| Number to record | Formula | What it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Collected yield | Unsifted flour collected ÷ grain input × 100 | How much flour reached the receiving bowl before sifting |
| Recipe-usable yield | Flour kept for the recipe ÷ grain input × 100 | How much of the original grain became the flour you intend to use |
| Post-sift retention | Flour kept ÷ unsifted flour collected × 100 | How much of the collected flour remained after this sifting choice |
| Unaccounted mass | Grain input − unsifted flour collected | What did not reach the bowl; investigate handling or machine retention rather than calling it sifted bran |
A scale answers the useful question
Tare an empty receiving bowl, weigh the grain you put into the mill, and then weigh the flour you collect. Use the same unit for both measurements. If you keep all the collected flour, that mass is your collected yield; if you sift it, the flour you keep is the usable yield for that recipe.
For example, 480 grams of kept flour from 500 grams of grain is a measured yield of 96 percent. This is an arithmetic example, not a claimed typical yield for any mill.
Keep volume advice in its proper context
Manufacturer cup conversions are specific guidance, not universal density constants. Grain shape, texture and aeration affect how much fits in a cup. Scooping, settling or packing the flour changes the measurement again.
The Impact documentation itself notes that yield by volume varies with grain and setting. Use a weight-based recipe when practical, and never use an assumed expansion ratio to exceed a manufacturer’s canister limit.
Separate collection loss from a sifting choice
Use three tared weights for a sifted batch: grain loaded, unsifted flour collected and flour kept for the recipe. Suppose 1,000 grams of grain produce 970 grams in the receiving bowl. Collected yield is 97%. If 850 grams remain after sifting, recipe-usable yield is 85%, post-sift retention is 87.6%, and 120 grams were separated after collection. The remaining 30 grams are unaccounted collection or handling loss—not sifted material.
These values are illustrative arithmetic, not typical performance. U.S. Wheat Associates uses “flour extraction, or yield” in a commercial-milling context and notes that wheat attributes can change it. For a home record, name the numerator explicitly instead of labeling every percentage “extraction rate.”
Treat sifting as a recipe decision, not a quality score
A lower recipe-usable yield can be intentional when you choose to remove material for a particular bake. Record the sieve or process, but also weigh the flour kept; a mesh label by itself does not state the percentage removed. Save whether the separated material was discarded, used elsewhere or recombined so the same word “usable” does not change silently between batches.
Do not describe sifted home flour as identical to a particular commercial all-purpose flour without evidence. Grain class, milling system, particle distribution and the material retained all matter. In the milling notebook, enter the flour you are counting as usable and put the unsifted and separated weights in the notes.
Use the same yield definition in planning and cost
Required grain equals desired usable flour divided by yield as a decimal. At the illustrative 85% recipe-usable yield above, 600 grams of usable flour requires a planning estimate of about 706 grams of grain. Using the 97% collected yield instead would plan only about 619 grams and would not supply 600 grams after the same sifting choice.
The flour-cost calculator needs that same recipe-usable percentage. At an illustrative delivered grain cost of $2.40 per pound and $0.10 overhead, 85% yield produces about $2.92 per usable pound; 97% produces about $2.57. The difference demonstrates why unlike sifted and unsifted results should not be compared. Replace every example with your own weighed batch and current costs.
Run a repeatable two-batch check
For a useful comparison, keep the grain identity, input weight, weighing method and permitted mill setting the same. Change only the sifting step, then record unsifted collected weight, flour kept, separated material and the recipe result. A yield difference does not by itself prove that one flour performs better.
Create one notebook entry per batch and export a backup before clearing browser data or changing devices. Recheck yield when the grain, setting, collection assembly or sifting process changes; do not turn one household batch into a model specification.
Questions answered
How much flour do wheat berries make?
By weight, the theoretical maximum before losses is the grain input. Your collected and recipe-usable amounts can be lower because flour remains in the machine, is lost in handling or is removed by sifting. Weigh those stages instead of relying on a universal cup conversion.
How much flour does a cup of wheat berries make?
There is no single reliable volume conversion for every grain, grind and measuring method. Weigh a batch and record its collected and recipe-usable yield.
Should I use collected yield or sifted yield in the flour-cost calculator?
Use the percentage that matches the flour you are pricing. If the comparison is for flour kept after sifting, enter recipe-usable yield rather than the larger unsifted collected yield.
Does milling increase the weight of grain?
Milling does not create additional grain mass. The volume can change, while retained material, handling and sifting affect the amount you collect.