller77 Posts: 891 Member
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    Most of the calorie and nutrition info for meats and other foods is based on uncooked weight. Meats loose quite a bit of weight (as much as 33%) when they are cooked so if you measure after you cook it you may end up understating your caloric intake. Unless the nutrition information specifically says it's based on cooked weight, assume it's pre-cooked and weigh accordingly.

    FYI since another poster mentioned it, a chicken breast will weigh exactly the same whether it's frozen or thawed. The only potential for a change in weight would be the very minimal amount of water in the form of frost that may melt from the surface of the meat.
  • FireRox21
    FireRox21 Posts: 424 Member
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    I always weigh after cooking. The only time I will weigh before cooking is if the package info states the calorie info before cooking and the after cooking info is not included. Kinda like on a box of cereal when it tells you the info with cereal alone and with cereal with a certain amount of milk added. Usually when you cook meat, a lot of water, fat, etc. is cooked out and it will weigh less and have less nutrients to it.
  • cbu23
    cbu23 Posts: 280 Member
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    I weigh it before cooking. I used to have a boss that was really really big into weight watchers and she said that you are supposed to weigh it before. So, that's what I've always stuck to. I googled it a couple of times and found the same answer.
  • SimplyDeLish
    SimplyDeLish Posts: 539
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    My dietician says weigh/measure food in the state you eat it. If you cook it - weigh/measure it cooked, if you eat raw - measure it raw. One exception is pasta - always weigh it dry.
  • lunglady
    lunglady Posts: 526 Member
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    Most of the calorie and nutrition info for meats and other foods is based on uncooked weight. Meats loose quite a bit of weight (as much as 33%) when they are cooked so if you measure after you cook it you may end up understating your caloric intake. Unless the nutrition information specifically says it's based on cooked weight, assume it's pre-cooked and weigh accordingly.

    FYI since another poster mentioned it, a chicken breast will weigh exactly the same whether it's frozen or thawed. The only potential for a change in weight would be the very minimal amount of water in the form of frost that may melt from the surface of the meat.

    Not sure about the frozen/thawed weight thing. Because of Van der Waals forces, ice is less dense than water.........
    Just my nerdy two cents.
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
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    I always weigh raw as that's generally how the nutrition info on the package is, and I enter my meals usually before I start cooking so wouldn't know the cooked weight at this point!

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