1. As Purchased vs. Edible Portion

2. AP – As Purchased: The total weight or amount of a product before trimming

3. EP – Edible Portion:
The weight or amount of product after trimming

4. Percentage Yields Chart
There is an amount of product that is lost during trimming – this is the difference between AP & EP

5. Every food item has a percentage yield
To determine AP(how much to purchase)
divide EP by yield %
To determine EP (How much to serve): multiply AP by % yield
EP ÷ AP= Yield Percentage
(Check the percentage yield chart)

6. I have 5 people coming for dinner and need to serve 3 oz of green beans per person. We need 15 oz (3oz x 5 servings) of edible portions so how do we solve for “as purchased”
Green bean yield is 88%
88% means 88 per 100 or
The questions we ask now is “what number is 15oz 88% of?”

7. Set the Problem up like this:
Now Cross multiply

8. How many will this serve
You just bought 10 pounds of potatoes and you will be serving 3 oz of potatoes, how many servings will we get?
So how do you set up the problem to determine EP?
Potatoes have a EP of 80%
80% means 80 per 100
The question we ask now is how many pounds are EP in 10 pounds.
How many will this serve ”

9. So we set the problem up this way:
Now we cross multiply

10. Now how many serving? 8 lbs = how many ozs? 8 x 16 = 128 oz
We will be serving 3 oz portions
128 oz ÷ 3 oz = 42.67
Now how many serving?

11. In 10 pounds of potatoes we get 8lbs of EP and that will give us 42 3 oz servings.
Conclusion

12. Yield Percentage Formula
EP ÷ AP= Yield Percentage
Common Yield percentages are available in various reference tables.
If not available, do the RAW Yield Test: Weigh AP amount and then trim food and weigh it again. Use the formula above.
Cooking-loss yield test is used when the edible portion is based on something that is cooked. Do same as above, but cook it and weigh it.
Yield Percentage Formula

13. Raw yield vs cooking-loss yield
Raw Yield —Yield percentage of a food item before the item is used or cooked in a recipe.
Raw yield vs cooking-loss yield

14. Cooking-loss Yield —Yield percentage for a food item that loses weight during cooking.

15. When calculating amounts of food to order, always round up
Ex. If determined that 3.4 lbs needed to be ordered, the amount would be rounded up to 4 lbs so that the banquet wouldn’t come up short.
When determining number of servings from amount of available food, always round down.
Ex. If yield percentage says that 10.2 portions could be made it would be rounded down to 10 servings because 11 full servings can’t be made.
Two rules about ordering food and calculating number of servings for an amount of food:

16. We need to have 3 pounds of iceberg lettuce to serve at a dinner party (Edible Portion). How much untrimmed lettuce do we need to purchase? Formula:
How Much to Purchase

17. We have 4 lbs of strawberries without the stem
We have 4 lbs of strawberries without the stem. What is the Edible Portion amount? Formula:
How Much Can Be Served?