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The percentage of an ingredient's original weight or volume that remains usable after preparation — juicing, peeling, trimming, dehydrating, infusing, or cooking. Prep yield is the conversion factor between what you pay for and what you actually use in recipes.
Prep yield is where most recipe costing breaks down. It's not the cost most operators miss — it's the yield percentage they assume incorrectly.
Common yield assumptions that are systematically wrong: 'a lime gives me about three portions' (it gives you one ounce of juice at ~50% yield), 'we waste maybe 10% of our herbs' (leafy herbs yield 25-35% usable product), 'citrus zest doesn't really cost anything extra' (if you're also juicing the citrus, the zest has zero additional cost; if you're buying just for zest, you pay for 100% and use 15%).
The professional approach is to measure actual yield, not estimate it. Juice 10 limes, measure the output, calculate the yield percentage. This takes 10 minutes and produces a number that's accurate to your supplier's product quality and your team's prep technique — not a generic industry average.
methodus lets you set custom prep yield percentages per ingredient based on your actual measurements — so recipe costs reflect your kitchen's reality, not industry averages.
As Purchased vs Edible Portion — the cost difference between what you buy and what you use.
Syrups, infusions, and mixes made in-house rather than purchased.
Calculating the true cost of every ingredient in a dish or drink.
Measuring usable product after prep loss and waste.
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