Cheese Yield Calculator (Milk to Cheese, Rennet & Salt)

How it works

Van Slyke yield % = (fat retention × fat% + casein% − 0.1) × 1.09 ÷ (1 − moisture) · casein ≈ 0.78 × protein · cheese kg = milk kg × yield% · salt ≈ 1–2.5% of curd weight

Cheese is milk with most of the water removed, so the yield is governed by how much of the milk's fat and casein end up in the curd and how much water the finished style holds. The Van Slyke formula, used in dairies for a century, captures exactly that: casein and about 93% of the fat form the curd, the 1.09 factor accounts for the salt, minerals and bound water that come with them, and dividing by one minus the moisture scales the dry matter up to the wet cheese. High-solids milk from sheep, buffalo or Jersey cows therefore gives markedly more cheese per litre, while a hard, aged style gives less weight than a fresh one from the same milk because it holds less water — not because it wastes more milk.

Worked example

Ten litres of whole cow milk (3.5% fat, 3.3% protein, so about 2.6% casein) made into a hard cheese at 37% moisture yields (0.93 × 3.5 + 2.57 − 0.1) × 1.09 ÷ 0.63 ≈ 9.9%, about 1.0 kg of cheese and 9 L of whey, using roughly 2 mL of rennet, ⅓ tsp of culture and 20 g of salt. The same milk would give about 1.6 kg of fresh chèvre-style cheese.

Frequently asked questions