Once upon a time, in culinary school, we were asked to do what I think most of us want to avoid being aspiring chefs: math. Instead of preparing for food potby precisely cloting potatoes, with our usual knifeWe spent the morning with a retractable pencil and did a little light algebra. (fear!)
What we are calculating is based on how much a particular item is available, mainly the actual cost of the ingredients, mainly the production. Consider inevitable food waste, such as banana peels, the core of bell peppers, the end of celery, and more.
When you pay by weight, pay in cooking math terms, put the yield or “edible portion” of a given item factor as the actual cost, which is necessary for the chef to consider when considering how to price.
Should you calculate every element of the meal you cooked? Of course not. (Or, hopefully, isn’t it? Given the economic situation and Price of eggssome of us may have to do this. ) But cooking math can help determine what money you actually spend on the aisle of produce, not what you might be wasting.
Whether you want to save pennies or save your environment by thinking about it Food waste (or you want to do it at the same time), there are some foods that have lower value, considering how much food you can consume.
Calculate value based on edible yields of fruits and vegetables
The overall value of fruits and vegetables is significantly different when considering edible yields.
Don’t worry, this is not an exercise involving actually measuring the weight of a banana peel or trying to assign the percentage to how many zucchini you throw away. Even chefs are convenient to use Yield Chart On average, how many are available for a given item.
Therefore, determining the actual cost of the ingredient involves calculating the new price based on the edible portion. For example, if the cauliflower head is priced at $1.49 per pound, and only 55% of that is available – once you remove the core and leave, the cost per pound will increase by almost twice the available portion. You may have spent about $3 on two pounds of cauliflower, but you only need to use more than one pound of cost. To determine the actual cost, you divide the purchase cost and divide it by the percentage of benefits, expressed as decimal.
For example: $1.49/.55 = $2.70
The edible yield of cauliflower heads is quite low.
Suddenly, the head of that cauliflower didn’t seem so bargaining. Also consider that chefs may generally make use of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables more than home cooks. Broccoli stems can be peeled, cooked and crushed into broccoli soup, and onions can be peeled, skin and all, into soup.
Lemons and limes are usually killed before juicing, and even pineapple skin has cooking applications. Pineapple leaves may even end up being decorated in the cocktail menu. Watermelon peel can be marinated. Are you pickling watermelon fruits at home? Don’t think so.
Minimum production (most waste)
Next time you load chili on the market, consider that you will only consume 65% of the total product.
You don’t need to buy weight to consider the ingredients you are actually using. Understanding the output of certain items can help you have a slightly different perspective on the price and take into account the direction of the garbage.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (Although still exists), food waste accounts for 60% of greenhouse gas emissions. Even if you are a complete recycler, if you have no way to deal with food waste (local food waste recycling programs, backyard compost or one Countertop food recycling equipment), the produce you buy most often may be larger than the packaging.
At first glance, berries may seem expensive, but they are one of the highest-yield products you will find on the market.
Read more: I used this small device to reduce kitchen waste by 80% in one week
These are 12 common items in grocery stores, and these items have the lowest edible portion and are therefore the highest waste. (The available portion of garden peas is the smallest, accounting for 38%, but fortunately for all of us, if you actually shell peas at home, you may grow on your own.
cauliflower |
$2.99 per |
55% |
$5.43 per |
asparagus |
$2.99/lb. |
56% |
$5.34/lb. |
broccoli |
$2.99/bubble |
61% |
$4.90/bubble |
Fennel bulbs |
$2.69 per |
60% |
$4.48 per |
Green leaf lettuce |
$1.99/head |
67% |
$2.97/head |
Bell pepper |
$1.50 per |
65% |
$2.31 per |
Butternut squash |
$3.37 per |
66% |
$5.10 per |
banana |
45 cents each |
67% |
67 cents each |
Hami melon |
$4.99 per |
50% |
$9.98 per |
pineapple |
$5.99 per |
52% |
$11.52 per |
watermelon |
$6.99 per |
47% |
$14.87 per |
Grapefruit |
$2.29 per |
47% |
$4.87 per |
The highest yield of fruits and vegetables (minimum waste)
Perhaps the above chart can help you think creatively about how to use more to buy items, or at least help you adjust your shopping habits if you are the one who often throws away bad things. Perhaps it puts the high cost of buying certain items outside of the season, especially those with lower yields. (Looking at you, watermelon.)
Spinach is cheap and good for you, and when prepared, it will lead to very little food waste.
Fortunately, however, there are many items in the produce aisle that have high available sections. If you are worried about food waste, it is time to increase the following consumption:
- Mung beans (88% available)
- Broccoli Corolla (95%)
- Button Mushroom (97%)
- Onions (89%)
- Peas (85%)
- Rutabaga (85%)
- Baby Spinach (92%)
- Zucchini (95%)
- Tomatoes (91%)
- Blueberries (96%)
- Grapes (92%)
- Plums (94%)
- Strawberries (89%)