I am used to getting an average of 1 pound of cheese per gallon of milk when using my cow's fresh, raw milk. Yesterday, I used 5 1/2 gallons of milk to make a Gouda. There was no way I could fit all of the curd into my 6 inch wide, 8 inch tall mold. Normally, I can push them down with my hand and get all of them to fit. There was about a pound of curd left that just would NOT fit in the mold, though.
When I took the wheel out of the mold, I weighed it. 6.02 pounds. And the curds had been contracted and fairly firm when I molded this cheese up, too. I've had "fluffy" curds in the past, but that wasn't the case with this cheese yesterday.
The only difference is that I am feeding my cow no commercial grain blend anymore. She is fed cooked corn, soaked beet pulp, and fodder - grain that is sprouted by soaking in water, then rinsing twice a day until there is a dense root mat and about 4 inches of growth on the top - plus she gets free choice hay. She also just freshened about a week ago.
I'm very impressed with this yield.