Portion Control: How to Cut Your Food Cost & Improve Consistency in Your Kitchen

When it comes to the health of your profit-and-loss statement, no number is as important as food cost. Chefs and kitchen managers know that it doesn't take much for food costs to slide a point up or down. With so many responsibilities required to run a kitchen, proper food portioning should be near the top of the list.

All operations portion food in some way, but many should and could do more to improve the process. Successful food costing relies on the portion of product figured into the expense of a dish. If pan-seared salmon with Asian vegetables and miso glaze is 25 percent of the menu price, and the fish weight is 6 ounces, the cost increases significantly if the portion served is actually 7 ounces. The protein is the most important portion and also the most vulnerable to running up costs because it is the most expensive item. But, fortunately, it is the easiest to monitor. Keep in mind, however, if supporting ingredients are pricey, such as the Asian vegetables (red or yellow peppers, baby bok choy, or even some matsutake mushrooms), then there's an investment in the vegetables, also. Particularly with this example, it makes sense to weigh and bag the vegetables with the same vigor used for the salmon.

To see the benefits, do the math. Let's say the restaurant sells 200 salmon dinners every four weeks. Assume the cost of the vegetables in the dish is $1.35 for 4 ounces, or 34 cents an ounce. Overportioning the vegetables by just 1 ounce costs your operation $68 per week, or $3,468 for a 51-week year. That's just one dish.