Hey, I've recently become bothered by the different calorie counts I've seen for chicken breast.
CalorieKing.com is usually my holy grail of information, but the calorie count they have for chicken breast is fairly significantly different from what I get on my packages of frozen chicken breasts, and on my packages of fresh chicken breasts.
So I'm struggling with what number to use when I go out and get chicken, or get fresh chicken that isn't specifically marked with a calorie count. And quite frankly, I don't like thinking I need to put in different values for 4 ounces of chicken depending on if I bought it frozen or fresh...
So I was hoping to survey you all and see if I could come up with a consensus value for chicken breast.
I see variances in the different products I buy - when I get fresh I tend to get Publix, Tyson, Gold 'n' Fresh (I think that is it, Wal Mart product primarily?) and they vary from 100-120 and from 3-4 oz as serving size. The frozen has an even bigger swing. I think the difference is in the additives used in processing? I go by the package of my specific product when at all possible, not a generic 'chicken' result from a website. When I'm flying blind I tend to use 130 calories for 4 oz, then add additional for any oils or sauces, etc.
The reason things vary is because chicken is usually injected/packed with a saline solution, which can make an equal amount of weight pack less of a calorie punch. This variance is particularly noticeable for frozen v fresh, since the frozen have a lot of of the extra liquid frozen with. So if I have data on my package, I use that. Otherwise, I go with 130 for 4 oz.
Or, since all calorie counts are estimates anyway, you could pick a number on the high end of the spectrum (I mean, the variance is 5-10 calories an ounce, so its not like you're making wild 100 calorie swings in either direction) and just use that. It's unlikely to make a huge difference anyway (and again, ALL calorie counts are estimates...to know what's -actually- in your piece of chicken, you'd have to factor in where it was raised, how old it was, what it was fed, how much exercise it got, etc. To know what's actually in your apple, you have to know how it was grown, how much water it got, where it sat on the tree, the percentage of sunlight exposure, soil nutrient content, etc. So allowing for a 10 cal per ounce variance on your chicken, probably, is the least of your worries in terms of calorie accuracy).
I use my calorie counts mostly as an estimate anyways- I know it'll never be 100% right on. If I'm told a small orange is 50 calories- and I eat one a day, they for sure won't all be 50 calories. One might be 48, another 53, and so on.
Calories in chicken breast -- differences
Sometimes I over think things...
