Guide for small dairies and farmstead cheesemakers
How much milk makes a kilo of cheese?
Milk is usually the biggest cost in a cheese, so the number of litres you need for one kilo decides most of your price. This guide gives typical figures by type of cheese and milk, shows how to measure your own, and what a small change in yield does to your cost.
Typical yields, as a starting point
These are rough ranges for cow milk. Your own milk, recipe and moisture will move them, so treat them as a first estimate until you have measured a few batches.
| Type of cheese | L/kg, approx. |
|---|---|
| Fresh and lactic cheese (fromage frais, fresh chèvre style) | 4 to 6 |
| Brined cheese (feta style) | 5 to 7 |
| Soft ripened (camembert and brie style) | 6 to 8 |
| Semi-hard (tomme and gouda style) | 8 to 10 |
| Hard, long aged (alpine and grana style) | 10 to 16 |
- Goat milk gives similar or slightly lower yields than cow milk for the same style.
- Sheep milk is much richer in fat and protein, so you often need only about half the litres for the same cheese.
- The season matters. Late lactation milk is usually richer than spring milk, so the same recipe gives more cheese in autumn.
Measure your own yield
- Write down the litres of milk that went into the vat.
- Weigh all the cheese from that batch at the moment you sell it, not at demoulding.
- Divide: litres ÷ kilos sold = litres per kilo.
Weighing at the moment of sale already includes the weight lost during ripening. If you weigh at demoulding, also note the weight when you sell and keep the two numbers apart: the first tells you how the make went, the second what you actually have to sell.
What one litre more per kilo costs you
Take a tomme at 10 litres per kilo and milk at €0.60 per litre: the milk in each kilo costs €6.00. If a batch only reaches 11 litres per kilo, the milk in each kilo costs €6.60. That is €0.60 more on every kilo, before your hours, packaging or energy, and it often goes unnoticed until the end of the season.
Track it per batch. A few batches written down are enough to see your real average and how far it moves with the season. Use that average, not the best batch, when you set your price.
Put your yield to work
CurdLedger asks for the milk that went in and the cheese you sold, so your own yield and ripening loss are built into the cost of every kilo. Change the milk price once and every product updates. Free, no sign-up.
Written by Emanuil Yankov, who builds CurdLedger. The yields above are typical ranges, not standards; your own measured yield is always the better number.