Batch recipe
A batch recipe is produced in bulk and portioned at service. Its cost per portion is total batch cost divided by measured yield — and measuring the yield once, properly, is the difference between a correct cost and one that's understated by 10–20% forever.
Cost per portion
Batch cost ÷ Measured portions yielded
The batch-size trade-off
| Bigger batches | Smaller batches |
|---|---|
| Lower labour per portion | Less spoilage risk |
| Better ingredient pricing at volume | Fresher product at service |
| Fewer changeovers | Easier to adjust to a demand shift |
| More capital and shelf space tied up | More frequent production labour |
The right size is the one that gets consumed within the item's shelf life at your normal volume, with a small buffer. Anything larger is trading spoilage for labour savings, and spoilage is usually the more expensive side of that trade.
Worked example · Sizing a batch against shelf life
- Portions sold per day
- 34
- Shelf life of the finished item
- 4 days
- Maximum safe batch
- 136 portions
- Tested yield of one batch
- 68 portions
- Production labour per batch
- 40 min
- Run
- 2 batches, twice weekly
A single 136-portion run would halve the labour and put the last portions right at the expiry line on a slow week. Two runs cost twenty extra minutes and remove the risk entirely.
Run the numbers
Recipe cost calculator
The guide that works it through
Recipe Costing, Step by Step
How to cost a recipe properly: yield-adjusted ingredient costs, sub-recipes, the Q factor, and a full worked example from invoice to plate cost to menu price.
Related terms
Sub-recipe
A recipe used as an ingredient in other recipes — stock, sauce, dough, compound butter.
Cost per serving
The cost of one served unit of a batch item — a bowl of soup, a slice of pie, an ounce of sauce.
Recipe yield
How many finished portions a recipe actually produces, measured rather than assumed.
Prep list
The day's production plan — what to make, how much, and in what order — derived from par levels and a covers forecast.