Food Yield and Portion Cost Calculator
Convert purchased food to prepared and cooked mass, or work backward from a required edible amount.
YOUR CALCULATION
Result
—
Calculation steps
Work through one step at a time or reveal the complete calculation. The steps use your current inputs.
How to calculate
Multiply purchased mass by preparation and cooking yields. Divide by portion mass, or reverse both yields to find the purchased mass required. Apply your price to the purchased quantity.
Edible mass=purchased mass×preparation yield×cooking yield; cost=purchased mass×entered price per mass
Worked example
1 kg purchased at 80% preparation yield and 75% cooking yield gives 600 g, four 150 g portions. At 10 per kg the ingredient cost is 10, or 2.50 per full portion.
Assumptions and input details
Yield percentages are entered measurements, not a food database. Preparation yield is at most 100%; cooking yield may be up to 1000% to represent water absorption. Cost is ingredient purchase cost only. Blank price stays unknown. Fractional portions and whole portions are reported separately; cost per portion uses the full portion mass, including a fractional remainder. No nutrition or food safety assessment.
References: USDA: preparation yield concepts
Unit definitions
Unit selection is independent of language. Each selector contains only units for its physical quantity. Calculations use defined base units internally.
The 19 mass definitions distinguish avoirdupois and troy measures, metric and regional measures. Japanese kin is 600 g; mainland Chinese shijin is 500 g.
Regional measures are not interchangeable merely because their names look similar. This is a documented selection, not a claim to include every historical unit.
NIST measurement tables · Japanese traditional units · Mainland China and Hong Kong unit distinctions
Using this calculator
Can I enter my own problem?
Yes. Replace the example values with your own inputs. The result, calculation steps, tables and applicable diagrams update from those inputs. Blank or invalid values clear the result; example values are never silently substituted for missing inputs.
Are the results exact?
Results use floating-point arithmetic and displayed rounding. Read the formula, assumptions and any stated data precision before interpreting the result.
Is my input uploaded?
The calculation runs in your browser. No account, file upload or external AI service is required. Inputs are not saved between page reloads.
Scale every ingredient from the original servings to a new serving count. Enter fractions, select each ingredient’s units and inspect a complete quantity table.
Compare product bundles by price per the same quantity. Mix compatible units, include multiple packs and view a ranked table and unit-price chart.
Calculate total-flour baker’s percentages and dough hydration, including a flour-and-water starter. Scale the same formula to a target dough mass.
Reserved advertising space.