HELP!!! Do you weigh your meat cooked or uncooked?

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I am so confused! Am i supposed to weigh my chicken when its raw or cooked? If i weigh it when its raw 100g is not very much at all & if i weigh it cooked arnt I eating more than 100g because it would've been more than that before it was cooked?

Also how the heck are you supposed to know which nutritional information to trust? I've looked at the different listing for 100g cooked chicken breast on here & heaps of other websites and they all list different cals between 100 to 291 - for the same thing???
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Replies

  • miracle4me
    miracle4me Posts: 522 Member
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    good question
  • Arwen280804
    Arwen280804 Posts: 25 Member
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    I use raw weight, that way I know I've not gone over.
    Same with Jacket Potatoes, I weigh pre-baking not after.
  • Arwen280804
    Arwen280804 Posts: 25 Member
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    Ref nutritional info. If I don't have a packet of the food at home to check, and there is conflicting info on here, I look up the item online.

    Say it is for chicken breast, I might go to a supermarket website, go to the grocery section and locate a generic chicken breast and use those details, as they have come from the packaging.

    Or I look up various versions of the same thing and take an average, or use the most common listed.

    So long as it is as close as you can get, that's the main thing.
  • PercivalHackworth
    PercivalHackworth Posts: 1,437 Member
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    In most cases, every measure is given uncooked. Simply put, you never know how much the cooking will make the food retain water, and that last is also in a measure proportional of the volume of the food...and since water doesn't contain any calories.
    We'd be all screwed if we would scale the rice cooked
  • fimary
    fimary Posts: 286 Member
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    bump, curious about bulgar wheat and brown rice if anyone can help thanks
  • thisisjl
    thisisjl Posts: 1,074 Member
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    Weigh your meat pre-cooking. As for nutritional information you should be able to look up the website for the company who packaged the meat if you can't find specific nutritional information I've found Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast is about 100-150 per 100g depending on how lean the meat is some chicken is more fatty than others.
  • PrinnyBomb
    PrinnyBomb Posts: 196 Member
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    Raw weight and always try and use the packet it comes in wherever possible.
  • auntygill
    auntygill Posts: 108 Member
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    Yes always raw on any food if possible.xx
  • AntWrig
    AntWrig Posts: 2,273 Member
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    I find it much easier to weigh it cooked. I cook 10lbs of chicken and 10lbs of talipia at a time. Weigh it before hand is a pure hassle.
  • swisspea
    swisspea Posts: 327 Member
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    I'm surprised that most people here are saying to weigh it uncooked. I'm not a meat eater, so I'm no expert, but I do eat fish. I know that when I defrost shrimp, they weight significantly less than when they are frozen- and on the package the nutrition is given when they are de-thawed. Obviously, they loose water weight in the dethawing process. However, surely, after meat is cooked (especially on the BBQ) it has lost a significant amount of fat and calories. You aren't eating all of the fat located in the meat before it's grilled, as lots of it is lost in the cooking process (grilling). Again, I don't eat meat, but I think that weighing it when it's cooked is most effective.

    Rice confuses the hell out of me, I just go with what's on the package and go by that measurement (dry).
  • NelehY
    NelehY Posts: 52 Member
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    Before cooking - once it's cooked I'm EATING!!

    Apart from anything else though - I had assumed that the calorie contents had been calculated with that assumption.

    You're hardly going to eat 200g or raw steak.....are you???
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Always weigh food before cooking it. It loses or gains water during the cooking process and it is impossible to know accurately what it will weigh after cooking.
  • lissrn
    lissrn Posts: 60 Member
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    Good info
  • beachloe
    beachloe Posts: 51 Member
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    I'm glad you asked this because I've always weighed mine cooked! Now I know I was wrong.
  • Kristinemomof3
    Kristinemomof3 Posts: 636 Member
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    I weigh mine cooked, and always have, it's just easier. I did some research, I'm sure she did a lot too:
    http://www.skinny-bits.com/2010/04/weighing-your-food-raw-vs-cooked.html
  • MoveTheMountain
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    I use raw weight, that way I know I've not gone over.
    Same with Jacket Potatoes, I weigh pre-baking not after.

    That's a really good point. (I usually forget to weight it before I cook it, but I agree it's probably the better way to go.)
  • AntWrig
    AntWrig Posts: 2,273 Member
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    I'm glad you asked this because I've always weighed mine cooked! Now I know I was wrong.
    You are not wrong. Most nutritional coaches have their clients consuming cooked weight meat, due to the meat loosing size during the process. So you're actually losing vital nutrients. That 50 grams of protein has turned into 32 or 40g. That's a big difference. Even when trying to lose weight.

    Restaturants use the raw weight,because you they would lose money. When it says 14oz ribeye, you're not getting 14 oz on for plate. You would probably get 11 or 12 oz.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    I'm glad you asked this because I've always weighed mine cooked! Now I know I was wrong.
    You are not wrong. Most nutritional coaches have their clients consuming cooked weight meat, due to the meat loosing size during the process. So you're actually losing vital nutrients. That 50 grams of protein has turned into 32 or 40g. That's a big difference. Even when trying to lose weight.

    Restaturants use the raw weight,because you they would lose money. When it says 14oz ribeye, you're not getting 14 oz on for plate. You would probably get 11 or 12 oz.

    The loss in weight is due to a loss in water, not really nutrition. And even if some of the nutrition was lost, it would be totally impossible to calculate what was lost and rework macros and calories. Is the weight lost from protein? Fat? Water? A little of each? How much of each? 10 calories? 20 calories? Without high tech equipment, there is absolutely no way at all to even estimate that. That's why raw weights are more accurate.

    A 4 oz steak could be cooked and end up weighing 3 oz, 2.5 oz, or 3.5 oz, depending on exact cooking temperature, ambient temperature, humidity, precooked temperature of the meat (refrigerated or room temp,) final cooked temperature of the meat, etc. No way any one without access to a lab would be able to figure that out.
  • workingitout2012
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    You guys are all so amazing :) thanks for the advice! I'm going to weigh it raw from now on. You've all made some really good points & I appreciate the help. Thanks again
  • vaman
    vaman Posts: 253 Member
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    Cooked! It's the weight that you are actually putting into your body that counts, raw or uncooked weight is meaningless! It's very important to accurately weigh the quantity that you are consuming and don't use the weight stated on the package.