JERKYSCIENCE / BATCH NOTEBOOK
Weigh the batch. Know the cost.
Plan a batch from your own yield estimate, or record what a finished batch actually produced.
This calculator does not determine whether jerky is safe. Use tested processes and current USDA, extension, and manufacturer directions. This is yield and cost bookkeeping only.
Starting numbers are editable arithmetic examples, not process recommendations. All money is in US dollars.
Numbers: use digits with an optional decimal point or comma, such as 1.5 or 1,5. No spaces, signs, currency symbols or grouping. Exactly three decimal digits are rejected as ambiguous (1,500 and 1.500); use 1500, 1.5 or 1.5000 as intended.
How the worksheet adds up
Planning: raw weight × (1 − trim % ÷ 100) = usable meat. Usable meat × your expected yield % ÷ 100 = estimated finished weight. Actual mode uses your measured finished weight. Overall yield divides finished weight by raw weight; post-trim yield divides by trimmed usable meat.
Batch cost adds meat and all entered money totals. Unit costs divide that total by unrounded finished weight. Whole bags use the floor of finished weight ÷ bag weight; leftover is finished weight minus the weight in those bags. Desired bags × bag weight gives the finished quantity needed.
Exact mass conversions: 1 lb = 0.45359237 kg; 1 oz = 0.028349523125 kg; 1 kg = 1000 g; 1 lb = 16 oz. Calculations keep unrounded values; displayed dollars round half up to cents. Trimmed weight is calculated when raw input is supplied, and supplied directly otherwise.
Sources & scope
NIST Special Publication 811 supports mass conversions. USDA FSIS: Jerky and Food Safety and National Center for Home Food Preservation: Jerky are references for the safety boundary only, not yield or cost formulas. No outcome here validates a process or product.