How is yield percentage calculated in a recipe context?

• A. Yield percentage = (usable final quantity / raw product quantity) × 100
• B. Yield percentage = (raw product quantity / usable final quantity) × 100
• C. Yield percentage = (usable final quantity × raw product quantity) ÷ 100
• D. Yield percentage = (raw product quantity − usable final quantity) × 100

Answer: (A)

Yield percentage measures how much of the starting raw ingredient ends up as usable product after processing. It’s the proportion of input that remains usable, shown as a percent. The correct approach uses the usable final quantity divided by the raw product quantity, then multiplied by 100. For example, start with 10 lb of onions and end up with 7 lb of usable onion after trimming and prep → yield = (7 / 10) × 100 = 70%.

The other formulations don’t reflect that same relationship: inverting the ratio would give a value that doesn’t represent the portion of input converted to usable output, multiplying the two quantities and then dividing by 100 isn’t a meaningful yield metric, and subtracting the usable amount from the raw quantity and multiplying by 100 expresses a loss percentage, not yield.