Calculator
Ghee Calculator: Milk to Ghee
Find out how much ghee you will get from your milk, or how much milk you need for 1 kg of ghee. Works for cow and buffalo milk, with the cream (malai) or desi bilona method.
Calculate
Example: 1 kg of ghee from buffalo milk at 7% fat. Change any value.
1 kg of ghee needs about 24–31 litres of cow milk or 14–18 litres of buffalo milk with the cream method. The desi bilona method needs about 10% more milk.
How the calculator works
Ghee is almost pure milk fat, so the amount you get depends on how much fat is in the milk and how much of it your method recovers.
Ghee (kg) = milk (litres) × 1.03 × fat % × fat recovered ÷ 0.995
- 1 litre of milk weighs about 1.03 kg.
- Ghee is at least 99.5% milk fat.
- Dairy technology courses give fat recovery of 88–95% for the direct cream (malai) method, 88–92% for the creamery butter method and 78–85% for the desi (indigenous) method. We use 88%, 92% and 80%.
- Check: cow milk at 4.3% fat × 88% gives a yield of 3.8% of milk, close to the 3.82% measured in an Anand Agricultural University study.
- Know your own yield? Choose "My own recovery %" and change it until the result matches what you get.
Milk needed for 1 kg of ghee
| Milk | Cream / malai (litres) | Desi bilona (litres) |
|---|---|---|
| Cow milk, 3.5% fat | 31.4 | 34.5 |
| Cow milk, 4.0% fat | 27.4 | 30.2 |
| Cow milk, 4.5% fat | 24.4 | 26.8 |
| Buffalo milk, 6.0% fat | 18.3 | 20.1 |
| Buffalo milk, 7.0% fat | 15.7 | 17.3 |
| Buffalo milk, 8.0% fat | 13.7 | 15.1 |
Calculated with the formula above. Real yields change with season, feed, breed and how carefully the cream or butter is collected.
Tips for a better ghee yield
- Collect cream (malai) for several days in the fridge, then make ghee in one batch. Small batches lose more fat to the pan.
- Churn cold cream or curd so the butter separates cleanly.
- Heat slowly and stop when the liquid turns clear and the solids at the bottom are light brown. Burning reduces yield and spoils flavour.
- Strain through a fine cloth while warm, and press the residue gently.
Questions people ask
How much milk is required for 1 kg of ghee?
About 24–31 litres of cow milk, or 14–18 litres of buffalo milk, using the cream (malai) method. The traditional bilona method needs more milk, roughly 27–35 litres of cow milk.
How much buffalo milk is required for 1 kg of ghee?
About 16 litres of buffalo milk at 7% fat with the cream method, and about 17 litres with the bilona method. Richer milk (8% fat) needs about 14 litres.
How much cow milk is required for 1 kg of ghee?
About 27 litres of cow milk at 4% fat with the cream method, and about 30 litres with the bilona method.
How much ghee do you get from 1 litre of milk?
About 36 g from 1 litre of cow milk (4% fat) and about 63 g from 1 litre of buffalo milk (7% fat), using the cream method. A dairy study measured average ghee yields of 3.82% for cow milk and 5.49% for buffalo milk.
How much ghee do you get from 1 kg of butter?
About 780–820 g. Butter is roughly 80% fat; heating removes the water and milk solids.
Why does buffalo milk give more ghee?
Ghee is almost pure milk fat. Buffalo milk usually has 6–8% fat, compared with about 3.5–4.5% in cow milk, so each litre carries more fat.
Sources
- NIFTEM (PMFME), Ghee processing: fat recovery by method
- e-PG Pathshala, Technology of ghee making: fat recovery table
- AAU Anand thesis: ghee yield from camel, cow and buffalo milk (3.52%, 3.82%, 5.49%)
- PMC study: ghee yields by cow breed with traditional preparation
- Butter to ghee ratio (780–820 g ghee per kg butter)
- Ghee yield worked example from buffalo milk
Last reviewed 2026-10-10.