Example: Food Cost Calculation
This example will show how to use the "Use as Ingredient" feature on recipes. This is useful when you want to combine multiple recipes to create a food menu item.
In our example we will create a simple menu item of a Burger with Home-made Fries.
Creating the recipes of individual sides (sub-recipes):
We first have to create all the recipes that will comprise the final recipe. In our case, we make the hamburger patty and french fries on individual recipes. Then we add them to the final recipe. (Please refer to the bakery recipe for more details on how to create individual recipes.)
Hamburger Patty
The ingredients for the hamburger patties are simple. We just need worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, eggs, salt, and ground beef (Regular). Once the recipe is created and calculated, we can now specify the resulting quantity (8 servings) and switch on the "Use Recipe as Ingredient" switch, which will enable this hamburger patty recipe to be used on another recipe.
French Fries
Now we create the recipe for the homemade french fries in the same way as the burger patty, making sure to specify the resulting amount and switch on the "Use Recipe as Ingredient" switch in the Details section.
Main Menu Item - Hamburger and Fries
Once we have all the sub-recipes created, we can start the food cost calculation of the menu item.
Create a new recipe entitled "Hamburger and Fries". Open the recipe to add all the sub-recipes. We add "Burger Patty - Regular" and a bun. Also, one serving of "French Fries".
The food cost calculator will have divided the cost of these recipes into servings, and will display them on this recipe. In our case we will just add the recipes and a hamburger bun on the recipe. Of course, you can add more ingredients, such as pickles, ketchup, etc, to the recipe to be more exact.
| Ingredient | Quantity | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Hamburger Bun |
|
$0.25
|
| French Fries (Homemade) |
|
$0.61
|
| Burger Patty - Regular |
|
$0.87
|
Updating the cost of any ingredient on the sub-recipes will update the cost of these recipes, and also the final menu item automatically.