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Prep Procedure Builder for Restaurants
The owner asked this:«The three-meat sancocho has been made by one person for six years. Last week she was off sick for three days, on Sunday it came out watery and we took four back. I need the procedure written down so anyone on the team can run it, and I want to know which stretch does not fit into the shift.»
① The procedure, and the three signals that did not exist
Eleven steps for a batch of 21 portions. The three in bold are the ones that used to live inside a sentence nobody else could execute.
| Step | Action | Time | Control signal | Equipment | Who |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Take the three meats out of the walk-in and temper | 20 min | The thick piece goes from 3 °C to 8 °C at the core | Cold table | Pot cook |
| 2 | Bone and cut into 40 g pieces | 35 min | 8.00 kg purchased give 5.52 kg servable | Board and knife | Pot cook |
| 3 | Blanch and discard the first water | 12 min | The water runs cloudy with grey foam | 40 l pot | Pot cook |
| 4 | Cover with 9 l of clean water and bring to the boil | 18 min | A rolling boil, not edge bubbling | 40 l pot | Pot cook |
| 5 | Cook the meats | 95 min | The knife goes in without resistance on the thickest piece; it used to say "until it softens" | 40 l pot | Pot cook |
| 6 | Add cassava and plantain in 60 g pieces | 25 min | The cassava opens under the spatula | 40 l pot | Pot cook |
| 7 | Add corn in 4 cm rounds | 12 min | The kernel gives on the bite, no starch in the centre | 40 l pot | Pot cook |
| 8 | Reduce the broth | 15 min | 9 l become 6.8 l; the broth coats the back of the ladle and holds a finger line. It used to say "when it thickens up" | 40 l pot | Pot cook |
| 9 | Adjust salt and coriander | 4 min | 18 g of chopped coriander per 6 l; it used to say "a good handful" | 1 g scale | Pot cook |
| 10 | Rest off the heat | 10 min | Fat rises and is lifted off with a ladle | 40 l pot | Pot cook |
| 11 | Plate to order | 3 min | 260 g of meat, 300 ml of broth, 150 g of vegetables | 150 ml ladle | Pass |
Step 8 is the one that sent four plates back on Sunday. "Thickens up" is not a signal: it is a memory. With the usual cook the broth came down from 9 l to 6.8 l because she knew how long to leave it uncovered; with another hand the sancocho went out with 8.1 l in the pot and the same meat weight — more liquid, same protein, watery plate. The fix is not a temperature or a timer: it is a level mark painted inside the pot at 6.8 l.
② The batch, process waste and what doubling does
| Preparation | Base batch | Portions | Process waste | Cost per portion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sancocho de tres carnes | 8.00 kg of meat + 9 l of water | 21 | 31% boning · 24% broth evaporation | $9,143 |
The 24% of broth that evaporates is not a loss: it is step 8, which is why it lives inside the procedure and not on a waste list. The 31% from boning is a cost, and it already sits in the dish's cost sheet.
Doubling the batch does not double the times, and that is the trap.
| Batch of 21 portions | Batch of 42 portions | |
|---|---|---|
| Boning (step 2) | 35 min | 70 min |
| Cooking the meats (step 5) | 95 min | 120 min |
| Reduction (step 8) | 15 min | 28 min |
| Long stretch total | 145 min | 218 min |
| Does it fit the 240 min window? | Yes, with 95 min to spare | Yes, with 22 min — and no room for anything else |
SUPUESTO: the double-batch times do not come from a scaling rule of the trade, which does not exist at that precision: they come from two timed runs in this kitchen's 40 l pot. If Sazón de Origen buys an 80 l pot, step 5 gets measured again before being written, because a bigger mass takes longer to reach the boil and less to hold it. And if the double batch runs in two 40 l pots at once, the times are the ones in the first column but two hands are needed, which is a staffing decision —24 people in all, 18 in operations— and not a cooking one.
③ The stretch nobody had written
Chilling, packaging, labelling and shelf life. The part of the procedure that never shows on the plate and the only one that can close a restaurant.
| Preparation | Packaging | Label | Shelf life | What voids it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strained base broth | 6 l tray, lidded | Date + chilling time + initials | 72 hours at 3 °C | It did not go from 65 °C to 10 °C in 120 min |
| Drained cooked meats | 2 kg bag, laid flat | Date + time + lot | 48 hours at 3 °C | It was reheated twice |
| Cooked cassava and plantain | 3 l tray | Date + time | 24 hours at 3 °C | It changed colour or released water |
| Plated sancocho | Not stored | — | 0 hours | Always plated to order |
The 120 min rule is not decoration: it is what separates a 6 l tray of broth chilled properly from one that spent eight hours in the danger zone because it went into the walk-in hot and covered. And the label carries the time, not just the date, because "Monday" does not say whether it is 12 or 36 hours.
The full example has 1 more part(s): you see them inside the library, with your account.