Whole chicken yield: how much is usable after prep (AP to EP %)
Whole chicken: about 58% usable going oven-ready bird to raw meat with skin, with a published range of 50–62%. That is a cost factor of 1.72: for every kilo you need ready to use, buy 1.72 kg as purchased.
Yield by preparation stage
| Stage | Average | Range | What is lost | USDA item |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oven-ready → raw meat with skin | 58% | 50–62% | Bone (~33%) and handling loss | 582 |
| Oven-ready → raw meat only (no skin) | 47% | 40–53% | Bone, skin and fat | 582 |
| Oven-ready → breast (on the bone, as a share of the bird) | 27% | 22–31% | Rest of the carcass | 583 |
| Oven-ready → thighs | 19% | 15–23% | Rest of the carcass | 583 |
| Oven-ready → drumsticks | 17% | 14–20% | Rest of the carcass | 583 |
| Oven-ready → wings | 14% | 12–16% | Rest of the carcass | 583 |
| Oven-ready → back (carcass for stock) | 23% | 20–28% | Rest of the carcass | 583 |
About a third of a whole bird is bone. If you are breaking down birds for supremes and legs, cost the carcass and wing tips as stock rather than as waste.
How much to buy
As-purchased (AP) weight = the edible weight you need (EP) ÷ the yield. At 58%:
| Usable weight needed | Buy (as purchased) |
|---|---|
| 1 kg | 1.72 kg |
| 5 kg | 8.62 kg |
| 10 kg | 17.24 kg |
Cost works the same way: usable cost per kilo = the price per kilo you pay ÷ 0.58. At £1.00 a kilo as purchased, usable whole chicken cost £1.72 a kilo.
Use 58% in the yield calculator →
Where the numbers come from
USDA Agriculture Handbook No. 102, Food Yields Summarized by Different Stages of Preparation (Matthews and Garrison, USDA Agricultural Research Service, 1975), Table 1, items 582, 583. These are averages from US samples of oven-ready whole chicken (no giblets), weighed before and after each stage of prep. Varieties, sizes, UK grading and your own knife work all move the number, which is why every row shows the range as well as the average.
Use these figures to plan and to sense-check. To cost a dish properly, weigh your own: weigh a case as it arrives, prep it the way you do in service, weigh what is usable, and put both weights into the yield calculator.
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