Cooked Weight Calculator
Convert between raw and cooked weight with a cooking yield, your own or a USDA figure, and split the batch into portions for food logging.
Result
Enter yield, cooked weight as a share of raw to see the result.
https://calcgallery.com/recipe/cooked-weight-calculator/
Results are arithmetic on the figures you enter. Cooking times are estimates: ovens, cuts and starting temperatures vary, so check doneness with a thermometer. Safe temperatures are the USDA's; guidance differs by country, so check your own. Read the full disclaimer
How to use the Cooked Weight Calculator
- Say whether you weighed the food raw or cooked, and enter that weight.
- Choose "My own yield" and enter it, or pick one of the USDA meat and poultry rows.
- Enter the number of portions if you are splitting the batch.
- Read the other weight, and each portion both as cooked weight and as the raw weight it came from.
Yield
Cooking changes weight: meat drips water and fat, grains soak up water. The USDA defines the cooking yield as the hot cooked weight divided by the raw weight, and the page uses it both ways:
cooked weight = raw weight × yieldraw weight = cooked weight ÷ yieldeach portion = weight ÷ portionsYour own figure or the USDA’s
The page starts from a yield you measure, because nothing fits your food and your kitchen better. For meat and poultry you can instead pick one of eight rows from the USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry, Release 2 (2014):
- ground beef, 12 to 22% fat, and under 12% fat, pan-fried as crumbles
- beef top sirloin steak, broiled or grilled
- chicken breast and chicken thigh with skin, roasted (figures the USDA carries over from its 1975 food yields handbook)
- pork loin chop, bone-in, pan-fried
- bacon, pan-fried
- whole turkey, roasted
Each is the average of the samples in that study. The same cut cooked longer, hotter or with more fat will come out lighter.
What the page leaves out
Bones, skin and fat you trim off after cooking are not modelled: a yield from the table includes whatever the USDA’s description includes. Water added in a braise or a sauce changes the cooked weight too. For grains and pasta there is no preset; the ratio on the packet or your own weighing gives the yield.
With your numbers
- Cooked = raw × yield = 16 oz × 67% = 10.7 oz
Quick reference
An estimate: the yield depends on the cut, its fat, the pan and how long it cooks.
| Example | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 lb ground beef, pan-fried | Cooked weight: 10.7 oz |
| 1 lb lean ground beef, pan-fried | Cooked weight: 11 oz |
| 1 lb bacon, pan-fried | Cooked weight: 5.1 oz |
| 14 lb whole turkey, roasted | Cooked weight: 159 oz |
| 500 g cooked chicken breast, back to raw | Raw weight: 694.4 g |
| 1 kg chicken thighs, roasted, 4 portions | Cooked weight: 690 g |
| 250 g sirloin steak, grilled | Cooked weight: 200 g |
| 200 g dry rice at 250%, 2 portions | Cooked weight: 500 g |
Where the numbers come from
The fixed figures this calculator relies on, and the published source each one was checked against. How the calculators are built and checked
8 sources
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (2014), USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry, Release 2, Nutrient Data Laboratory: the table https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400535/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry02.xlsx and its documentation https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400535/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry02.pdf (p. 5: "Yield (%) = 100 x (Wch / Wcr)", hot cooked weight over raw weight). Row NDB 23575: "Beef, ground, medium fat (12%-22%), crumbles", preparation method "Pan-fried", cooking yield 67%.
Used for
- USDA cooking yield for Beef, ground, medium fat (12%-22%), crumbles, pan-fried.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (2014), USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry, Release 2, Nutrient Data Laboratory: the table https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400535/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry02.xlsx and its documentation https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400535/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry02.pdf (p. 5: "Yield (%) = 100 x (Wch / Wcr)", hot cooked weight over raw weight). Row NDB 23565: "Beef, ground, low fat (<12%), crumbles", preparation method "Pan-fried", cooking yield 69%.
Used for
- USDA cooking yield for Beef, ground, low fat (<12%), crumbles, pan-fried.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (2014), USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry, Release 2, Nutrient Data Laboratory: the table https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400535/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry02.xlsx and its documentation https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400535/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry02.pdf (p. 5: "Yield (%) = 100 x (Wch / Wcr)", hot cooked weight over raw weight). Row NDB 13930: "Beef, top sirloin, steak, separable lean and fat, trimmed to 1/8" fat, all grades", preparation method "Broiled or Grilled", cooking yield 80%.
Used for
- USDA cooking yield for Beef, top sirloin, steak, separable lean and fat, trimmed to 1/8" fat, all grades, broiled or grilled.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (2014), USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry, Release 2, Nutrient Data Laboratory: the table https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400535/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry02.xlsx and its documentation https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400535/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry02.pdf (p. 5: "Yield (%) = 100 x (Wch / Wcr)", hot cooked weight over raw weight). Row NDB 5060: "Chicken, broiler-fryer, breast, meat and skin", preparation method "Baked or Roasted, unspecified", cooking yield 72% (a 1975 row, from Agriculture Handbook 102, with no n or SD).
Used for
- USDA cooking yield for Chicken, broiler-fryer, breast, meat and skin, baked or roasted, unspecified.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (2014), USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry, Release 2, Nutrient Data Laboratory: the table https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400535/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry02.xlsx and its documentation https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400535/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry02.pdf (p. 5: "Yield (%) = 100 x (Wch / Wcr)", hot cooked weight over raw weight). Row NDB 5094: "Chicken, broiler-fryer, thigh, meat and skin", preparation method "Baked or Roasted, unspecified", cooking yield 69% (a 1975 row, from Agriculture Handbook 102, with no n or SD).
Used for
- USDA cooking yield for Chicken, broiler-fryer, thigh, meat and skin, baked or roasted, unspecified.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (2014), USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry, Release 2, Nutrient Data Laboratory: the table https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400535/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry02.xlsx and its documentation https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400535/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry02.pdf (p. 5: "Yield (%) = 100 x (Wch / Wcr)", hot cooked weight over raw weight). Row NDB 10179: "Pork, fresh, loin, center loin (chops), bone-in, separable lean and fat", preparation method "Pan-fried", cooking yield 76%.
Used for
- USDA cooking yield for Pork, fresh, loin, center loin (chops), bone-in, separable lean and fat, pan-fried.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (2014), USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry, Release 2, Nutrient Data Laboratory: the table https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400535/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry02.xlsx and its documentation https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400535/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry02.pdf (p. 5: "Yield (%) = 100 x (Wch / Wcr)", hot cooked weight over raw weight). Row NDB 10862: "Pork, cured, bacon", preparation method "Pan-fried", cooking yield 32%.
Used for
- USDA cooking yield for Pork, cured, bacon, pan-fried.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (2014), USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry, Release 2, Nutrient Data Laboratory: the table https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400535/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry02.xlsx and its documentation https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400535/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry02.pdf (p. 5: "Yield (%) = 100 x (Wch / Wcr)", hot cooked weight over raw weight). Row NDB 5166: "Turkey, whole, non-enhanced, meat and skin", preparation method "Roasted", cooking yield 71%.
Used for
- USDA cooking yield for Turkey, whole, non-enhanced, meat and skin, roasted.
Common questions about the Cooked Weight Calculator
- How do I convert raw weight to cooked weight?
- Multiply the raw weight by the cooking yield, the cooked weight as a share of the raw weight. To go the other way, divide the cooked weight by the yield. Meat loses water and fat as it cooks, so its yield is below 100%; rice, pasta and dried beans absorb water, so theirs is above 100%.
- How do I find my own yield?
- Weigh a batch raw, cook it the way you usually do, and weigh it again as soon as it is done. Divide the cooked weight by the raw weight. Your own figure reflects your cut, pan, heat and timing, which is why the page starts with it.
- Where do the USDA yields come from?
- From the USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry, Release 2, published by the Agricultural Research Service in 2014. Each yield is the average of samples cooked in USDA studies by a set method, weighed hot straight after cooking. The page offers eight common rows and shows the figure it used under "Yield used".
- Should I log the raw or cooked weight in my food diary?
- Whichever matches the nutrition entry you choose. Raw and cooked entries differ per gram because cooking removes water. If you cook a batch and eat a portion of it, weigh your portion cooked and log the raw weight it came from against a raw entry; the page shows that as each portion as raw weight.
- Why does my cooked weight differ from the USDA figure?
- Fat content, trimming, the cooking method, the temperature, how long it cooks and how long it rests all change the yield. The USDA rows describe their own test conditions.