Does Cooking Increase Calories?

This is a very dumb question, I know, but...

Does cooking raw meat in nothing but the meat itself, increase the calories?

For example:

Lets say I weigh a chicken breast that comes out to 4 oz. This meat contains no bone, no skin and is thinly sliced. The calories equate to about 110-130. I cook it in a regular pan with nothing else, will the calories go up?

Also, I NEED to know how much calories are in skinless boneless chicken breasts. I have sites telling me it's 120 per 4 oz, 110, and even 230 if I "broil" or "roast" it.

Thanks in advance.

No, cooking meat the way you described does not increase the calories.  The meat will weigh less because of water loss when it is done cooking.  That means that 4 oz of raw chicken might be only 2 or 3 oz cooked chicken.

The 110-120 calories per 4 oz looks like it's correct, if you're weighing it raw.  230 calories is probably if you are weighing the chicken after it's cooked.

Original Post by particle_woman:

The 110-120 calories per 4 oz looks like it's correct, if you're weighing it raw.  230 calories is probably if you are weighing the chicken after it's cooked.

Not to be rude but, wouldn't this contradict what you just said? 110-120 raw, 230 after it's cooked?

So does it raise the calories or does it not?

No, because the 230 is for if you're weighing 4 oz of meat after cooking.  It would have started out at 7 or 8 oz raw.

Original Post by particle_woman:

No, because the 230 is for if you're weighing 4 oz of meat after cooking.  It would have started out at 7 or 8 oz raw.

OH, sorry, I misunderstood.

Oh, alright. I seem to get it now. Guess that means I can have a proper lunch.

Of course not. Cooking does not do anything to change the calorie content of the food unless you add something to it like butter or oil. When you cook meat, some of the water evaporates out of it so that it's lighter at the end than it was at the beginning.

When you're looking at chicken in the log, it will have different calories depending on how it's cooked, or more specifically, what's it's cooked in.  For example, fried chicken will show more calories as it's taking into account the oil it was cooked in.  But no, chicken by itself doesn't miraculously take on extra calories just cuz it's cooked.