1. Unit 5: Culinary Math and Recipes
The heart of many chefs in the kitchen
American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.

2. American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.

3. American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.
What Is Culinary Math?
The same as any other math
Used in the culinary world to make databases and spreadsheets, calculate yield percentages, and figure menu prices, labor costs, business costs, and profit and loss statements
Involves fractions, ratios, and decimals
American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.

4. American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.
Whole Numbers
Have a place value that allows us to indicate a large number
Placed in specific sequence
Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, etc.
Used for subtraction, addition, multiplication, and division
American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.

5. American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.
Fractions
Break something (whole numbers) into pieces
Each piece is a part or a fraction of the whole
The number on top (numerator) is the fraction
The number on the bottom represents the whole (denominator)
Used to measure ingredients
Crucial in scaling recipes
American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.

6. American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.
Calculations
Common denominator
Reducing fractions
Common fraction
Improper fraction
Mixed numbers
American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.

7. Addition/Subtraction
Common denominator
Example: ½ + ⅓ = ?
Multiply the values of numerator and denominator on one side of the equation by the denominator of the other: 1 × 2 = 2, 3 × 2 = 6
Repeat the process using the original denominator
1 × 3 = 3
2 × 3 = 6
Rewrite the equation, add the fractions, come up with the answer
2/6 + 3/6 = 5/6
American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.

8. American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.
Multiplication
Multiplying is a form of adding
1 × 1 = 1
2 × 3 = 6
Common denominator is not needed for this operation
Multiplying whole numbers must be converted into improper fractions
After practice, this is very easy, as you will do it for every recipe
American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.

9. American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.
Dividing
Dividing is a form of subtraction
Mixed numbers converted to improper fractions
Reverse the numerator and denominator
Or, invert the fraction
Example ½ ÷ ¾ must be rewritten as ½ × 4/3 = 4/6
American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.

10. American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.
Reducing Fractions
The last frame showed an answer of 4/6
Reducing that fraction would be accomplished by dividing by the largest whole number that divides evenly
In this case it is 2 (4/6 ÷ 2 = ⅔)
American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.

11. American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.
Ratios
A fraction is a ratio
Ratios are used to make work simpler
Many are standard throughout the industry
Vinaigrette: 3 parts oil, 1 part vinegar is the most common ratio for this dressing
A fraction of ½ would be expressed as 1 part to 2 parts: 1-1 would be 50/50 or equal amounts
2/3 would be 2 parts to 3 parts
Basic rice pilaf calls for 1 part rice, 2 parts hot stock, or ½ ratio
Also, 4 parts to 6 parts can be reduced to 2 parts to 3 parts
1 part carrots, 1 part celery, 2 parts onion would be written as 1:1:2
American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.

12. American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.
Decimals and Percents
Numbers to the left of a decimal point are whole numbers
Numbers to the right of the decimal point are parts of a whole number
Numbers to the right are also called decimals and/or fractions
To perform calculations, you must perform the operations of :
Decimals to fractions
Fractions to decimals
American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.

13. American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.
Converting
To change a fraction to a decimal: 1/8 is 1 ÷ 8 = 0.125
To change a decimal to a fraction:
.125 × 1000 = 125
125/1000
(125 ÷ 125)/(1000 ÷ 125) = 1/8
American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.

14. American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.
Percentages
A percent (%) is part of 100
100 percent means all of something
A percent less than 100 means how many out of that whole
35 percent is 35 parts of 100 parts
American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.

15. American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.
To Calculate a Percent
Begin with a decimal
Move the point two places to the right
Add the word or symbol for percent (%)
To use this to calculate, turn it back to a decimal; divide the % by 100 or move the decimal point two places to the left
Drop the word and/or symbol
American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.

16. Calculating Food Cost Applying Math in the Kitchen
Recipes is most obvious use
You will either increase or decrease recipes
Involves multiplication or division
May involve fractions, decimals, ratios
Goal is to generate a profit
American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.

17. American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.
Factors to Account for
Salaries, rent, utilities, advertising, insurance
Controlling these costs is crucial
Cost of specific recipes includes every element needed to serve the dish
Must have knowledge to convert from one measurement to another
American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.

18. American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.
Yield Percent
This is commonly a pitfall that is unaccounted for
It is “how much of an ingredient is available to use” after trimming, cooking, carving
The lower the yield percent, the more the food actually costs to serve your guests
“Relatively inexpensive” can be deceiving after preparation
American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.

19. American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.
Food Cost Percentage
Most kitchens have established food cost percentages
Total food cost is all the food and drink purchased to produce all the menu items
Calculated to a predetermined schedule
Useful as a monitoring tool for the kitchen
Improves bottom line and efficiency
American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.

20. Food Cost Calculation Formula
Probably one of the most important formulas in the industry
Divide the total cost of food by the total sales
$50,000 ÷ $200,000 = 25% food cost
American Culinary Federation: Culinary Fundamentals.