BPA 105 Day 3: Fans, Slices, and Plated Fruit

BPA 105
Day 3, Thursday
10.02.2008

Lesson Three: Cutting fruits for an arranged fruit plate and calculating the yield and cost of our final product.

We began class by practicing our knife honing and reviewing steps to calculate yield, EPQ and EPC, and the Total Cost. Chef Mangalore demonstrated the techniques for cleaning, coring, and slicing a pineapple, watermelon, and strawberries. (We were also going to cut a mango but ran out of time.)

I began with my watermelon. Because of the risk of salmonella on the outside of the melon, I washed it before starting to work with it. It was so large that it did not fit on my small scale, even when cut in two pieces. Using a larger scale I weighed each half and as a whole it came to over 17 lb.

I cut the end off of both sides, so I could have flat surfaces for the melon to rest on while cutting it. Working with the contour of the melon, I turned it so the large fleshy flat side was down in order to start cutting off the green rind and white pith. One half I cut into dices and the other half I reserved for melon balling. I started by cutting along the edge at the top, with the knife at an angle. I turned the fruit and the knife as the shape changed. I tried to remove as little flesh as possible. I moved my knife in small increments to minimize the waste. Making large slices of the whole half was an easy way to start. From there I measured to make dices of all sizes.

Again. because of the risk of salmonella watermelon must be stored in the cooler after being cut. We had so much cut fruit, more than the cafeteria could take, so we got out the juicers and made watermelon juice which when frozen with a little sugar makes for a great granita. I must say the juice on its own was very refreshing.

Our next fruit was pineapple. We knew ahead of time that we were going to be making slices and dices to arrange for a fruit plate.

To cut the pineapple I began with a sawing action, cutting off the top and bottom. It is important to angle the knife as you go down the fruit, keeping to the original curved shape. From there I quartered it, and then cored it by cutting the inside out at a 45 degree angle.

My cored quarters ready to be sliced and diced

After making slices, dices, and batons with the pineapple I moved to my strawberries. When cutting a fan, use your paring knife to cut the berry in half and slice until you almost reach the top, about 3/4 of the way. This is visible in the center strawberry of the fruit plate pictures. It is also possible to cut Brunoise of the berries, but difficult since there is less flat area to work with. When making a fan or slice, it is important to choose a good looking bright red berry with a clean green top, as the greens remain attached in the final product.

Now for the fun part, calculating the yield, EPQ, APQ, and costs of the fruit for the fruit plate.

Pineapple :

APQ=75.875 oz
EPQ= 38 oz
EPQ of the plated fruit= 6.5 oz

Yield= EPQ/ APQ 38 oz/ 75.875 oz= .50 = 50% yield

$17.49/ case
7 pineapples/ case $17.49/ 7= $2.50 each pineapple

APC/unit= $2.50/ 75.875 oz= $.0329/ oz

EPC/oz= $.0329/oz / 50%= $.0658/ oz

Total Cost= EPQ x EPC
TC= 6.5 x $.0658= $.4277 = $0.43 of pineapple plated

Strawberries:

APQ= 5.375 oz
EPQ= 4.875 oz
EPQ plated berries= 1.75 oz

Yield= 4.875 oz/ 5.375 oz = 90.7%

$20.63/ case
8 lb case $20.63/8 = $2.578/ lb

APC/ unit= $2.587/ 16 oz= $.161/ oz

EPC=APC/Yield EPC= $.161/oz / 90.7% = $.1775/oz

TC=EPC x EPQ TC= $.1775/oz x 1.75 oz= $.3106= $.31 plated berries

Total Cost of fruit plate= $.43 + $.31 = $.74