Recipe Item Setup - Ingredients

Overview:

There are multiple tabs on the Recipe Item setup feature. The explanations for each tab are somewhat lengthy so individual articles exist for each tab in the Recipe Item Setup feature.

This article covers the tab named "Ingredients". The ingredients tab is used to configure the ingredients and their portion sizes for your recipes. Selecting the Ingredients tab on a Recipe Item will display a screen like the one below:

Things to know!

In addition to this article, a training video for Setting Up Recipe Items is also available.
You can sign up for an Online Recipe Item Training class that is offered twice weekly.
Inventory, Combined, and Recipe Items can be used as ingredients in a Recipe Item.
Versions of a recipe (changes to ingredients or ingredient portions) can be tracked via a Recipe Versioning option in COGS-Welll.
Different Recipe Units, for the same ingredient, can be used in different Recipe Items. For example, you can use milk by the fluid ounce in one recipe, the cup in another, and the liter in another. This is made possible by the COGS-Well Recipe Unit Library.
If you change the Recipe Unit for an ingredient that already has a quantity for the previous recipe unit, COGS-Well will automatically calculate and change the quantity for the new recipe unit.
You can add recipe units to any item that is used as an ingredient in recipes. For more information please see this article on Added Recipe Unit Configurations.
There is a jump button (">") for each ingredient you select for a recipe that will take you to the view or modify feature for the ingredient you select to jump to.

Recipe Item Setup - Ingredients Tab:

Selecting the Ingredients tab on a Recipe Item will display a screen like the one below. We are looking at the ingredients for a California Burger. The costs for the ingredients reflect the cost from the most recent invoice. Column names and special options for this tab are reviewed below:

Recipe Version: The first field to display on the Ingredients tab is the Recipe Version. The Recipe Version option only displays if you have enabled Recipe Versioning in your Company Settings Setup.

Using the Recipe Item example above, if your initial version of the California Burger recipe has 1 slice of bacon and you want to change it to 2 slices of bacon, versioning allows you to modify your original recipe to use 2 slices of bacon and then save it under a new Recipe Version name (example = "Version 2 - Added Bacon"). Please see the example below:

Using Versioning: To use versioning, after you make recipe ingredient changes to the recipe, use the "Add" button (outlined in red in the above example) to put in a new version name and effective date.

The effective date represents when you want the new version to take effect. Use the comments field to put in a new version reference. Once you save a new Recipe Version, all prior versions will be accessible via the Recipe Version drop-down.

Reasons for Version Changes: In addition to changing portion size, versioning enables you to switch ingredients (an example = change the Brioche bun to a Sesame Seed bun), add new ingredients, delete ingredients, or change the Sales Price, and then save the Recipe Item as a new recipe version. There is no limit on the number of versions of a recipe you can have.

Recipe Versions and Theoretical Cost and Usage: It is important to know that If you run theoretical cost or usage-related reports over a date range that includes multiple versions of a recipe, the calculations will be based on the recipe for each version that was in effect over that date range.

Using this example, 1.5 ounces of bacon will apply to the theoretical calculations for the days that version 1 was in effect and 2 ounces will apply to the other days.

Column Chooser: The icon at the top right (directly under the blue add button) is a “Column Chooser”. Clicking this icon will allow you to choose what columns to display on the Ingredient Grid. You can add or eliminate columns from the default Grid display. The default display does not include columns that can be added. An example with the Column Chooser selected is below:

The column names with check marks are displayed in the above Column Chooser example. Any column name without a checkmark can be checked to be added. Scroll down inside the Chooser to see more column names.

Add/Modify Ingredients:

The Ingredients screen lets you view, modify, or add the ingredients. You can also select recipe units and portions (quantities) for an ingredient. Please reference the example ingredients screen below for explanations about using ingredients in recipes:

Add or Modify: The explanations we provide below apply to either adding a new ingredient (via the plus button on the top left) or modifying an ingredient.

Ingredient Types: You will know if an ingredient is an Inventory, Combined, or Recipe Item because an Inventory Item shows the Vendor name in parenthesis, a Combined Item says "Combined Item" in parenthesis, and a Recipe Item says "Recipe Item" in parenthesis.

Recipe Unit: The Recipe Unit description for each ingredient will initially display the Default Recipe Unit for the item. The Recipe Unit can be changed for an ingredient by using the drop-down to access the Recipe Unit Library. The Library will display recipe units for the Measure Class or Classes that an ingredient has been configured for.

For example, the 3-1 Round Beef is configured for the Weight Measure Class only. The Recipe Unit Library will, therefore, provide other recipe unit options for the Weight Measure Class such as Gram, Pound, or Kilo to select from. If you select a new Recipe Unit for an ingredient that already has a quantity, the quantity for the new Recipe Unit will be automatically adjusted.

If you configure Recipe Units for an added Measure Classes, then the Recipe Unit Library will include Recipe Unit options for the added Measure Class. For example, the "Lettuce Iceberg" ingredient in the above example is configured for the Weight and Count Measure Classes so if we wanted to select a Leaf as the Recipe Unit instead of Wz, we can. Please see the example below:

In the above example, we can see that Lettuce Iceberg has been configured for the Weight and Measure Classes because we see recipe unit options from both classes in the recipe unit search. If we select Leaf as the new Recipe Unit, the quantity will automatically be updated to reflect Leafs as shown in the example below. Please see this article on Configuring Added Recipe Units for more information:

Tip for Wines sold by the Bottle: COGS-Well assigns a Recipe Unit of Fluid Ounce (Fz) to wines for the event that you may sell it by the glass. If you only sell it by the bottle, then use the Recipe Unit library to search and select 750 mL or Liter. An example is below:

Recipe Unit Changes: In the California Burger example above, because weight was used as an additional recipe unit measure class in the Lettuce Icbeburg Item, Grams could also have been selected as the recipe unit for lettuce.

Quantity: The quantity (amount) of the ingredient, based on the Recipe Unit description, that is used in this recipe.

Costs: Unit Cost and Total Cost are using the most recent purchase price for each ingredient. The Unit Cost is the cost of 1 Recipe Unit and the Total Cost is the cost of the quantity of Recipe Units used in the recipe.

% of Total: This shows what percentage of the total cost of the recipe is coming from each ingredient.

Comments: A comment can be added next to each ingredient in a Recipe Item. This field is open text. Comments can be used to help distinguish the ingredient in more detail or to further explain how to use the ingredient in the recipe, etc.

Ingredient Jump Button: If you want to view or modify an ingredient then the jump button will take you to the view/edit display for the ingredient's setup feature. This button works for any type of ingredient (inventory, combined, or recipe item). The jump button can be especially helpful if you realize while building a recipe that you would like to add a Recipe Unit Configuration for an ingredient.

Below we have clicked on the jump button for the 3-1 Round Beef Patty:

Special Ingredient Function Keys: The below provides information on the Special Function Keys at the top left of the Ingredients Tab.

Plus Key: This will enable you to add a new ingredient. It will invoice a search of your items.
X Key: This will delete the highlighted ingredient.
Up Arrow: This will move the highlighted ingredient up.
Down Arrow: This will move the highlighted ingredient down
Refresh: This will refresh the cost for each ingredient.
Copy Ingredients: This will allow you to select a different recipe item and copy the ingredients and quantities.

Yields (Optional Feature):

The use of Yields is optional. Yields will only show up on this display if you enable Yields in your Company Settings. Below is an ingredients display where Yields has been enabled:

Yields will adjust an ingredient's theoretical cost and usage based on the ingredient's Yield percentage. Yield is an ingredient's usable amount (usable meaning not lost to preparation or cooking).

For example, if you buy tomatoes by the pound and use them in recipes by the Weighted Ounce (WZ), if you start with 10 pounds of tomatoes, and if trimming and slicing the tomatoes for this recipe results in 9 pounds of usable tomatoes, then the yield for tomatoes is 90% (9 lbs of usable divided by the 10 lbs you started with). In the above example, we have entered a 90% yield for tomatoes.

Please Note: For each ingredient, the Yield field will default (when it is blank) to a 100% yield. You only need to enter a yield percentage for an ingredient if the Yield for the selected recipe unit is less than 100% (and if you are not addressing yield via a prep item recipe for an ingredient). For more on Yields please see this link: What are Yields?

Summary:

We have reviewed all of the major options and tools on the ingredient tab for recipe items. There are additional articles for the Recipe Item setup that cover the other tabs for the recipe item setup feature. These articles are also in the Recipe & Sales Setup category of articles in our help and learning center.

There is also a Training Video for Recipe Items and you can sign up for an Online Recipe Item Training class that is offered twice weekly.