Head rice is usually expressed as a percentage of paddy rice. For example, if after your paddy rice is milled you determine that 45% of it is head rice, you would say that your head rice recovery is 45%.

Head rice recovery can vary from as low as 25% to as high as 65%. To a large extent, the characteristics of the original paddy determine the potential head rice yield although the milling process is responsible for some losses and damage to the grain.

To view the procedure and accompanying worksheet for measuring the percentage of head rice from a sample of milled rice, click here.