Culinary Math Practice Problems (With Answers)

Culinary math is the handful of formulas every kitchen uses to buy, cost and price food: yield percentage, as-purchased (AP) and edible-portion (EP) quantities and costs, food cost percentage, recipe conversion factors and unit conversions. Below are 15 practice problems in US units, grouped by topic, with a worked answer key at the end. Print the page to use it as a worksheet.

Formulas You Need

• •Yield % = EP weight ÷ AP weight × 100
• •AP quantity to buy = EP quantity needed ÷ yield (as a decimal)
• •EP cost = AP price per unit ÷ yield (as a decimal)
• •Food cost % = cost ÷ selling price × 100
• •Menu price from a target = cost ÷ target food cost (as a decimal)
• •Recipe conversion factor = new total yield ÷ old total yield
• •Cooking yield % = cooked weight ÷ raw weight × 100
• •Key conversions: 1 lb = 16 oz; 1 kg = 2.205 lb; 1 fl oz = 29.57 ml; 1 cup = 8 fl oz; 1 quart = 4 cups; 1 gallon = 4 quarts

Yield Percentage, AP and EP

• •Problem 1. A case of romaine weighs 22 lb as purchased. After trimming you have 16.5 lb of usable leaves. What is the yield percentage?
• •Problem 2. A recipe needs 12 lb of diced onions, and onions yield 90% after peeling and trimming. How many pounds should you buy?
• •Problem 3. Whole salmon costs $7.50 per pound and yields 58% skin-on fillet. What does a pound of fillet really cost?

Edible Portion Cost and Recipe Costing

• •Problem 4. A dish uses a 6 oz portion of trimmed beef tenderloin. The usable beef costs $21.54 per pound. What does the beef cost per portion?
• •Problem 5. A batch of soup costs $36.40 in ingredients and makes 28 portions. What is the cost per portion?

Food Cost Percentage and Menu Pricing

• •Problem 6. A dish costs $4.20 to make and sells for $15.00. What is its food cost percentage?
• •Problem 7. Your target food cost is 30%. What should a plate that costs $5.10 sell for?
• •Problem 8. A month starts with $6,200 of food inventory. Purchases are $14,800, ending inventory is $5,400 and food sales are $52,000. What is the food cost percentage?

Recipe Conversion

• •Problem 9. A recipe makes 12 portions and calls for 2.5 lb of flour. You need 30 portions. What is the conversion factor, and how much flour do you need?
• •Problem 10. A recipe makes 8 portions of 6 oz. You need 20 portions of 4 oz. What is the conversion factor?

Cooking Yield

• •Problem 11. A 15 lb raw brisket flat weighs 10.35 lb after braising. What are the cooking yield and the cooking loss?
• •Problem 12. You are serving 40 portions of 5 oz cooked brisket, and the cooking yield is 69%. How much raw brisket do you need?

Unit Conversions

• •Problem 13. How many 1.5 oz pours are in a 750 ml bottle?
• •Problem 14. A sauce calls for 3 cups of stock per batch and you are making 4 batches. How many quarts of stock do you need?
• •Problem 15. A supplier quotes 2.5 kg. How many pounds is that?

Answer Key