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Can someone tell me how the protein amount of meats is calculated? If 30 grams of chicken (for example) contains 7 grams of protein, is that based on the cooked or raw weight? Meats tend to lose weight through cooking and I presume that the loss is water and fat, as opposed to protein. I hope the answer is raw weight because I can do some rough and ready calculations from the info on the package. I'd prefer not to get into weighing stuff between the oven and the dinner plate. :)

Yea, the fat gets melted. The greese you dump out is the difference.

I understand that meat loses mass when cooked. What I'm curious about is whether the percentage of usable protein in meat is based on raw or cooked weight.

Hi. You actually asked 2 questions. 1. Meat (fowl and fish as well) is usually based on raw weight. 1 oz for approximately 7 gr protein. It varies though, due to fat content. For example, 1 oz salmon might only give around 5 gr protein, whereas 1 oz skinned chicken breat will be around 7 gr protein, and cooking will shed some fat and water, but shouldn't mess with the total gr of protein.
2. You were talking about the usability of protein. Now we are getting into something similar the the Glycemic Index for carbs. With Protein, its similar. I has to do with bioavailability, i.e. how fully can that substance be assimilated, and how quickly. I haven't seen a chart in years, but I do know that beef is around 75% usable, with eggs being right up there on the top. I would suggest doing a search on the subject.
Tim

Do you know anything about the usability of raw protein versus cooked? Not that I want to go around eating raw chicken, but I'm curious to know if proteins in their natural state are more readily accepted by the body than those that have been denatured and mangled by the heat of cooking.

Hi Drew. Not right off the top of my head, but you've got me interested. Sounds like a good candidate for a google or wikipedia search. Right off the top though, I'd guess (purely that, a guess), that cooking MIGHT improve the time in assimilation, just due to the breakdown cooking creates. Availability, in % terms, I haven't a clue. Will post again if I come up with anything interesting.
Tim

Hi again Drew. Just did a fast search on http://www.ask.com
I used "The effects of cooking on the bioavailability of protein" and got a lot of hits. Just skimming through the first couple, I'm coming up with a mixed bag, with referenced studies and abstracts. I'll let you wade through it.
Tim

Thanks, Tim!

I just wanted to add that RDA's and also bodybuilding magic numbers for the needed intake of protein (the twice bodyweight kinda thing) take into account that you will not get all your protein from sources with perfect bioavailability so you really shouldnt worry about it.