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Before I cook a piece of chicken breast, it weighs about 8 oz which equals to about 50g of protein if that's how I'm supposed to weigh it. But with that same piece, after I throw it on the george foreman grill, it goes down to about 5 oz because of the loss of water. That's a big difference that could affect how many calories I believe I'm taking in.
On the nutrition label, it says "serving size 4 oz" but it doesn't say raw or cooked. How should I be measuring it?
[QUOTE=Chicago1287;215627601]Before I cook a piece of chicken breast, it weighs about 8 oz which equals to about 50g of protein. But with that same piece, after I throw it on the george foreman grill, it goes down to about 5 oz because of the loss of water. That's a big difference that could affect how many calories I believe I'm taking in.
On the nutrition label, it says "serving size 4 oz" but it doesn't say raw or cooked. How should I be measuring it?[/QUOTE]
I do cooked. Less salmonella that way. Just google protein cooked chicken and that should pull it up. I do this with most foods.
I'm finding a lot of different measurements. Anywhere from 23g of protein to 35g of protein in a 4 oz piece of cooked chicken.
My label says 23g of protein in 112g of chicken. I just read somewhere that all food labels give numbers for the food being raw. Is this true?
up...im getting different information from everywhere. should i assume that the label on the package means cooked or uncooked? I could be eating 12g of protein for all I know when I'm thinking I'm eating 30g.
The labeling on the packaging is raw weight since preparation methods, cooking methods and times can drastically alter the final cooked weight.
I always just go with the average which is usally 7 g of protein and about .7 grams of fat per oz of cooked boneless skinless chicken breast. I am not quite sure about other cuts
what if it is frozen
As long as you are consistent with your measurements and the way you measure, it really doesn't matter.
Being consistent and consistently inconsistent is the same thing...lol.
I've done both, and it really doesn't make a difference. Calories are calories, so if you do it cooked, compute your calories cooked. If you do it raw, I really suggest using protection but still- compute your calories raw then, baby.
sounds good thanks
[QUOTE=godsmack4evr;215892071]sounds good thanks[/QUOTE]
Cool, just remember not to worry about these little things. :)
At least you're eating chicken, and not bon-bons...
[QUOTE=godsmack4evr;215890881]what if it is frozen[/QUOTE]
Knock the ice off and call it minutiae.
[QUOTE=jackedrabbit;215891871]Calories are calories, so if you do it cooked, compute your calories cooked. If you do it raw, I really suggest using protection but still- compute your calories raw then, baby.[/QUOTE]
This is really hard to explain. I'm not talking about eating it raw or cooked. I'm talking about how many grams of protein there is in the end after I cook it. My point is, let's say the package says 4oz has 24g of protein. If I measure out 4oz of raw chicken, then I cook it, it shrinks down to 2oz because of the water loss. So now, the chicken weighs 2oz instead of the 4oz that it was in the beginning.
Am I supposed to go by the cooked weight (2oz), or the weight before I cooked it (4oz)? If I go by the cooked weight, I'm only getting 12g of protein because it shrunk down to 2oz (since the label says 4oz has 24g of protein). If I go by the raw weight, I'm getting 24g of protein because it's 4oz since it didn't shrink yet.
My thing is, I try to reach a certain amount of protein in each meal, so I try to figure out how much there really is in all my food. So with chicken, if I'm going by the raw weight (4oz in this example) but the label in fact REALLY means that I should be going by the cooked weight, then I'm getting 12g less protein than what I thought I'm getting.
I think I'll just eat a lot of chicken.
[QUOTE=Chicago1287;216002491]This is really hard to explain. I'm not talking about eating it raw or cooked. I'm talking about how many grams of protein there is in the end after I cook it. My point is, let's say the package says 4oz has 24g of protein. If I measure out 4oz of raw chicken, then I cook it, it shrinks down to 2oz because of the water loss. So now, the chicken weighs 2oz instead of the 4oz that it was in the beginning.
Am I supposed to go by the cooked weight (2oz), or the weight before I cooked it (4oz)? If I go by the cooked weight, I'm only getting 12g of protein because it shrunk down to 2oz (since the label says 4oz has 24g of protein). If I go by the raw weight, I'm getting 24g of protein because it's 4oz since it didn't shrink yet.
My thing is, I try to reach a certain amount of protein in each meal, so I try to figure out how much there really is in all my food. So with chicken, if I'm going by the raw weight (4oz in this example) but the label in fact REALLY means that I should be going by the cooked weight, then I'm getting 12g less protein than what I thought I'm getting.
I think I'll just eat a lot of chicken.[/QUOTE]
The labeling on the packaging is raw weight - read that again. Who cares what it weighs after cooking. If it starts with 24 grams of protein, it finishes with 24 grams of protein.
[QUOTE=in10city;216004961]The labeling on the packaging is raw weight - read that again. Who cares what it weighs after cooking. If it starts with 24 grams of protein, it finishes with 24 grams of protein.[/QUOTE]
Exactly. And, not since you know that it approximately halves in weight when you cook it (sounds like overcooking to me, but that's another matter), you know if you weigh it cooked it has 24g protein per 2oz.
The only time you will have to rethink this is if you are cooking something fatty, then you do lose macros (fat, not protein) during cooking. In that case you can either use raw values and estimate fat lost, or find some values for cooked meat/fish that are likely closest to the way you cook it. Most of the weight lost will still be water though. So as long as you are consistent, as mentioned previously, you should be fine.
i think you should definitely relate the nutrition information with the raw ingredient..
Ex. beef jerky (average round, top)
1 oz. (28g)
Calories 80
Total fat 1g
Protein 12g
beef, raw (average round, top)
1 oz. (28g)
Calories 43
Total fat 1g
Protein 6g
weight your chicken before cooking, raw, and disregard the weight you are left with after cooking because moisture content changes with length of cooking, or type of preparation.