Accurate yield testing: the case for portion control

By Doug Bush, Bush Brothers Provision Company

In today’s economy, with soaring fuel and grain costs driving prices higher, many chefs try to find bargain products.  But before you go sacrificing your quality or changing your specifications, is there another way to better use your food-cost dollars and still offer the right product at the right price? 

Custom meat cutting operations, like Bush Brothers, offer portion control services that will allow you to purchase your signature, center of the plate meat items without having to clean, trim, portion, and throw away all the waste.  The price points on these items may seem high, but in this article I intend to show you that more often than not, buying portion controlled items will actually save you money.

Does your establishment keep accurate yield tests for their cut items?  If not, you could be losing money every time you peel that tenderloin or cut that ribeye.  These tests are simple to perform and great to reference back to when generating menu costs or checking your invoices from your supplier. 

On the next page is an example of the yield test on a Choice PSMO Tenderloin.  To best explain it, we will walk through, step-by-step, the process of butchering the tender, explain what the numbers mean, and how you arrive at your true cost.  First, in image 1 to the left, take your starting, in the bag weight (7.20#) and cost from supplier ($10.40).  Multiply those to reach your total cost ($74.88).  

Take the tender out of the bag.   Weigh again to check the purge weight.  This will go into the waste category.  Now, clean the tenderloin, pulling the chain off as in image 2, putting it in the trim pile.  Then peel the silver off as in image 3, the silver will go in the waste category. Cut your center cut fillets as far down the tail and up the butt tender as your desired size will allow.   The final portions should be separated, as in image 4, and then weighed individually, tender tail (.68#), the butt tender (1.94#), and the center cut fillets (2.06#).  

What return you generate with the by-product will also affect your test.  You must generate revenue with the tail and butt tender to consider those credits as well.  3 to 4oz mini fillets are a good option, as well as a tenderloin roast.  If you follow the test on the right, you will see that each of these weights has been entered as credits.  Since the goal here is the center of the plate item, the others are given their market value, and credited to the total cost.

A final factor involved is labor.  Many times, this is overlooked, but if you, or one of your skilled staff, are spending hours cleaning and portioning steaks, that is a price factor as well. 

As you can see, the actual cost per pound of these center-cut fillets is much higher than the seemingly tame $10.40 that started out, and at $28.89 you are paying more for the steaks by doing it yourself.  Buying portion controlled items should save you time and money. 

To download a blank yield test form, point your web browsers to http://www.bush-brothers.com/documents/YieldTest.pdf.

 

Image 1:

 

The whole tenderloin, in the bag, initially weighed in at 7.20 pounds.

Image 2:

Removed from bag, chain pulled off.

 

Image 3:

Taking off the Butt Tender, getting ready to portion the center-cut fillets.

 

Image 4:

The remaining product after portioning, from left to right: Tenderloin Tail, Trim, 4 pieces of 8oz. Center Cut Fillet, and the Butt Tender.