Tips: Monitor and Modify Batch Cooking Practices
LeanPath coaches speak with clients on a regular basis. Often we learn new information that can help others reduce waste and we like to share those Hints and Tips with you. Our clients often struggle batch cooking levels and finding the right “multi-batch” approach and are surprised by their numbers when reviewing their overproduction data. This overproduction data is a great avenue to review batch cooking in their operation and make incremental changes to lower their overproduction waste.
Monitor Batch Cooking Levels:
- Keep an eye on quanities of items often batch cooked and produce to historical par levels by staff. Look at your recent sales traffic and batch production levels compared to your overproduction records. If you find your team consistently overproducing excessive amounts of product these items they are good candidates for smaller initial batches and more on-demand cooking as the meal period winds down.
- People concentrate on the the “center of the plate items” but the largest contributors to overproduction are the accompanying starches and produce that often don’t get the same attention during production. Need more? As you near the end of service fire off 1/2 and 1/3 pans of these items instead of full pan. They’ll cook quicker and help you minimize waste.
- Keep an eye on breakfast items these items are one of the biggest “sneaky waste” areas our clients see. The staff focus is often on lunch preparations in the morning and staff overproduce batches of eggs, potatoes and breakfast meats. Review your overproduction data from breakfast and start with smaller batches and fire more as needed or move to on-demand cooking for the last 30 minutes of service. Have breakfast leftovers? If the items are still a good quality item and adhere to all safe food handling practices work these items into your daily menu: eggs for fried rice, bacon crumbles for the salad bar and sausage crumbles for pizza.
