Calculating calories in home made chicken soup

[LittleGreyCat]

At the moment there are some good deals in roast in the bag free range chickens at the Co-op.
Pretty simple; bung the chicken (in foil tray and bag) in the oven, cook, remove and drain the juices into a large saucepan. Strip the meat off the chicken (really easy when hot) and put the remains in the large pan, cover with water, and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

This gives a really good rich chicken stock with some fat on the top.

This in turn can be turned into a really nutritious chicken soup by adding vegetable and small pieces of the chicken to the stock and boiling up.

Now the conundrum.

For commercial chicken soup you get the nutrition details on the label. However for this method there is no way that I can see to measure the calorie content of the chicken stock, so no way to measure the calorie content of the resulting soup.

The other ingredients can be weighed, of course, but I suspect that most of the calories will come from the rich chicken stock. This will vary with the size of the chicken and the amount of fat on the chicken. Oh, and the water added, although using the same pan each time will keep this reasonably standard.

Any ideas?

 

[BrianTheElder]

At the moment there are some good deals in roast in the bag free range chickens at the Co-op.
Pretty simple; bung the chicken (in foil tray and bag) in the oven, cook, remove and drain the juices into a large saucepan. Strip the meat off the chicken (really easy when hot) and put the remains in the large pan, cover with water, and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

This gives a really good rich chicken stock with some fat on the top.

This in turn can be turned into a really nutritious chicken soup by adding vegetable and small pieces of the chicken to the stock and boiling up.

Now the conundrum.

For commercial chicken soup you get the nutrition details on the label. However for this method there is no way that I can see to measure the calorie content of the chicken stock, so no way to measure the calorie content of the resulting soup.

The other ingredients can be weighed, of course, but I suspect that most of the calories will come from the rich chicken stock. This will vary with the size of the chicken and the amount of fat on the chicken. Oh, and the water added, although using the same pan each time will keep this reasonably standard.

Any ideas?

Good question - I look forward to reading the answers!
I have similar problems with things like chicken fried in butter. I know the macronutrients before cooking, but I'm not sure what the heat does to the ingredients. I know that water is driven off reducing the weight and sugars caramelise, but are there other effects on the fats particularly? I am sure that if I look up fried chicken on a website I will get results for something else entirely.

 

[Soplewis12]

At the moment there are some good deals in roast in the bag free range chickens at the Co-op.
Pretty simple; bung the chicken (in foil tray and bag) in the oven, cook, remove and drain the juices into a large saucepan. Strip the meat off the chicken (really easy when hot) and put the remains in the large pan, cover with water, and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

This gives a really good rich chicken stock with some fat on the top.

This in turn can be turned into a really nutritious chicken soup by adding vegetable and small pieces of the chicken to the stock and boiling up.

Now the conundrum.

For commercial chicken soup you get the nutrition details on the label. However for this method there is no way that I can see to measure the calorie content of the chicken stock, so no way to measure the calorie content of the resulting soup.

The other ingredients can be weighed, of course, but I suspect that most of the calories will come from the rich chicken stock. This will vary with the size of the chicken and the amount of fat on the chicken. Oh, and the water added, although using the same pan each time will keep this reasonably standard.

Any ideas?

I was chortling when I saw your post as I've just finished making a large pot of chicken & rice soup. I've worked out the total carbohydrate content but down to now how many ladels can I get out the pot? Never easy is it?

 

[lovinglife]

weigh all your ingredients raw - work out the carbs for each one add them all together - gives carb content for full recipe after cooked divide it into portions - divide total amount carbs by portions gained - result carbs per portion then eat however many portion you want to eat.

As it's a soup your eating everything you put in it - your not putting anything in the stock other than the chicken bones so unless the chicken has something added at source ( sometimes the roastvin the bag ones do so be aware) there's no carb count for the stock.

 

[carty]

Are we talking carbs or calories ?
CAROL

 

[hankjam]

unless you add a lot of carrot and the like to your stock the bones / chicken will hardly contribute any carbs... this is my working assumption and testing after said soup seems pretty low effect.
Soup from bones is good.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

Are we talking carbs or calories ?
CAROL

Well spotted!

My question was about CALORIES because I don't think there are a massive amount of carbohydrates in chicken fat and meat. Chicken soup is good for LCHF in many ways, including the fat from the chicken, but if you are CALORIE counting then it can be a puzzle.

 

[carty]

I thought so ,sorry I can't help I don't count calories cos I need as many as I can get providing they are low carb
CAROL

 

[lovinglife]

Do the same for calories- I count both in all my cooking and meals - anything you want to calculate the way is just the same - the main thing though is to enjoy it - its fresh wholesome food - good for the soul

 

[himtoo]

I cannot claim to have a 100% definitive answer ( but a good estimate )


"A cup ( 8 oz )of homemade chicken stock contains 86 calories and about 2.9 grams of fat, of which less than 1 gram is saturated.
the chicken itself works out at 239 calories per 100 gram

using this as your base and then weighing your veg ( at 4 calories per carb ) so-- example 100 gram swede = 4.38 carbs and total calories of 21
repeat for all your veg !!