Yield calculator

How much a brisket, a pork butt or a chicken weighs once cooked, and how much raw meat to buy for the cooked weight you need.

I know…
lb

Cooked weight

About 8.3 lb (3.8 kg)

Why meat shrinks when you cook it

Meat loses weight as it cooks, mostly water and some fat. The USDA measures it as the cooking yield: the cooked weight divided by the raw weight. A brisket with a 69% yield that goes on at 10 lb (4.5 kg) comes off at about 6.9 lb (3.1 kg). Bone-in cuts are weighed with the bone, so the meat you can eat is less than the cooked weight.

The figures come from the USDA's laboratory tests, which used a specific cooking method for each cut, such as braised brisket or roasted spareribs. Smoking low and slow for hours isn't the same method, and trim and fat change the result too. Use them as a guide and buy a little more for a big cookout. To know how much to buy per person, see meat per guest.

Cooking yield chart

CutUSDA methodYieldRange
Beef
Brisket Braised 69% 65–76%
Beef back ribs, bone-in Braised 75% 65–82%
Beef short ribs, boneless Braised 66% 45–97%
Chuck eye roast, boneless Roasted 80% 76–94%
Bone-in rib roast (prime rib) Roasted 77% 72–84%
Boneless ribeye roast Roasted 76% 66–85%
Tri-tip roast Roasted 84% 77–89%
Ribeye steak, boneless Grilled 84% 75–92%
Tenderloin steak (filet) Broiled or grilled 80% 71–86%
Top sirloin steak Broiled or grilled 80% 69–87%
Flank steak Broiled or grilled 81% 74–89%
Burgers, lean ground beef (under 12% fat) Broiled or grilled 73% 73–75%
Burgers, ground beef (12–22% fat) Broiled or grilled 69% 64–72%
Burgers, fatty ground beef (over 22% fat) Broiled or grilled 63% 55–69%
Pork
Pork butt (Boston butt) Braised 65% 61–73%
Pork picnic shoulder Braised 74% 70–78%
Pork spareribs Roasted 76% 68–79%
Pork back ribs (baby backs) Roasted 82% 74–90%
Pork loin roast, bone-in Roasted 77% 63–88%
Pork tenderloin Roasted 80% 74–84%
Pork chops, bone-in Broiled or grilled 82% 77–88%
Chicken
Whole chicken Roasted 78% 68–84%
Chicken breast Roasted 72% 61–82%
Chicken thighs Roasted 69% 58–79%
Chicken drumsticks Roasted 76% 63–87%
Chicken wings Roasted 74% 64–83%
Lamb
Lamb roast Roasted 74% 53–88%

Range: the lowest and highest yield in the USDA's samples. Chicken and lamb figures date back to the USDA's 1975 data, the rest to 2000–2011.

Frequently asked questions

In the USDA's tests, braised brisket flat kept 69% of its raw weight, between 65% and 76% depending on the sample. A 10 lb brisket would come out at about 6.9 lb. Smoked brisket isn't the same method, so treat it as a guide.

The USDA measured a cooking yield of 65% for braised Boston butt (61% to 73%). That's about 5.2 lb of cooked meat from an 8 lb pork butt, before taking out the bone.

Divide the cooked weight by the yield. With brisket at 69%, 5 lb cooked needs about 7.2 lb raw; with the lowest yield in the USDA samples, 65%, about 7.7 lb.

Yes. The USDA weighs bone-in cuts, such as ribs or a bone-in rib roast, with the bone, so the edible meat is less than the cooked weight.

From the USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry (2012), which the USDA uses to calculate the nutrients of cooked foods. Each yield comes from laboratory tests with a specific cut and cooking method.

Sources

Checked on October 19, 2026.

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