W4: Food Production

Question 1

Define food production

Answer 1

preparation of menu items in needed quantity with the desired quality

Question 2

Define Quality

Answer 2

Extremely important in mass food production due to the number of employees involved

Question 3

Define Quantity

Answer 3

element that distinguishes production
in food services from home or family food
preparation

Question 4

What makes up food production planning? Give examples of each component.

Answer 4

Input (eg. human resources, materials, operational)
Output (eg. meals- quantity & quality)
Control (eg. menu, standards, laws & regulations)
Memory (eg. production records)

Question 5

What elements of decision making need to be considered?

Answer 5

forecasting, planning and production schedule

Question 6

How is forecasting important? What methods are used for forecasting?

Answer 6

needed to determine demand for:
- procurement (how much to buy)
- production quantity (how much to make)

Methods: historical records, intuition, complex models

Question 7

What considerations should be included when choosing a forecasting model?

Answer 7

cost, required accuracy, relevancy of past data, forecasting lead time, underlying pattern of behavior

Question 8

Why should cost be considered during forecasting?

Answer 8

development & operation, staff training, operational (data collection)

Question 9

Why is accuracy important for forecasting?

Answer 9

more expensive higher accuracy of predictions vs less expensive, less accurate

Question 10

When should past data be used?

Answer 10

Past data only relevant if clear relationships between past and future exist

Question 11

Why is forecasting lead time important to consider?

Answer 11

The choice of a lead time depends on the items being forecast: A short-term for perishable produce, and a medium-or long-term lead for canned goods.

Question 12

What are the different types of models used in forecasting?

Answer 12

Time series
Causal
Subjective

Question 13

What is a time series forecasting model?

Answer 13

assumption that actual ocurrences follow
identifiable patterns
⚬ For short term, not very accurate
⚬ give general sense of trend
⚬ e.g. moving average forecasting model;
exponential smoothing

Question 14

What is a causal model?

Answer 14

assumption that identifiable relationships exists
between the item being forecast and other factors
⚬ complexity varies - 1 factor, multiple factors
⚬ e.g. regression analysis

Question 15

What is a subjective model?

Answer 15

No patterns or relationships between data
⚬ rely on opinions and other information

Question 16

How does a moving average forecast model work?

Answer 16

1st data point - Take the average of
first 5 or more numbers of items
offered or sold
2nd data point - drop 1st number; add
most recent number of portions sold to
bottom of list and calculate average
repeat

Question 17

What are the stages of a production schedule/worksheet and what occurs in each one?

Answer 17

1. planning stage- forecasts are converted into the quantity of each menu item to be prepared & distribution of food products to supervisors in each work center
2. action stage- each item is assigned to specific employee; time to start its preparation is recorded on the schedule

Question 18

What is production scheduling?

Answer 18

time sequencing of events required by production subsystem to produce a meal
- highly individualized in diff food services
- essential for production control

Question 19

What should be discussed in a production meeting?

Answer 19

held regularly with manager and employees in production unit.
discuss:
- new recipe and employee assignments
-overproduction/ underproduction & suggested improvements

conclude:
- production schedule

Question 20

Why is ingredient control important?

Answer 20

• major part of quality & quantity control in production sub-system
  -critical dimension of cost control throughout the
  foodservice system

Question 21

What are major aspects of ingredient control and explain each one.

Answer 21

1. Ingredient assembly: Area designed for measuring ingredients
   * Centralized Ingredient Assembly -
   Ingredient control room (ICR)- assembly,
   preparation, measuring and weighing of
   ingredients to meet the production and
   advance preparation needs
2. Standardized recipe
   Recipe that repeatedly delivers same
   quantity and quality of product

Question 22

What are the advantages of centralized ingredient control?

Answer 22

-stopping production employees from withdrawing large quantities of products from storage whether they are needed or not
-redirection of cooks skills away from simple tasks of collecting, assembling, measuring ingredients to production, garnishing, portion control
- limiting access to ingredients prevent under/overproduction- controlling costs

Question 23

What is the recipe standardization process?

Answer 23

Recipe verification> product evaluation> quantity adjustment

Question 24

What is involved in recipe verification?

Answer 24

4 phases:
- review components of recipe
- make recipe
- verify recipe yield
- record changes on recipe

Question 25

What is involved in product evaluation?

Answer 25

• evaluation
• visual appearance
• flavour
  -cost
  -labor
• equipment needed
• employee skills

Question 26

what are some limitations of recipe standardization?

Answer 26

-will not improve a product made of inferior ingredients (eg. one tomato may be less fresh)
- can’t eliminate variation found in food (eg. different sized apples)

Question 27

What are some advantages of recipe standardization?

Answer 27

• uniform quality & quantity
• uniform menu items
• increase productivity & training of cooks
• increase managerial productivity
• decrease costs resulting from overproduction
• save money by controlling inventory
• simplify menu costing
• increase job satisfaction for cooks
• reduce concerns by customers for dietary restrictions

Question 28

What is quantity food production?

Answer 28

primary element that introduces complexity to food production in food service system
- ensure quality highly complex set of variables
- varies with type of operation and food service

Question 29

What components are involved in quantity food production? Why are they important?

Answer 29

• control of ingredients
• energy consumption
• labor productivity
• quality of food
• production methods
  Important: controlling cost

Question 30

What determines if production planning was successful?

Answer 30

• satisfied customers
  -food is safe
• meets demand
• meets budget

Question 31

What are the primary reasons food is cooked?

Answer 31

• destruction of harmful microorganisms
• increased digestibility
• change and enhance flavor, form, color, texture, aroma

Question 32

What are the different ways heat can be transferred?

Answer 32

1. conduction- via direct contact of one object or substance with another
2. convection- via movement of liquid/vapor (natural or forced)
3. radiation- generation of heat energy by wave action within object
4. induction- use of electrical magnetic fields to excite molecules of metal cooking surfaces

Question 33

How are cooking methods classified and what does each mean?

Answer 33

1. Moist heat- use of water/steam for cooking
   eg. boiling, poaching, steaming, braising

2.dry heat- heat conducted by dry air, hot metal radiation, or min. amt. of hot fat
eg. oven frying, baking, rotisserie, BBQ, grill, etc.

Question 34

Cooking methods depends on…?

Answer 34

-kinds of food being cooked
- equipment available

Question 35

What are benefits of multifunction equipment?

Answer 35

-combine cooking methods/type of heat
- create space & labor efficiency

Question 36

Give examples of multifunction equipment and the purpose of each one.

Answer 36

1. Combi-oven: directs flow of convected air and steam via oven cavity- produce super heated moist internal atmosphere
2. Tilting skillet/frying pans: combines pros of range, griddle, kettle, oven, stock pot, bain marie, frying pan
3. Convection-microwave oven: can use convection air alone; microwave energy alone or combo of both

Question 37

What does highly complex variables refer to in the context of quality food production?

Answer 37

all different parts of making good quality products needs to be good.
eg. using wagyu beef but having a bad chef will still result in a bad product

Question 38

Give an example where underlying patterns of behavior should be considered.

Answer 38

using historical data to see the trends of strawberries on Canada day once a year would not be helpful compared to using historical data on strawberry trends on weekends (higher frequency, more applicable)