Ground beef with a cooking yield of 45%: how many pounds must be purchased to yield 10 pounds edible portion?

Ground beef with a cooking yield of 45%: how many pounds must be purchased to yield 10 pounds edible portion?

• A. 22 lbs
• B. 23 lbs
• C. 9 lbs
• D. 45 lbs

Answer: (B)

The key idea is understanding cooking yield: the edible portion is a percentage of the raw weight after cooking. With a 45% yield, each pound of raw ground beef yields 0.45 pounds of edible product. To get 10 pounds of edible meat, you need raw weight W where 0.45 × W = 10. Solving gives W = 10 / 0.45 ≈ 22.22 pounds. Since you typically purchase whole pounds, you round up to 23 pounds to ensure you reach at least 10 pounds edible. A purchase of 22 pounds would yield about 9.9 pounds edible, and the other options would result in more or far less than the needed amount.

The key idea is understanding cooking yield: the edible portion is a percentage of the raw weight after cooking. With a 45% yield, each pound of raw ground beef yields 0.45 pounds of edible product. To get 10 pounds of edible meat, you need raw weight W where 0.45 × W = 10. Solving gives W = 10 / 0.45 ≈ 22.22 pounds. Since you typically purchase whole pounds, you round up to 23 pounds to ensure you reach at least 10 pounds edible. A purchase of 22 pounds would yield about 9.9 pounds edible, and the other options would result in more or far less than the needed amount.