Preparation Methods & Yields

When you peel carrots, trim meat, or chop vegetables, some of the purchased weight is lost as waste. Preparation yields tell PrepStation how much usable ingredient you get after prep, so your costs are accurate.

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Overview

Yield is the percentage of an ingredient that's usable after preparation.

Ingredient	Preparation	Yield	Meaning
Carrots	Peeled	85%	15% lost to peels
Chicken breast	Trimmed	90%	10% lost to fat/trim
Onions	Diced	90%	10% lost to ends/skin
Whole fish	Filleted	45%	55% lost to bones/head

Without yields, your recipe costs would be underestimated—you'd think you're using 1 lb of carrots when you actually need to buy 1.18 lbs to get 1 lb peeled.

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How Yields Affect Costs

Example: Peeled Carrots

You need 1 lb of peeled carrots for a recipe.

Without Yield	With 85% Yield
Buy: 1 lb	Buy: 1.18 lb
Cost: $1.00	Cost: $1.18

The yield calculation:

Raw amount needed = Prepared amount ÷ Yield
                  = 1 lb ÷ 0.85
                  = 1.18 lb

Cost Breakdown

When you set a yield, PrepStation tracks:

Metric	Value
Raw amount	What you need to purchase
Prepared amount	What you use in the recipe
Waste amount	What gets thrown away
Waste cost	Cost of the discarded portion

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Setting Up Yields

On an Ingredient

1. Open an ingredient
2. Go to the Preparations section
3. Click Add Preparation
4. Select a Preparation Method (e.g., "Peeled")
5. Enter the Yield Percentage (e.g., 85%)
6. Click Save

Yield Percentage Guide

Yield	Meaning
100%	No waste (default)
90%	10% waste
75%	25% waste
50%	Half is waste

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Preparation Methods

Built-in Methods

PrepStation includes 60+ common preparation methods:

Category	Examples
Cutting	Diced, Chopped, Minced, Sliced, Julienned
Trimming	Peeled, Trimmed, Cored, Seeded, Deveined
Cooking	Roasted, Grilled, Poached, Blanched
Processing	Ground, Pureed, Grated, Shredded

Custom Preparation Methods

Create your own methods for specialized preparations:

1. Go to Settings → Preparation Methods
2. Click New Method
3. Enter the Name (e.g., "Tournéed")
4. Add a Description (optional)
5. Click Save

Custom methods appear alongside built-in methods when adding preparations.

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Using Yields in Recipes

When Adding Ingredients

1. Add an ingredient to your recipe
2. Enter the quantity (e.g., "1 lb")
3. Select a Preparation Method (e.g., "Peeled")
4. The yield auto-fills from the ingredient's default

Overriding the Default Yield

Each recipe ingredient can have its own yield:

1. Click the ingredient in your recipe
2. Adjust the Yield field
3. The cost recalculates automatically

This is useful when:

• Your prep is more or less efficient than the default
• You're using a different technique
• You want to account for specific batch conditions

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Quantities: Purchased vs Prepared

PrepStation supports two approaches:

Prepared Amounts (Default)

Recipe quantities represent what you use in the dish:

Recipe: 1 lb peeled carrots (85% yield)
→ Buy: 1.18 lb raw carrots
→ Use: 1 lb in the recipe
→ Waste: 0.18 lb

Purchased Amounts

Recipe quantities represent what you buy:

Recipe: 1 lb carrots, peeled (85% yield)
→ Buy: 1 lb raw carrots
→ Use: 0.85 lb in the recipe
→ Waste: 0.15 lb

Toggle this in Recipe Options → Quantities as Purchased.

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Common Yields by Ingredient

Vegetables

Ingredient	Preparation	Typical Yield
Carrots	Peeled	82-88%
Potatoes	Peeled	80-85%
Onions	Peeled & trimmed	87-92%
Bell peppers	Seeded & cored	80-85%
Broccoli	Florets only	60-65%
Celery	Trimmed	75-80%

Proteins

Ingredient	Preparation	Typical Yield
Chicken breast	Trimmed	85-95%
Beef tenderloin	Trimmed	70-80%
Whole chicken	Deboned	50-60%
Salmon fillet	Skin removed	85-90%
Whole fish	Filleted	40-50%
Shrimp	Peeled & deveined	45-55%

Fruits

Ingredient	Preparation	Typical Yield
Apples	Peeled & cored	75-80%
Oranges	Segmented	60-65%
Pineapple	Peeled & cored	50-55%
Mango	Peeled & pitted	60-70%
Watermelon	Rind removed	50-55%

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Updating Yields

From an Ingredient

When you update an ingredient's default yield:

1. Change the yield on the ingredient
2. Choose whether to update existing recipes:
   • Yes — All recipes using this preparation update
   • No — Only new recipe ingredients use the new default

From a Recipe

When you change a yield in a recipe:

1. The change applies to that recipe only
2. Optionally update the ingredient's default for future recipes

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Waste Tracking

In Recipe Costs

The cost breakdown shows:

Line	Description
Ingredient cost	Full cost of raw amount purchased
Waste cost	Portion lost to preparation
Prepared cost	Cost of usable portion

Cost Per Prepared Unit

PrepStation calculates the true cost per usable unit:

Carrots: $1.00/lb raw
Yield: 85%
Cost per prepared lb: $1.00 ÷ 0.85 = $1.18/lb

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Common Questions

Q: What if I don't set a yield?
A: The default is 100% (no waste). Your costs may be underestimated for ingredients with significant prep loss.

Q: Can I have multiple yields for the same ingredient?
A: Yes! Each preparation method can have its own yield. "Peeled carrots" and "diced carrots" can have different yields.

Q: Where do the suggested yields come from?
A: PrepStation includes USDA yield data for common preparations. You can adjust based on your experience.

Q: Do yields affect inventory?
A: Yields affect recipe costing. Inventory tracks raw (purchased) amounts.

Q: What about cooking loss?
A: You can create preparation methods for cooking (e.g., "Roasted" with 80% yield to account for moisture loss).

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Next Steps

• Managing Ingredients — Set up your ingredient database
• Ingredient Library — Import ingredients with pre-built yields
• Creating Recipes — Use yields in recipes
• Vendor Costs — Track ingredient costs