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The mysterious Yield Percentage column of Recipe Costing

post #1 of 9
9/1/02 at 10:29pm
Thread Starter 
I have been trying to decipher the yield percentage column of my recipe costing sheet and am having absolutely no luck. Is there a way to logically figure this out or should I just invest in the Book of Yields?? Say if I peel and eggplant......what would the yield percentage be? 80% ? 75%? :confused:

These are the times that I wished I had paid more attention to my Math teacher in High School. :rolleyes: I guess I paid more attention to the algebra, chemistry and physics equations than I did the basics I guess. :(


Edit: Errr....not asking you to do the actual calculating for me....just point me in the right direction. Whether it is a book I should get or some part of Math I have to review and get used to again. Thanks. :)
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post #2 of 9
9/2/02 at 6:20am
Your combined yield would be the finished weight divided by the starting weight of EVERYTHING. But you're trying to estimate, so, take the estimated yield of each individual like 80 percent of eggplant plus 60 percent of pork and then divide it by the initial weight of both ingredients. Say you're making pork and eggplant goulash and you have a pound of pork and a pound of eggplant, 60% out of a pound of pork is

0.6 x 16oz = 9.6oz

and 80% yield from your peeled eggplant is

0.8 x 16oz = 12.8oz

12.8oz + 9.6oz = 22.4oz

22.4 / 32 = 0.7 or 70%.

If your portion is 8oz per person then this will feed about 2.5 people. Since you know now that a pound of pork and a pound of eggplant will feed 2.5 people and you want to make it feed 4, you divide the original amounts by 2.5 and then multiply by 4. To convert the recipe to feed 4...

16oz pork divide by 2.5 = 6.4oz

multiply by 4 = 25.6oz or about 1lb 10oz

Same thing with the eggplant, you will need 1lb 10oz.

if you're making a batch with 50lb pork and 50lb eggplant (you'll get 70lb yield.

If you're given a bulk recipe the yields should be given, although this can vary (a lot) if you have different people making the recipe. But you're trying to estimate, and this makes things more difficult. The ONLY way to get a reasonably true yield figure is to average the yields over a period of time, like have someone make the recipe once a week for six months.

Kuan
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post #3 of 9
9/2/02 at 10:07am
Thread Starter 

By George I think Ive got it

Drat......I am beginning to see that I really suck at outlining problems. I sould have said the yield of individual ingredients in the yield percentage column.

Wait a minute............if I start out with 1 pound of eggplant and after peeling I have 8 ounces.......16 ounces makes a pound right? So shouldn't 50% be the yield after peeling??

That's not an equation....its a fraction. 8/16 = 1/2 = 50% :D Sorry if I seem a little happy and silly but I haven't touched a math problem in a while and I think I stumbled into a brick wall in my mind. Just have to exercise the old bean. Been at a desk job where you weren't required to do much in the way of thinking before jumping into cooking.

Thanks Kuan.......needed that little push to see the answer that was right in front of me.

Thanks, thanks, thanks
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post #4 of 9
9/2/02 at 12:55pm
Thread Starter 
Well I guess Im not the only one.......my cousin is going back to college to be an RN....she called to ask me if I remembered how to do chemistry problems.
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post #5 of 9
9/23/02 at 10:06am

Re: By George I think Ive got it


Buy MasterCook. It has a function that allows you to tell it how many servings you want to have and it changes the recipe for you.
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post #6 of 9
9/28/02 at 6:49am
I've been searching for MasterCook and just found out that it has been discontinued by Sierra Software along with several other home software titles. The company is currently looking for buyers for this division and will likely succeed but who knows when. Does anyone know of any other software that can perform yield and multiply recipes?
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post #7 of 9
9/29/02 at 12:26pm
I have heard of MasterCook being found on amazon.com put out by ValuSoft. You might check there. I think that ValuSoft had bought the MasterCook. I hope this helps, if not go to the Cooking Light (cookinglight.com) Bullitin board and do a search for MasterCook. There is bound to be a link, or some information there.

I hope this helps.
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post #8 of 9
9/29/02 at 10:59pm
Thread Starter 
:) Well........I already have a program that already does this (ERM) but one day my son decided to feed my laptop a bottle of juice...... :( .....I need to know how to do it manually so I don't have to wait for my computer to be fixed and sent back to me.

Master cook can also be found on ebay. I think I saw it going for a few bucks.
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post #9 of 9
10/4/02 at 12:48pm
Well, friends, I wanted to add my two cents here. I just purchased MasterCook from ValuSoft online. You can click on the link I provided and it'll take you directly to the MasterCook item itself. I have seen a lot of talk about this MasterCook item since the time I registered and now I have wanted my own copy. I can't wait to get it!:bounce: :D
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