Journal · 1,604.6 kg weighed
What 279 butcheries measured
Between 1 July and 17 October 2026 the butchers of the Steakpedia Field Kitchen cut 279 pieces of beef, 1,604.6 kg in all, and weighed each one before the knife and every portion after. On average 76.7 % of the meat that came in ended up usable. The tenderloin, the dearest piece, gave only 57 % in steaks; this note is about what the average hides.
At a glance
- Measured by
- Steakpedia Field Kitchen
- Period
- 1 July – 17 October 2026
- Sheets
- 279
- Meat in
- 1,604.6 kg
- Usable yield, all cuts
- 76.7 %
- Compiled
- 18 October 2026
One calibrated scale, one sheet a piece
The Steakpedia Field Kitchen is a restaurant butchery that cuts whole primals every day, from Australian, Argentine, Japanese and American beef. Every piece is weighed on a calibrated scale when it is opened, net of the bag and its liquid. The butcher then weighs each output on the same scale: the portions by size, the secondary cuts, the usable trim, the fat and the waste. Each piece becomes one sheet.
Two figures come out of each sheet. Portion yield is the weight of the steaks divided by the meat that came in. Usable yield adds everything else the kitchen sells or cooks: secondary cuts and usable trim. Sheets where more weight came out than went in are recording errors; they are left out, not corrected. The numbers below are regenerated from the records, not typed by hand.
Eight cuts, 219 sheets
These eight rows account for 219 of the 279 sheets and 1,273.4 kg. The other 60 sheets, about 331 kg, are pieces not broken out here. The skirt line is a single sheet and says almost nothing; it is listed so the table is complete. The rump is not in the table because it has not yet been measured in a way that can be trusted.
| Cut | Sheets | Meat in | Portion yield | Usable yield | Fat | Usual portion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ribeye (boneless cube roll) | 61 | 341.2 kg | 81.0 % | 83.9 % | 9.4 % | 250 g |
| T-bone (bone-in short loin) | 28 | 266.5 kg | 77.4 % | 79.6 % | 8.9 % | 500 g |
| Tenderloin (whole, side muscle on) | 38 | 226.3 kg | 57.0 % | 72.2 % | 8.7 % | 150 g |
| Flank | 38 | 162.5 kg | 66.0 % | 73.1 % | 12.8 % | 150 g |
| Picanha (rump cap, fat on) | 28 | 139.8 kg | 57.7 % | 63.8 % | 16.9 % | 150 g |
| Ribeye bone-in (tomahawk) | 14 | 79.4 kg | 71.1 % | 72.2 % | 9.3 % | about 1.1 kg |
| Striploin (boneless) | 11 | 56.0 kg | 77.2 % | 78.2 % | 7.8 % | 400 g |
| Skirt (inside) | 1 | 1.7 kg | 65.0 % | 68.2 % | 28.8 % | 150 g |
The tenderloin’s 57 %, and the spread
The tenderloin. It is usually the most expensive piece a kitchen buys, and only 57 % of it became steak. The side muscle (the chain), the silverskin and the tail come off, and most of that is usable trim, which is why the usable figure rises to 72.2 %. But a kitchen that prices its fillet from the invoice is undercharging by a wide margin: at 57 % portion yield, each kilogram of steak costs about 1.75 times the purchase price per kilogram.
The picanha. The fat cap is part of the cut, and here it was served with the fat on. Even so, 16.9 % of what came in was fat that did not go to the plate, and the usable yield, 63.8 %, is the lowest of the main cuts.
The spread. Averages hide how different two pieces of the same cut can be. Individual ribeye sheets ranged from 24.9 % to 100 %; tenderloin from 31.5 % to 95.7 %. Part of that is the piece and part is the butcher and the day. One yield test says very little.
1,025 ribeyes, 39 tomahawks
In the same period the butchers cut 1,025 ribeye portions (713 of them at 250 g), 632 tenderloin portions (453 at 150 g), 567 flank portions, 413 picanha portions, 374 T-bone portions (232 at 500 g), 197 striploin portions and 39 tomahawks.
One kitchen’s numbers, with dates
Yield tables in trade manuals are useful but generic, and the numbers kitchens keep are rarely shared. These come from one kitchen, with its specification, its sample sizes and its dates; another kitchen's trimming specification will move them. The same figures appear in the field-data box of each cut page in this reference, signed, and will be updated as more sheets come in.
Frequently asked questions
What is the usable yield of a beef tenderloin?
In 38 whole tenderloins cut by the Steakpedia Field Kitchen between July and October 2026, 57 % became steaks and 72.2 % was usable in total.
How much of a boneless ribeye becomes steak?
In 61 boneless cube rolls, 81 % became steaks and 83.9 % was usable, with 9.4 % fat removed.
Sources
2
- North American Meat Institute. The Meat Buyer's Guide, 8th ed. Washington, DC, 2014.
- Steakpedia Field Kitchen. Butchery records, 1 July – 17 October 2026: 279 sheets, 1,604.6 kg of beef weighed piece by piece on a calibrated scale and logged per cut. Compiled 18 October 2026. Unpublished kitchen data.
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