Dried cranberries as seasoning

#1

I can’t find a carb count for them, but beings that they are plain cranberries in dried form, and they have zero sweetness to them, I assume they are just fine to use.

I use them in stews and soups, casseroles and gravies to add tang. A little goes a long way, and they work for anything that would be good with lemon or vinegar also, and a lot of things that would not. They add a great amount of tanginess to everything meat.

I cook by ears, eyes and taste, so I don’t have any recipes to post, but experiment with adding some to anything you like a little tangy - You can start by just dropping one in , letting it plump up a bit, and taste a spoonful of the liquid around them. Then you can adjust according to taste.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #2

Here’s the bad news. They may not taste sweet but they’re 70+% sugar, mainly simple sugars, such as sucrose, glucose, and fructose. Source.

#3

The main nutrients in 1 cup (100 grams) of raw, unsweetened cranberries are (1Trusted Source):

  • Calories: 46
  • Water: 87%
  • Protein: 0.4 grams
  • Carbs: 12.2 grams
  • Sugar: 4 grams
  • Fiber: 4.6 grams
  • Fat: 0.1 grams

Thank you for that. I wonder how many cranberries fit in a cup - you want maybe 3 individual berries in a soup or gravy, otherwise the flavor is way too strong. So the carb content would be a lot smaller. They are being used as a spice, not a food.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #4

You’re not using ‘raw, unsweetened’, you’re using ‘dried’. That’s what I looked up on the USDA nutrient database. I also looked up raw. My guess is that by removing most of the water from the berry, the resulting carbs become more concentrated per unit of weight. Which makes sense.

If you do the math on the numbers you list: subtract the 87% water and you’re left with 13% solids, of which 90% is carbs (100 x 13% = 13 grams / 12/13 = .92 / so: 13 grams - 12 grams = 1 gram of probably cellulose.) Of course, not 100% of the water is removed during drying, so the numbers go down a bit, per the USDA datasheet I link previously.

1 ‘cup’ of dried cranberries is 110 grams. If you’re using only ‘1, 2 or 3’ dried berries I think that’s probably negligible. But if you’re using enough to measure, then you’d quickly get into significant carb territory.

#5

Yep, using it as a spice. Very little goes a very long way. A cup of these would make the food inedible, it has a strong flavor.

Many times I even use one chopped up for the whole pot.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #6

You could also probably make tea with the dried berries as well. Cranberries do have some nice nutrients. Even 5-10 grams would contain a negligible amount of carbs, unless you’ve got T2D and/or insulin issues. When I lived at Lake Laberge we made tea from wild rosehips which don’t have near as much flavour as cranberries but still only had to use a couple of them per cup.

#7

My mom made rosehip tea - fond memories. I go through various herbal tea preferences over time, right now it’s peppermint tea. There is a lot of wild lemon mint growing around here, and I have made a bunch of tea from it. I’ll have to try the cranberry - that sounds like a great idea, should be a somewhat lemony flavor. And yep, cranberries do pack good nutrition.

(Bunny) #8

What’s strange is I use to put hand-fulls of those freeze dried sugary cranberries on a salad and also noticed that I continually remained in ketosis (constantly checking) regardless, when I first started the ketogenic diet and it never kicked me out of ketosis no matter how long I measured ketones after eating them, I think it was because of the salad (lettuce) and all the different veggies, leafy greens I put in it?

If I had of taken those freeze dried cranberries and ate them directly, it would have knocked me clean out of ketosis?

#9

A lot of “dried” cranberries have added sugar, like the ones they call “craisins” here in the US. I buy freeze-dried, sugar-free cranberries and they don’t throw me out of ketosis.

#10

That is the kind I use. I chopped up 3 of them yesterday and popped them in a big pot of soup. They added a nice, tangy flavor.

They are just the plain berries, dried. Nothing added. They are not very tasty except in cooking IMO.

(Gregory - You can teach an old dog new tricks.) #11

From what I can tell, 1oz dried cranberries have about 15g net carbs.

Whether or not they throw one out of ketosis depends on how much one eats…

#12

I think mostly these carb contents are about the commonly sold, sugary ones that a lot of people snack on or put on salads. The plain dried ones are rare, because they are not very palatable on their own, they are more like a spice than a fruit. I haven’t seen that differentiation anywhere, so I do assume the carb counts are about the commonly sold type. In any case, I doubt anyone can eat enough of the plain ones to add up carbs.

I see that 2 ounces have 4 carbs. I strongly doubt anyone could eat 2 ounces of these.
Honestly Cranberries

(Gregory - You can teach an old dog new tricks.) #13

I found these on Amazon:

image
image.jpg573×504 156 KB

Note serving size, .2 oz
Net carbs, 3g

Honestly Cranberry - Unsweetened Dried Cranberries

Most dried fruits are pretty high in carbs without added sugar.

#14

Oops, My bad, it’s .2 ounces. A feather weighs more than 5 of these. No added sugar, these tiny things have hardly any weight when dehydrated. And the flavor is super concentrated, and multiplied when added to dishes.

All spices have carbs: http://www.buttermakesyourpantsfalloff.com/spice/

“No added sugar” dried cranberries are not among the ones listed, and I don’t know how much a teaspoon would weigh - a teaspoon would make some 4 large pots of soup’s worth, each with some 5 large servings. I think the carbs are negligible.

These are not the kind atomicspacebunny was talking about.

(Gregory - You can teach an old dog new tricks.) #15

I agree, using a small amount to spice up a soup is a great idea.

Almost any dried fruit used as an entree will make a big carb hit…

#16

I warm the sugar free freeze-dried ones in the microwave in a little water with stevia in it to make my own “craisins” to put in salads. Very few carbs and they add nice sweet and sour zing.

#17

That’s cool. Since I have been keto, I don’t appreciate the sweet flavors anymore and never use any sweeteners, but yes, if you like them sweet, that’s a great way to do it!