The Best Prep Sheet System You’ll Ever Use

What exactly are prep sheets and how do you know what to prep?

When people ask about my kitchen operations they want to know how I have so little waste, and never run out of product. The answer is a system I learned long ago and adapted it to streamline kitchen operations when it comes to prep.

Two outstanding byproducts of implementing this system is a reduction in food cost and a reduction in your kitchen labor. Having a solid plan and not having to prep items unnecessarily has a positive impact on the labor hours required just to get ready to open the doors.

Make a list

Start By making a list of products that need to be prepped. Now this may take a little time depending on how extensive your menu is. This is the part of the system I call “Embrace the… Less than Desirable Task” . While it may seem tedious, the rewards this effort produces shows up directly on your bottom line if you follow the system I’m going to share with you.

Grab a clipboard and go down your cook line, walk-in or anywhere else prepped products are stored writing down the following information:

• Item to be Prepped
• Who normally preps it
• How it is stored
• How much you have On-Hand right now
• What’s the shelf life of this product
• If you can remember, the last time/day you prepped it

Determine Quality Standards

Quality standards of each product should be set internally by you, and what your level of quality is that you would comfortably serve to your guests. This is a no brainer for most restaurateurs. We all know fresh is best. However, given a big enough menu, we can’t prep every product everyday. It gets entirely too overwhelming. So-

• Determining Quality Standards

The mistake I find a lot of operators making is setting standards that are acceptable according to their local health department based on their shelf life policies. I have found that many of these policies are just baseline and actually too broad.

• Decide what products will have a daily par level and which ones will be decided by an Average Sales Report.
• Have clearly defined storage procedures for each product i.e. – half pan, single layer on sheet tray, portion bag etc.
  • Have recipes available for your prep crew, and use consistent batch counts. For Example –
    • A 1x batch of rice = 20 portions
    • A 1x batch of mashed potatoes = 3 – ⅓ pans
    • Have these yields stated in the recipes

• Defining a Shelf Life

Whether it be 5 or 7 days on most products, is that really putting your best quality on the table for your guests? Most products in your kitchen should have a 2-3 day shelf life, with a max of 4 or 5 days for a few reserve items that may be more hearty.

Delegate the Tasks

Once you have your quality and shelf life standards in place, it’s time to assign tasks to each prep cook. Of course the amount of prep cooks you employ depends on your sales volume and the size of your menu. While selecting who does what, here’s some key things to consider:

• If you employ a dedicated prep cook, select the most labor intensive items for the bulk of their load.
  • If they consistently can’t or don’t finish all of their prep, engage them to find a balanced load and possibly coach them on some tips to be more efficient
• Try to assign items to your line cooks that go with their station.
  • This helps reduce confusion as well as reduce waste. They are familiar with the products and generally know usage amounts.
• Cross train other employees like your dishwasher on light tasks like simple portioning and weighing.

Create Your Prep Sheets

Now that we have our list, quality standards and shelf lives defined, it’s time to build out our prep sheets.

Each person who preps gets their own sheet. This is an abbreviated version of a style I like to use. Prep sheets are ever evolving. I print one on Monday for every member of the prep team and that version actually shows every day of the week.

Sandwich Station Prep
Product	Count by	Shelf Life	Mon				Tues				Wed
			OH	Par	Prep		OH	Par	Prep		OH	Par	Prep
Turkey Preset	Each (Port Bag)	3 days		ASR				ASR				ASR
Sliced Tomatoes	1/3rd pan	2 days		2				3				3
Shredded Lettuce	Deep 1/2 Pan	2 Days		2				3				4
Diced Tomatoes	1/6th pan	2 days		2				2				3
Sliced Ham	Each (Port Bag)	3 Days		ASR				ASR				ASR

You can see how I’ve labeled how I count, how I determine the prep volume and an expectation of how each product should be stored.

Main Prep
Product	Count by	Shelf Life	Mon				Tues
			OH	Par	Prep		OH	Par	Prep
Mashed Potatoes	High Heat 1/3rd P	2 days		ASR				ASR
House Rice	High Heat 1/3rd P	2 days		ASR				ASR
House Veggie Mix	Deep 1/2 Pan	3 Days		2				3
Ribeyes 16 cut	Each-tray up	2 days		ASR				ASR
Ribeyes 10 Cut	Each-tray up	2 Days		ASR				ASR

Once you train your team on using these, they will not only begin to trust the system, they will also begin to troubleshoot areas for you, proactively helping decrease waste.

Count every morning

In order for this system to work, you have to be willing to work it. That’s exactly what this is, a system. Systems only work if you are consistent with them. Once you are in your building and all security checks are done & closing notes are reviewed your first task should be counting for prep.

The Average Sales Item Report

In your POS system you should have an option to run this report or a variation of it. Depending on your system some parameters you want to include are:

• All Menu Items
• Show results for all 7 days
• Show Daily totals only
• Six week average

What we’re looking for here is daily totals of each menu item by week. It should look something like this:

Ribeyes		Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
	Week 1	5	4	8	12	18	25	13
	Week 2	3	5	7	14	21	23	10
	Week 3	7	5	4	12	19	21	16
	Week 4	4	3	6	11	18	21	12
	Week 5	2	15	9	10	11	24	9
	Week 6	4	3	4	9	12	19	15
	Average	4.17	5.83	6.33	11.33	16.50	22.17	12.50

You want to run a six week average because it dismisses anomalies throughout the time frame. On Tuesdays we’ve been averaging around 4 Ribeyes each day. In week 5 we sold 15. Perhaps a large party that got word of how good the Ribeye is. Are we going to prep 15 ribeyes on Tuesday? Hopefully our sales volume gets to that point, but it’s not this Tuesday. We’ll use the average daily sales count for our prep level.

Setting Par Levels

Some items on the prep sheet will have set par levels. This is especially true on a number of produce items. Let’s take sliced tomatoes for example:

Product	Count by	Mon				Tues				Wed				Thu
		OH	Par	Prep		OH	Par	Prep		OH	Par	Prep		OH	Par	Prep
Turkey Preset	Each	7	ASR	–		2	ASR				ASR				ASR
Sliced Tomatoes	1/3rd pan	2	2	5 P		2.5	3				3				5

As you can see we have a Par of 2 pans for Monday, and while we had 2 on hand, I prepped them anyway. You’ll find out why as you read on. On the prep sheet I wrote 5 P (pans). You’ll also understand this method as you read on.

On Tuesday however, we only have 2.5 pans of tomatoes to start our day. We are below par so we will have to prep that product again. This may be a good problem to have if the sales volume matches the usage. If not here’s some questions to ask:

• Did I validate this prep sheet and verify that the amount I wanted was prepped?
  • If Yes then-
    • Does the Sales Volume match the usage?
    • Did I miscount, or miss product in a storage area?
    • Is our usage and sales such that the pars need to be increased at this time?
    • Or, Do we have missing product?
  • If No –
    • Did we have the product available to prep?
    • Did I send back tomatoes yesterday due to poor quality causing a shortage?
    • Or, was product was available, and it just didn’t get done?

As you see throughout the week the par levels gradually increase. If your sales spike on the weekends like most restaurants, then heavy prepping begins on Wednesday, with Thursday and Friday typically being the heaviest days. As well prep levels depend on the rest of the weekend sales volume as to when they actually start dwindling back down.

The 120 rule

The 120 rule is simple. It’s actually a percentage – 120%. What this rule states is that if we have 120% of a product on hand for that day’s usage whether par or via the Average Sales Report, we don’t prep it.

For Instance:

• On Monday we had 7 Turkey sets.
• The ASR showed an average usage of 4.25.
• We had well over the 120% on hand

On Tuesday

• We started with 2 sets on hand
• The rule worked allowing for sales increase over the average
• We minimized waste by not prepping a set we didn’t need
• We’ll prep today, maximizing the shelf life
• The system ensures we are serving the freshest product

Before we look at how we will prep today, keep in mind this rule is not set in stone. This is a guideline. However the 120% number is what I use almost all the time.

Going into preparation for the weekend, you have 120% of an item, but it has enough shelf life and the on hand count is borderline. You know you should prep it anyway. This is one of those “You’ll know it when you see it” situations when you’re in tune with your systems.

Certain items I’ll crunch the number at 130% or more, but usually at that point with most products, I just know I’m going to prep it and move onto the next step.

The 80% Rule

The 80% rule is what we are going to use to maximize a product’s shelf life and reduce waste.

Let’s use the Turkey Sets as an example:

• We have 2 on hand
• .Our ASR shows the following usage

Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
4	8	12	15
5	7	11	14
5	9	9	19
3	6	11	15
6	9	10	11
3	5	9	12
4.33	7.33	10.33	14.33

We know we have to prep because we are below today’s usage.

• Our Standard is a 3 day shelf life
• When calculating the usage, round up or down according to the decimal
• Don’t count the prep day

You’ve just maximized your shelf life and reduced your waste to zero. If the ASR averages hold true without any variation in sales:

• Your Friday morning on hand will be 3-4 sets.
• Sales that day show 14+
• You will have to prep again Friday at the latest
• You’ve allowed for sales fluctuations, both increases and decreases

Let’s take a look at the sales decrease scenario:

• Taking a 25% sales decrease for Tuesday – Thursday
• We started with 27 sets, 2 On Hand + 25 Prep
• Our usage for those 3 days is now 16
• Leaving 11 sets on hand at Friday morning’s count
• We’re still below usage and still have to prep again Friday
• Zero waste again even with the drastic sales reduction

Conclusion

Looking at the overall picture, this is a simple system that works and one I’ve been using for years. While it is difficult to eliminate all waste you can build confidence in knowing you will have what you need on hand and not more than you need reducing waste, and instead adding profit to your bottom line.

By now I’m sure you see the benefits of this method. The knowledge you will gain just by its implementation can help you in other areas as well. Such as Identifying slow moving items or products that may need to be taken off your menu and replaced with something else, overprepping and underprepping by employees and much more.

I know you’re excited to get started so let’s get going! And make your next shift, your best shift!