Which Costs More: Premade or From-Scratch? ... Ask most any independent restaurant owner what their signature dish is and theyll proudly tell you the story of how they turned a secret family recipe into one of their bestsellers. In truth, many restaurants make a big deal about everything being prepared from-scratch in hope the guest will be helplessly tempted into trying fare they cannot get anywhere else. For signature menu items, making them in-house is essentially a prerequisite for the right to be labeled signature. But in todays world of multiethnic, green inspired, flavor infusion-based eateries, does it really matter if you serve bread made by someone else? Or does it matter that your ranch dressing comes in 1-gallon jars from your local wholesaler? The reality is not all in-house recipes are better than some of the premade products available. Consider that to be worthy of bottling or mass production of a particular food product, its virtually a requirement the product be somewhat tastier - not to mention more consistent - than what the average kitchen or cook can produce. So how does one go about deciding whether or not to make something in-house or buy it premade? The answer to this question is found by the determination of three factors; quality, consistency and cost. The quality or taste of a recipe when comparing to a store-bought substitute is certainly a huge factor. If your customers rave about your split pea soup then changing to a boiling bag replacement might not be such a great idea. However, if youll set your ego aside and objectively assess whether or not a comparable substitute can be found for some of the items you currently produce, you may find that your hand cut French fries really arent as good as some of the frozen alternatives. Consistency must be a primary concern. No matter how good your chefs made-from-scratch salsa is, if its not the same every time your customers return for it then it diminishes the guest experience - not to mentions customer loyalty. Consistency should be a prerequisite for everything you do both food and beverage or service related. Perhaps the greatest myth to dispel is the automatic assumption that premade products cost more than house made. Whereas this is certainly true for some foods, the reality is most operators dont properly account for the real cost to produce something in-house. In addition to comparing the product cost of purchasing the ingredients for your recipe vs. the cost of the substitute, you must also consider waste AND the additional labor cost. With minimum wage thresholds across the nation on the rise, so are the costs to produce your in-house recipes. Typically you should consider the labor for receiving, storage, prep and cleanup involved when making a recipe in-house. If your Thousand Island dressing recipe calls for 8-10 ingredients, then you must order, keep on the shelves and store partially used containers of ingredients. Think of the labor it takes to prepare each step such as chopping onions (these can be purchased pre-chopped from your produce company), cleaning the equipment and utensils, and the fact that while Juanita can make a batch in about 30 minutes it takes John more than an hour. While quality and consistency are easily determined by taste testing or past experiences, accurately accounting for labor cost in prepping a recipe requires more in-depth analysis. In doing so you may just find that replacing grandmas secret bread recipe with something from your local bakery might not just cost less but taste pretty darn good, too.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 14:02:18 +0000
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