CarbTable practical guides
Raw or cooked makes a difference
Raw and cooked records describe different states of a food. A 100 g value always applies to the food in the state stated on the page.
Water changes the comparison
Cooking can change a food’s water content and its final weight. This is one reason the nutrients per 100 g can differ between a raw and a cooked record. Added ingredients and losses during preparation may also matter.
Weigh in the same state as the record
If you weigh cooked pasta, choose a cooked pasta record. Applying a dry-food value to a cooked weight answers a different question and can produce a misleading result.
A reference dish is a specific recipe
Prepared dishes in the catalogue represent the USDA description shown on the page. Your homemade or restaurant version may use different quantities or ingredients. Use individual ingredients in My meal when that better describes your food.
There is no universal conversion
CarbTable does not convert a raw weight into a cooked weight using a universal multiplier. The calculator scales a single food profile using compatible quantities.
A worked example from the catalogue
Rice, white, long-grain, raw reports 80.3 g of carbohydrate per 100 g; Rice, white, cooked reports 28.2 g per 100 g.
These are separate reference records, not a before-and-after cooking experiment. They show why a cooked weight needs a cooked record; their ratio is not a reliable conversion from dry to cooked weight.
Check the original USDA record. Values here come from the same catalogue records used in the calculators.
Check the source
This guide explains how to use the reference data. Read the USDA documentation and CarbTable’s methodology.
Prepared by CarbTable, October 26, 2026. Editorial policy and review status. General information, not individualized dietary or medical advice.