A new prep cook asked me why we don't just buy pre-diced onions

I was showing him the walk-in at my place in Austin, and he pointed at the 50lb bag of onions and said 'Wouldn't it save a ton of time and labor cost to get the frozen ones?' It made me stop and really think about what we're paying for versus what we're actually selling. How do you guys decide where to draw the line on pre-prepped ingredients?

2 comments

2 Comments

wright.cole3d ago

Honestly, that question hits close to home. My old boss caught me trying to use pre-shredded carrots for a mirepoix once and I thought he was gonna have a stroke right there in the walk-in. The texture is just never the same, you know? For us, it comes down to what the customer can actually notice on the plate. If it's a base for a stock or something buried in a braise, maybe you can cut a corner. But if that onion's texture or fresh flavor is front and center, you gotta do the work. Where's your line on something like that?

spencer_johnson223d ago

But what about places that just need to move food fast? I mean, if you're doing huge volume on a burger line, is a customer really gonna taste the difference between a fresh diced onion and a frozen one when it's cooked on the grill and covered in sauce? Idk, maybe it's just me but sometimes the labor saved on prepped stuff lets you focus on the parts people actually care about, like the burger patty itself.