Mushrooms yield: how much is usable after prep (AP to EP %)
Mushrooms: about 97% usable going whole to trimmed, with a published range of 87–100%. That is a cost factor of 1.03: for every kilo you need ready to use, buy 1.03 kg as purchased.
Yield by preparation stage
| Stage | Average | Range | What is lost | USDA item |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole, good quality → trimmed | 97% | 87–100% | Stem ends | 1507 |
| Whole, fair quality → peeled, trimmed and sliced | 81% | 75–85% | Peelings, trimmings, slicing loss | 1508 |
| Trimmed → fried or sautéed | 65% | 47–80% | Water lost in cooking | 1510 |
Yields multiply: 97% × 65% ≈ 63% for whole → sautéed. You never add the losses together.
Mushrooms lose almost nothing to the knife and a third of their weight in the pan. Cost a mushroom garnish on the cooked weight.
Prep notes
Wipe or brush rather than soaking, and trim only the dry end of the stalk. Cook in a hot, uncrowded pan and season at the end: crowded mushrooms steam and lose more water, which is where the cooked yield of 65% (and as low as 47%) comes from.
What the yield does to the cost
Button mushrooms, 2.5 kg at £6.29 (JJ Foodservice, 10 Oct 2026) is £2.52 a kilo as purchased. At 63% usable that is £3.99 per usable kilo.
Worked example: a 60 g serving of sautéed mushrooms with a full English needs 95 g as purchased, costing 24p. Costed on the bought weight it would read 15p, so the costing would be 37% light: 9p a portion, or £8.87 over 100 portions.
| Usable mushrooms needed | Buy (as purchased) at 97% |
|---|---|
| 1 kg | 1.03 kg |
| 5 kg | 5.15 kg |
| 10 kg | 10.31 kg |
Use 97% in the yield calculator →
Typical uses
Breakfast mushrooms, steak garnish, pie and stroganoff fillings, soups, sauces and risotto.
Storage and the trim
Keep in the punnet or a paper bag in the fridge, not sealed plastic; about five days. Slimy or wet mushrooms are finished. Stalk ends and peelings make a quick mushroom stock for risotto and sauces.
Yield source: USDA Agriculture Handbook No. 102, Food Yields Summarized by Different Stages of Preparation (Matthews and Garrison, USDA Agricultural Research Service, 1975), Table 1, items 1507, 1508, 1510 (US samples of whole raw mushrooms). Prices as stated, read on 10 Oct 2026. Your own case is the real number: weigh it in the yield calculator.
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