How do you calculate fat in your meal from Olive Oil you use?

[JAGERBOY]

I cook my chicken in extra light olive oil that has like 12g of fat per serving. But I only coat the bottom of the pan, I dont dump it on top of the chicken. How do you measure how much fat from the olive oil is in your chicken? Or do you not count it? Or do you assume you are getting 12g? Discuss.

[melon]

Measure it in tablespoons as you add it to the pan. Then calculate the calories. Easy.

[Guy Fawkes]

I grill my chicken, but when I do use oil, I measure it on scales (or I used to - I know what exactly 10g of oil looks like now).

[JAGERBOY]

LOL. No, what Im saying is, obviously, ALL of the olive oil doesnt just magically soak into your chicken, you coat the bottom of it, place your chicken on top and cook, remove the chicken...there is still oil in the pan. So you do you guys just to simplify it calculate in the full 12g of fat even though in reality its maybe more like 6g?

[Guy Fawkes]

Oh I see, yes, I include the full cost, even if I don't consume every bit of oil!

[JAGERBOY]

Oh I see, yes, I include the full cost, even if I don't consume every bit of oil!

[JamesInLA]

I guesstimate. I figure the chicken breast isn't going to hold more than a certain amount of oil no matter how much I put in the pan, so I don't really worry about it. About 0.5 - 1 tbsp.

I also notice that fitday lists a boiled egg as 70cal, and a fried egg as 100cal -- so they apparently think it picks up about 3g of fat from the pan. Again, I figure the surface area of a fried egg only picks up so much grease from the pan.

You can also go with the spray oils (Pam or equivalent), which are very effective at coating the bottom of your pan with only a minimal quantity of oil. If you have a non-stick pan a quick spray will be plenty of lubricant. You can get olive oil sprays.

[zcsmith]

You can also go with the spray oils (Pam or equivalent), which are very effective at coating the bottom of your pan with only a minimal quantity of oil. If you have a non-stick pan a quick spray will be plenty of lubricant. You can get olive oil sprays.

YES.

I'm anal about my food to, and faced with a situation like yours, I use the safest route - either some spray or water in the pan. It's the only way to be sure.

[JAGERBOY]

YES.

I'm anal about my food to, and faced with a situation like yours, I use the safest route - either some spray or water in the pan. It's the only way to be sure.

Yeah, true, but they say olive oil is good for you.

Fugg it, I take fish oil caps.

[getgot211]

from Cooks Illustrated:
"Many cooks shy away from frying, thinking that the technique adds loads of fat to their food. We put this notion to the test. We heated 3 cups of fat to 350 degrees in a 12-inch skillet, pan-fried a whole chicken, and poured back almost exactly 3 cups of fat after frying. We conducted the test a number of times to confirm the findings, and each time found ourselves with nearly the same amount of fat before and after.

The explanation is simple: If the water in the food you are frying is kept above the boiling point (212 degrees), the outward pressure of the escaping water vapor keeps oil from soaking into the food. If the frying oil is not hot enough, on the other hand, it will seep into the food, making it greasy. The key is to get the oil hot enough at the start (350 degrees works well) to maintain a temperature (between 250 and 300 degrees) during cooking that will keep the moisture in the food, in essence, boiling"

why be so anal about it? as long as you are consistent things will fall into place...you realize nutrition labels round grams/macros/cal's right??? therefore the odds of you knowing the exact amount of cal's you are actually consuming is pretty minimal, no reason to shoot for 2837.57 calories because a calculation told you too, find what works, be consistent...if you regularly prepare your chicken this way then you know its either working or it isnt

ps. water? eww, i cook a lot of meat, aiming for a nice seer, last thing i would ever do is throw water in there

[JAGERBOY]

Well, when trying to hit a target caloric level, 12 g of fat can add another 108 calories, which is alot IMO.

[thajeepster]

if you really need the fat cals, try using fat free spray and then drizzling the oil over top the food when its done cooking. It actually makes it taste better and is a more accurate way of getting your fats in. Thats what i do anyways. Another trick i use is when marinating, i know that all that fats not going into the meat, because theres always some leftover, so i use the same amount in the pan to cook it, the way i see it, i should break even between the two.

[JamesInLA]

Good point thajeepster. Actually I think the oils in marinades probably stay pretty much on the outside. If you are grilling and you want to add fat, brushing on a little olive oil is a great way to make just about any meat taste better.

[HydroStorm]

cook it in the george foreman or a non-stick pan so you can add the olive oil afterwards.

[JAGERBOY]

Pan frying is wayyyyy easier. The only grill Ill use is a real grill. Foreman grills suck IMO.

[HydroStorm]

lol foremans are really easy, just plug it in, wait, then grill for a few minutes & it's done.

[getgot211]

Well, when trying to hit a target caloric level, 12 g of fat can add another 108 calories, which is alot IMO.

way to miss the entire point...here i'll highlight the main points

"We heated 3 cups of fat..."
"..poured back almost exactly 3 cups of fat.."
"be consistent..."

Pan frying is wayyyyy easier. The only grill Ill use is a real grill. Foreman grills suck IMO.

agreed, foreman's are way over rated, a cast iron skillet will serve you much better, the only thing i really like doing on a foreman is making kick ass grilled sandwiches, but a skillet and a brick works too

[Guy Fawkes]

I fry my eggs without oil, so I don't see why it would have different calories to poached, etc?

And yes, you should make sure oil is hot before adding the food. At the same time, don't let the oil smoke, because then it has broken down and is harmful.

[JAGERBOY]

way to miss the entire point...here i'll highlight the main points

"We heated 3 cups of fat..."
"..poured back almost exactly 3 cups of fat.."
"be consistent..."

getgot211: Why be so anal about it?
JAGERBOY: Well, when trying to hit a target caloric level, 12 g of fat can add another 108 calories, which is alot IMO.

[Emwarrior]

And yes, you should make sure oil is hot before adding the food. At the same time, don't let the oil smoke, because then it has broken down and is harmful.

thats interesting , can you explain a little ?