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Chef Training: Managing the Recipes and the Yield

McDonald's, for the most part, is the model of consistency. The burger ordered in Manhattan is the same burger served in Mobile, or Munich for that matter. You always know what to expect; however, for all but the most formulaic QSRs (quick-service restaurants), maintaining and managing a consistent restaurant isn't easy. Many aspects go into providing guests with a quality experience, and one that meets the standards set by the company day after day.

All successful restaurants, no matter the concept or price point, share one common thread: consistency. It doesn't matter necessarily whether the restaurant is consistently great or average, cutting edge or cutting corners. Consistency lets customers know what to expect.

The cornerstone of consistent foodservice starts with well-tested, well-executed recipes and reliable product yields. Without solid recipes and yields, costly mistakes will happen so fast that by the time management is aware of problems, the damage is done. Guests have dined on dishes that change with the work schedule, and food costs have eaten away at monthly profit-and-loss statements. Revenue is taken out nightly with the garbage, and customer counts have begun counting on one of your competitors for a meal without surprises.

Not everything in the kitchen can have a recipe. Nightly specials created from seasonal fare or walk-in cooler overages don't have time to relay recipes; but every menu has benchmark items, especially when owners have more than one of the same concept or the restaurant is a part of a chain. Often menus in high-concept restaurants change food offerings less frequently than say a chef-driven fine dining spot, making properly costed-out and tested recipes paramount.

For high-volume restaurants, plenty of recipe software is available to assist with costing-out recipes and even pulling product from inventory. These computer tools are effective for restaurants with menus that only change once or twice a year. The information that these programs need to run effectively can be daunting, and if not properly executed, the classic "garbage in, garbage out" syndrome is the consequence.

For the bulk of operators, an updated inventory price sheet, a 10-key calculator, and a good standard operating form are all that's needed. Once a recipe is written, tested and expanded into bulk format, it's time to put the numbers and amounts into a format that the cooks can use. Recipe books should always be up-to-date and made available to all cooks who work the stations where the recipe is used.

A successful recipe combines tested and costed amounts of product along with easy-to-understand directions for preparation. Dressings, vinaigrettes, sauces, soups, condiments, or even complex items like "braised veal shanks with Chianti and pomegranate" should have written recipes.

Ensuring that the chef's vision is properly executed for each service is just as important as getting a Classic Double with Cheese at Wendy's the same from restaurant to restaurant. Working with working recipes means understanding yields as well. Does the recipe yield a quart or five gallons? More importantly, what do you need the recipe to yield? A key component in managing food cost is managing recipes and their yields. A recipe that produces too much can easily end up being wasted. Conversely, a recipe made often when it could be made once a week is wasting labor. Understanding what the kitchen needs and seeing that the correct amount is being completed keeps food fresh and costs in line.

After a successful recipe is written, "batching" it out for service is the next step. Experience will help determine how much, let's say, balsamic-sherry vinaigrette you need to prepare. Write the yield so the recipe makes enough dressing for a few shifts. Some recipes, like dressings, can be doubled without consequence to the taste; others may need to be made more or less often depending on the shelf life of the recipe.

Be flexible with the recipe's yields. Prepare to make changes to them as business warrants. Ensuring that the cooks make only what is needed for a reasonable amount of time makes the most of the quality and consistency the restaurant's guests come to rely on.

Yields have another very important function in food costing, and ultimately, in successful recipes as well. It's of paramount importance to yield beef or fish that gets butchered in-house, a box of broccoli, or even a pound of butter. Each item has a price per pound, yet that price changes after the product is preparation-ready. To create accurate recipe and plate costs, the correct raw product costs have to be generated. If the restaurant pays $7 per pound for a boneless strip loin "1 x 1," and the average weight is say, 10 pounds, the cost per ounce is 44 cents. But that's before the cutter gets to work. Figuring out the yield is important for a real net cost. If 40 percent of that strip loin ends up in the trash, then the real net cost is 70 cents per ounce. Even the cost of butter changes if you clarify it first.

Spend the time to examine how much usable product is headed to the cook's station, what it costs, and how those numbers affect a recipe's net cost. The more accurate the information at the beginning, the more confidence you'll have in each plate's true cost. Then you can look for problems somewhere else.