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Yield & kitchen

Butcher's test

Also called: butcher test · yield test

A butcher's test weighs a whole item, breaks it down, weighs every resulting component, and assigns value to the usable by-products so the primary cut carries only its fair share of cost. It takes about twenty minutes per item and produces a number you can use for years.

The procedure

  1. Weigh the item as it arrives. Record the invoice price and the total AP cost.
  2. Break it down as your kitchen actually does — not as a textbook does.
  3. Weigh every output separately: primary cut, secondary usable cuts, usable trim, bones for stock, and true waste.
  4. Assign a credit value to each usable by-product at what you'd otherwise pay for it — ground beef at your ground beef price, bones at your stock cost avoided.
  5. Subtract the credits from total AP cost. Divide what remains by the primary cut's weight.

Net EP cost

(Total AP cost − Σ by-product credits) ÷ Primary cut weight

Worked example · Pork shoulder, bone-in, 18.2 lb

AP cost, 18.2 lb at $3.40/lb
$61.88
Primary: trimmed shoulder for braising
12.1 lb
Usable trim → sausage, credited at $2.80/lb
2.4 lb = $6.72
Bones → stock, credited at $0.90/lb
2.2 lb = $1.98
True waste
1.5 lb
Net cost after credits
$53.18
EP cost per lb
$4.40

Without crediting the by-products the shoulder costs $5.11/lb — a 16% overstatement that would push you to price the braise higher than it needs to be.

Run the numbers

Yield & EP cost calculator

Open it free →

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

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