Managing Ingredients

Ingredients are the foundation of your recipe costs. Every item you use in recipes—from flour to chicken to olive oil—lives in your ingredient database.

---

Overview

Your ingredient database is where you:

• Add ingredients you use in recipes
• Track costs through vendor pricing
• Define conversions between units (cups to grams, etc.)
• Set preparation yields for waste tracking
• Tag allergens for food safety

Ingredients connect to everything else in PrepStation:

Ingredients → Recipes → Menus → Costs
     ↓
Vendor Items → Invoices → Inventory

---

Finding Your Ingredients

Navigate to Ingredients from the main menu to see your ingredient database.

Searching and Filtering

Filter	Use For
Search	Find by name or description
Category	Filter by food category (Produce, Dairy, Meat, etc.)
Allergen	Find ingredients containing a specific allergen
Usage	Filter by how often ingredients are used (High, Medium, Low, Unused)
Cost	Filter by price range

Sorting Options

Click column headers to sort by:

• Name (A-Z or Z-A)
• Cost per unit
• Category
• Date added

Filtering by Category

Advanced Filters

---

Adding Ingredients

Two Ways to Add

Method	Best For
Import from Library	Common ingredients with pre-built data
Create Manually	Custom or proprietary items

Import from Library (Recommended)

The Ingredient Library includes thousands of ingredients with nutrition data, unit conversions, yields, and allergens already set up.

1. Go to Ingredients → New Ingredient
2. Search for the ingredient
3. Look for results in the PrepStation Library section
4. Click to import

Create Manually

1. Go to Ingredients → New Ingredient
2. Enter a Name (required)
3. Add a Description (optional but helpful)
4. Select a Category (for organization)
5. Click Create Ingredient

---

Editing Ingredients

Click any ingredient to view and edit its details.

Basic Information

Field	Description
Name	What you call this ingredient
Description	Additional details or notes
Category	Food category for organization
Notes	Internal notes (not shown in recipes)

Image

Add a photo to help identify ingredients:

1. Click Add Image or the image placeholder
2. Upload a photo (JPG, PNG)
3. The image appears on the ingredient card and in searches

---

Organizing with Categories

Categories help you find and group ingredients.

Built-in Categories

PrepStation includes common food categories:

• Produce
• Dairy
• Meat & Poultry
• Seafood
• Bakery
• Dry Goods
• Spices & Seasonings
• Beverages
• And more...

Using Categories

When viewing ingredients:

• Filter by category to narrow your list
• Category badges appear on ingredient cards
• Categories are included in exports

---

Ingredient Details Page

Each ingredient page has sections for:

Vendor Items & Pricing

Shows all vendor products linked to this ingredient with their pricing. The preferred vendor price is used for recipe calculations.

See Vendor Costs for details.

Preparations & Yields

Lists preparation methods with yield percentages (e.g., "Peeled" at 85% yield).

See Preparation Methods & Yields for details.

Allergens

Shows tagged allergens with presence type (Definite, Potential, Traces).

See Allergens for details.

Unit Conversions

Lists custom conversions between units (e.g., 1 cup = 125g for flour).

Recipes Using This Ingredient

Shows all recipes that include this ingredient, with quick links to each recipe.

Cost History

Charts how this ingredient's cost has changed over time as you process invoices.

---

Deleting and Archiving

Deleting an Ingredient

When you delete an ingredient:

1. It's moved to the archive (soft delete)
2. Recipes using it will show a missing ingredient warning
3. Historical data is preserved

To delete:

1. Open the ingredient
2. Click Delete (or use the Actions menu)
3. Confirm the deletion

Restoring Archived Ingredients

If you delete an ingredient by mistake, or need it again:

1. Go to Ingredients → Archived
2. Find the ingredient
3. Click Restore

The ingredient returns to your active list with all its data intact.

---

Exporting Ingredients

Export your ingredient database to a spreadsheet:

1. Go to Ingredients
2. Click Export (or use the Actions menu)
3. Choose which fields to include
4. Download the CSV file

Exports include:

• Name and description
• Category
• Cost per unit
• Unit type
• Allergens
• And more...

---

Common Questions

Q: How do I set the cost for an ingredient?
A: Costs come from vendor items. Add a vendor item with pricing, then set it as preferred. See Vendor Costs.

Q: What's the difference between ingredients and vendor items?
A: An ingredient is your universal item (e.g., "All Purpose Flour"). Vendor items are specific products from suppliers (e.g., "Sysco AP Flour 50lb"). One ingredient can have multiple vendor items.

Q: Can I have the same ingredient with different costs?
A: Yes! Link multiple vendor items to one ingredient. Each vendor can have different pricing. The preferred vendor's price is used for recipe calculations.

Q: How do I merge duplicate ingredients?
A: Currently, you'll need to manually update recipes to use one ingredient, then archive the duplicate. Check "Recipes Using This Ingredient" on each to see what needs updating.

Q: Why doesn't my ingredient show a cost?
A: The ingredient needs a preferred vendor with pricing set. See Vendor Costs to add vendor pricing.

---

Next Steps

• Ingredient Library — Import ingredients with pre-built data
• Vendor Costs — Add pricing from your suppliers
• Preparation Methods & Yields — Track waste and prep loss
• Allergens — Tag ingredients for food safety