Recipe Conversion
In order to minimize food waste (thereby reducing food costs) restaurants use statistics to estimate the amount of each menu item they will sell on a given day. It is important that cooks are able to adjust standardized recipes based on this knowledge. To do this, requires a simple mathematical formula known as the conversion factor.
Changing the Number of Portions Required (But leaving the portion size the same) Divide the new portions by the recipe's original (old) portions and you will be given a number that can be multiplied by each ingredient to give you a recipe adjusted to the specific size required. The formula looks like this; new yield old yield =conversion factor To the right is an example of one recipe that has been converted to new ingredient amounts using this formula. New Recipe #1 New Recipe #2 30 3 12 =2.5 12 =.25 Each ingredient is then multiplied by the conversion factor. This give the new quantity of each ingredient needed in the recipe. |
Changing the Number of Portions AND the Portion Size
Let's use the same recipe as above, but change the requirements slightly. The original recipe called for 4 oz portions. New Recipe #1 will now require 3 oz portion sizes and New Recipe #2 now has a portion size of 6 oz.
In order to change the number of portions AND portion size you must create a conversion factor using the following formula
new portions x new portion size
original portions x original portion size =conversion factor
New Recipe #1 New Recipe #2
30x3oz=90oz 3x6oz=18oz
12x4oz=48oz 12x4oz=48oz
90oz 18oz
48oz 48oz
=1.875 =.375