Meat Weight Converter

Meat loses weight when cooked due to water and fat loss.

Average weight loss by meat type:

• Beef (ground): loses 25% (1 lb raw = 12 oz cooked)
• Beef (steak): loses 20-25%
• Chicken breast: loses 25% (1 lb raw = 12 oz cooked)
• Chicken thigh: loses 30%
• Pork chop: loses 25%
• Fish fillet: loses 20%
• Turkey: loses 25-30%

Default converter below uses 25% loss (common average).

Metric equivalents:

• 500 g raw = about 375 g cooked (at 25% loss)
• 1 kg raw = about 750 g cooked

Tips:

• Higher fat content = more weight loss.
• Well-done meat loses more weight than medium or rare.
• Nutritional info on packages is usually for raw weight.

Meat shrinks because heat drives out water and renders fat, while the muscle fibers tighten and squeeze out moisture as they cook. How much depends on the cut, the fat content, and how far you cook it: a well-done burger loses far more than a rare steak, and a fatty cut more than a lean one. The 25% rule of thumb is a reasonable average, but only that.

The practical upshot shows up in two places. When shopping, buy by raw weight with shrinkage in mind: for four 6-ounce cooked portions, start with roughly 2 pounds raw, not 1.5. And when counting nutrition, remember package labels almost always list values for the raw weight, so a “4 oz” serving on the label is more food than 4 ounces of the cooked result. For consistent portions, weigh raw and plan for the loss rather than weighing after cooking.