Yield percentage
Also called: yield % · yield factor
Yield percentage is edible weight divided by purchased weight. A case of romaine at 68% yield means 32% of what you paid for goes in the bin before service. Costing at the invoice price instead of the yield-adjusted price understates that plate by the entire trim loss.
Yield percentage
Yield % = Edible portion weight ÷ As-purchased weight × 100
Edible portion cost
EP cost per lb = AP cost per lb ÷ Yield %
This is the number that belongs in a recipe. The invoice price almost never is.
Worked example · Whole beef tenderloin
- As purchased, 12.4 lb at $17.90/lb
- $221.96
- Trimmed, usable centre-cut
- 7.8 lb
- Yield
- 62.9%
- Usable trim → ground for another dish
- 1.6 lb
- EP cost per lb
- $28.46
A 7 oz portion costs $12.45, not the $7.83 the invoice price implies. On a dish selling 60 a week that's $14,400 a year of cost that was never in the recipe.
| Item | Typical yield range | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Whole salmon side, skin off | 65–75% | Pin-boning method, trim standard |
| Beef tenderloin, PSMO | 55–65% | How aggressively the chain and silverskin are pulled |
| Romaine, whole head | 60–75% | Freshness on arrival; storage temperature |
| Onions, peeled and diced | 80–90% | Size — small onions yield worse |
| Whole chicken, boned out | 50–60% | Whether the carcass goes to stock |
| Broccoli crowns | 60–70% | How much stem is treated as usable |
Run the numbers
Yield & EP cost calculator
The guide that works it through
Recipe Costing, Step by Step
How to cost a recipe properly: yield-adjusted ingredient costs, sub-recipes, the Q factor, and a full worked example from invoice to plate cost to menu price.
Related terms
Edible portion vs. as-purchased
AP is what you paid the supplier; EP is what the usable part actually costs after loss.
Butcher's test
A one-time measurement that converts a whole primal or case into a true edible-portion cost.
Trim loss
The weight removed during preparation — the difference between what you bought and what you can cook.
Recipe yield
How many finished portions a recipe actually produces, measured rather than assumed.
Substitution cost
The cost consequence of swapping one ingredient for another — including the yield and labour differences the price tag doesn't show.