Overheard a prep cook complaining about shallot waste and it hit me hard

I was standing next to the walk-in cooler last Wednesday and heard one of our newer prep cooks grumbling about how many shallots we go through. He said something like "we chop 5 pounds a day and half of it ends up on the floor or in the trash." And honestly he had a point. So I started paying attention to our shallot prep for a couple shifts and realized we were peeling too deep and tossing usable layers. I showed him the trick where you cut off the root end just barely and then peel from the top down. It saved almost a whole pound over a 3 hour prep window. Now I'm wondering how much other produce we're wasting without noticing. Has anyone else done a waste audit on a specific ingredient and found a fix that stuck?

2 comments

2 Comments

paulw636d ago

Have you ever weighed the trim from bagged salads or pre washed lettuce mixes? I did once and found we were paying for a good 8-10% water weight and slimy leaves that got tossed before they ever hit a plate. Could be worth comparing raw heads against those plastic clamshells with a scale.

cameron4266d ago

Have you ever actually looked at the weight difference between a bag of pre-washed lettuce and a whole head of romaine? I saw a video on YouTube recently where a guy did a side by side comparison and the bagged stuff was almost 15% heavier from the water and preservatives they spray on it. @paulw63 you're right about the slimy leaves too, I've opened those clamshells and tossed half the bag before even getting to use it. It's honestly a ripoff when you think about the money you're throwing away on what's basically wet garbage.