Foodservice Systems
Production systems
Know four systems and their trade-offs. Conventional (cook-serve) produces and serves on site-high labor, short holding time. Ready-prepared (cook-chill or cook-freeze) produces ahead and reheats, trading labor for equipment and energy. Commissary is a central production kitchen shipping to satellite serving sites. Assembly-serve buys mostly prepared items and only assembles them, minimizing skilled labor but raising food cost.
Food flow and HACCP
The flow is purchasing, receiving, storage, pre-preparation, production, holding, service, and disposal. HACCP has seven principles: conduct hazard analysis, determine critical control points, set critical limits, monitor, take corrective action, verify, and keep records. HACCP is a preventive process-control system, not a cleaning schedule-a classic distractor.
Temperatures
Hold cold food at 41°F or below and hot food at 135°F or above. Cook poultry to 165°F, ground meat to 155°F, and whole muscle to 145°F. Cool from 135°F to 70°F within 2 hours, then to 41°F within 4 additional hours. Reheat to 165°F within 2 hours.
Forecasting and standardization
Forecast from production sheets, census patterns, and historical data rather than guessing, and use standardized recipes so quality and cost stay consistent. Track yield percentage whenever trimming or cooking loss occurs.
Worked example
A standardized recipe yields 50 portions but 180 are needed, so the conversion factor is 180 ÷ 50 = 3.6. Multiply every ingredient by 3.6, then adjust seasoning cautiously because salt and spices do not always scale linearly.