Recipe Unit Library

Overview:

COGS-Well provides a "Recipe Unit Library" that contains all of the common recipe unit definitions along with the number of recipe units they contain. For example, "Pound" is a recipe unit in the library with 16 weighted ounces as the factor. "Cup" is in the library with 8 fluid ounces. "Gram" is in the library with 0.03527 weighted ounces. Etc.  

Recipe Units in the library are assigned a Unit of Measure Class for either Weight, Volume, or Count, and the Number of Recipe Units. For example, Gallon is a Recipe Unit in the library. It is assigned to the Volume Measure Class with a Fz (Fluid Ounce) as the Unit of Measure, and there are 128 Fz(s) in a Gallon.

Recipe Units in the library that are in the same Measure Class (Weight, Volume, or Count) are correlated so that switching from one Recipe Unit to another will automatically adjust the number of Recipe Units. For example, an FZ can be changed to a Cup for an ingredient or in a recipe, or a Wz can be changed to a Gram, and the library will automatically make the conversion for the # of Units.

Ingredients:

Inventory, Combined, or Recipe Items that are used in Recipes are "ingredients". The Recipe Unit Library can be accessed when you are selecting a Recipe Unit for an ingredient. COGS-Well assigns a Recipe Unit to a new Inventory Item, but you can change it.

You can also add recipe units for other measure classes to an ingredient. For example, if an onion was configured for the weight measure class because it is purchased by weight, you can add a recipe unit for volume (you also use onions by cup in recipes), and count (you also use onions by each in recipes).

This article on Measure Class & Recipe Unit Configurations - FAQs explains measure classes and recipe unit configurations in detail.

Creating Recipes:

When building or modifying recipes, you can search the recipe unit library to select a recipe unit for an ingredient that is specific to that recipe.  For example, you may use olive oil as an ingredient in one recipe by fluid ounce, but you can use it in another by cup, and another by milliliter. In the below example, we are searching the Recipe Unit Library using the recipe unit drop-down option.

If we select Gram as the recipe unit for the Tomato Large (Loose) ingredient, it will automatically convert 1.5 Wz that are in the recipe now, to the corresponding quantity in Grams. Please see below:

Summary - Flexible Recipe Units:

The combination of being able to use different recipe units for different recipes (a fluid ounce in one recipe and a cup in another), being able to add multiple units of measure classes to an ingredient, and the automatic conversions when a recipe unit is changed, provides very flexible recipe units. Onions can be used Wz in one recipe, by cup in another, and by each in another.

Flexible Recipe enables COGS-Well to be used to cost recipe items and as a recipe book. You can create recipes as they are currently documented so that the preparation team will know how to prepare them and without requiring a calculator.