Recipe Conversion Formula
Recipe Conversions
Whether 6 servings or 60, every
cooking recipe is designed to produce or yield a specific amount of product.
A food recipe's yield may be expressed in volume,weight
or servings.
If the expected yield does not meet your needs, you must convert (increase
/ decrease) the food ingredient amounts.
Converting Total Yield
When portion size
is unimportant or remains the same, recipe yield is converted by a simple
two-step process:
Step1: Divide the desired (new) yield by the recipe (old) yield
to obtain the conversion factor (C.F.)
new yield ÷ old yield = conversion factor (C.F.)
Step2: Multiply each ingredient quantity by the conversion factor to obtain the new quantity:
old quantity x conversion factor = new quantity
Example: You need to convert a recipe for cauliflower soup. The
present recipe yields 1 1/2 gallons. You need to make 3/4 gallon.
Step1: Determine the conversion factor:
.75 gallon ÷ 1.5 gallons = .50
(The same conversion
factor can be obtained after first converting the recipe amounts to fluid
ounces)
Step2: Apply the conversion factor to each ingredient in the soup
recipe:
Cauliflower Soup |
|||||
| Ingredient | old quantity |
x
|
C.F.
|
=
|
new quantity |
| Cauliflower, Chopped | 5 lb. |
x
|
.5
|
=
|
2 1/2 lb. |
| Celery Stalks | 4 |
x
|
.5
|
=
|
2 |
| Onion | 1 |
x
|
.5
|
=
|
1/2 |
| Chicken Stock | 2 qt. |
x
|
.5
|
=
|
1 qt. |
| Heavy Cream | 3 pt. |
x
|
.5
|
=
|
1 1/2 pt. |
Converting Portion Size
A few additional steps are
necessary to convert recipe when portion sizes must also be changed.
The portion size conversion is done in 4 steps:
Step1: Determine the total yield of the existing recipe by multiplying the number of portions by the portion size.
original portions x original portion size = total yield (old)
Step2: Determine the total yield desired by multiplying the new number of portions by the new portion size.
desired portions x desired portion size = total yield (new)
Step3: Obtain the conversion factor as described above.
total (new) yield ÷ total (old) yield = conversion factor
Step4: Multiply each ingredient quantity by the conversion factor.
old quantity x conversion factor = new quantity
Example: Back to the cauliflower soup. The original recipe produced 1 1/2 gallons of 48 4-ounce servings. Now we need 72 6-ounce servings.
Step1: Total
original yield is 48 x 4 = 192 ounces.
Step2: Total desired yield is 72 x 6 = 432 ounces.
Step3: The conversion factor is calculated by dividing total
new yield by total old yield: 432 ÷ 192 = 2.25
Step4: Old ingredient quantities are multiplied by the conversion
factor to determine the new quantities:
Cauliflower Soup |
|||||
| Ingredient | old quantity |
x
|
C.F.
|
=
|
new quantity |
| Cauliflower, Chopped | 5 lb. |
x
|
2.25
|
=
|
11.25 lb. |
| Celery Stalks | 4 |
x
|
2.25
|
=
|
9 |
| Onion | 1 |
x
|
2.25
|
=
|
2.25 |
| Chicken Stock | 2 qt. |
x
|
2.25
|
=
|
4.5 qt. |
| Heavy Cream | 3 pt. |
x
|
2.25
|
=
|
6.75 qt. |
Additional Conversion Problems
When making
large recipe changes ( from 5 to 25 portions or 600 to 300 portions)
you may encounter additional problems.
The mathematical conversions described above to not take into account
change in equipment, (larger or smaller), evaporation rates, unforeseen
recipe errors or cooking times.
Chef's and cooks must learn to use their judgment and knowledge of cooking
principles and skills to compensate for these factors.