Yield / yield percentage

Yield percentage answers one question: of everything you bought, how much do you actually get to sell? Weigh the ingredient as it arrives, prep it the way your kitchen really does, weigh what's left, and divide. Ten kilos of whole salmon that trims down to six kilos of usable fillet is a 60% yield. A yield test done on your own product, with your own supplier and your own butcher, beats any generic table — the same cut varies by season, grade, and who is holding the knife.

Yield is the hinge of accurate costing. Once you know it, EP cost = AP cost ÷ yield %, and every downstream number — plate cost, pour cost, menu price, margin — finally reflects reality. Skip the test and lean on a textbook figure, and the error compounds across every portion you sell, all service long.

The common trap is treating yield as a one-time number. It drifts: a new supplier, a bigger fish, a cook who trims heavier all move it. Re-test the few high-volume, high-cost items a couple of times a year and the rest of your costing stays honest.