Estimate gross energy during cooking or kitchen activity from body weight, a sourced activity description and duration. The result includes resting metabolism and shows total kcal and kcal per minute.

Estimate gross energy during food preparation or kitchen activity. Gross energy includes resting metabolism.

Default: light preparation with manual appliances at 2 MET. General kitchen activity includes cooking, dishes and cleanup at moderate effort. Match the description to your activity.

Changing units converts your value. Maximum: 1,500 kg, a software limit rather than an accuracy range.

Enter time spent in the selected activity. Maximum: 1,440 minutes.

Calories Burned Cooking Formula

Use body weight in kilograms, activity minutes and the selected MET value. The oxygen-based factor is F = MET × 3.5 ÷ 200 kcal/kg/min. These are population estimates, not personal measurements.

C = W × t × F ; Cper min = W × F

Variables:

  • C = calories burned
  • W = body weight in kilograms
  • t = cooking time in minutes
  • F = MET × 3.5 ÷ 200, the oxygen-based activity factor in kcal/kg/min

Cooking Activity Factors

Cooking Style kcal/kg/min kcal/lb/min Best Fit
Light food preparation (2 MET) 0.03500 0.01588 Food preparation standing, sitting or in general, manual appliances, light effort
Moderate food preparation (3.5 MET) 0.06125 0.02778 Cooking or food preparation at moderate effort
General kitchen activity (3.3 MET) 0.05775 0.02619 General kitchen activity including cooking, washing dishes and cleanup, moderate effort

Calories Burned Cooking in 30 Minutes

Body Weight Light Moderate Kitchen
130 lb 62 kcal 108 kcal 102 kcal
160 lb 76 kcal 133 kcal 126 kcal
190 lb 90 kcal 158 kcal 149 kcal

How to Calculate Calories Burned While Cooking

  1. Enter your body weight in kilograms or pounds.
  2. Enter the number of minutes spent cooking.
  3. Choose the matching cooking activity. The default is light food preparation at 2 MET; walking preparation uses 2.3 MET, moderate preparation 3.5 MET, and general kitchen activity 3.3 MET.
  4. Select Calculate to see the result. The calculator converts pounds to kilograms, then multiplies weight by MET × 3.5 ÷ 200 to estimate kcal per minute.
  5. Total kcal uses the unrounded energy rate multiplied by activity minutes. MET categories are from the 2024 Adult Compendium for adults aged 19–59; table factors and totals are rounded. Actual energy varies with the task and person.

Example Problem

Body weight: 70 kg

Time cooking: 30 minutes

Cooking activity: Moderate food preparation (3.5 MET)

Calories per minute: 70 × 0.06125 = 4.2875 kcal/min (about 4.29)

Total calories burned: 4.2875 × 30 = 128.625 kcal (about 128.63)

Related Calculators