Cals in chips

Linkex

Linkex

Linkex

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Joined
4 May 2011
Posts
1,065
I wasn't sure whether to put this here in in La Cuisine, so sorry if it bothers anyone, but I did give it thought. Reason it’s here is because it’s about the calorie content rather than a flavour question.

I’m trying to control my portions by weighing food before I cook it. For the most part, this is simple enough, but frozen oven chips have got me stumped. They tell me how many calories are in 100g of cooked chips, but I’m assuming a fair bit of water is lost during cooking, meaning that 100g of uncooked chips will not equal 100g of cooked ones.

Obviously I can figure this out by simply cooking 100g of frozen chips and weighing the result to get the percentage lost, but I figured I'd ask if anyone had a way of working it out without wasting a bunch of chips.

Yes, I know oven chips aren't the healthiest thing in the world, but my wife is the fussiest eater in the world, so I’m limited and it’s still an improvement over the usual :)
 
Linkex said:
As I say, that's my backup plan, but will either involve wastage, or me going hungry due to cooking to little. I'll do it if I have to, but I'm looking for an alternative.
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your not going to go hungry due to a few grams of food at best.

why not just cook 10% more than what you need gram wise?

or if you are hungry afterwards have a piece of fruit.

there is no need to be so anal about measuring a few grams is not going to make you fat, eating a LARGE amount more than usual will.
 
It's only going to happen once, then you'll know what percentage of weight is lost when you cook them for the next time.
 
Wow.

1) Make your own chips. You aren't a child.

2) Cook a known amount of frozen chips (which can be your normal amount), weigh them when cooked. This tells you the ratio between cooked and uncooked weight.
 
- grab as many chips as you fancy eating
- weigh frozen
- weigh cooked
- eat chips
- do maths

No wastage involved. It doesn't have to be 100g of chips you cook.

PS. dont eat chips.

EDIT: beaten by ice.
 
Packs generally have the macros for 100g uncooked and an artibtrary serving/cooked weight as well on the back. If ever I have chips I'll just use the frozen weight and knock off whatever the carb/fat content comes out to out of my daily macros (cos calorie counting is ghey).
 
I find the best method for controlling portions is to guess how much of something is too much, and then.. have less of it.

Either that, or weigh chips both cooked and uncooked to see if the 10% water weight means I can have 2 chips extra without getting fat.
 
You also need to consider the size of each chip as the surface area to volume ratio will mean different losses in weight when cooking. I would measure the dimensions of each chip and cook them individually. This will give you a great idea of just how much you will lose depending on the size of the chip.

Once you've got that side of things down all you need to do is weigh and measure each chip before cooking and then you'll know exactly how many calories you'll be eating. Simples.
 
FrenchTart said:
You also need to consider the size of each chip as the surface area to volume ratio will mean different losses in weight when cooking. I would measure the dimensions of each chip and cook them individually. This will give you a great idea of just how much you will lose depending on the size of the chip.

Once you've got that side of things down all you need to do is weigh and measure each chip before cooking and then you'll know exactly how many calories you'll be eating. Simples.
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Linkex, this is what I do when I eat chips and I've done nothing but lose weight all year.
 
For anyone who needs the answer, 500g frozen worked out to 350g cooked, so cooked chips are about 70% of the weight of frozen.

To calculate, divide the amount of cooked weight you want by 0.7 e.g:
250g cooked chips = 250/0.7 = 357g frozen chips
 
You can lose weight eating pretty much anything if it still adds up to an overall deficit, although obviously how much of a deficit, dietary content and what type of physical activity you partake in will have an influence on what the weight loss consisted of.

Generally the more processed/packaged the food, the harder it is to eat any great quantity of it while still being able to hit targets for protein/carbs/fats. If you're dieting then a hearty portion of chips might take out a good chunk of your carb and some of your fat intake, leaving you with less food / more mundane choices for other meals that day but there's no reason why you can't squeeze some in now and then. 80/20 rule / orthorexia nervosa etc.
 
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