Fresh Or Frozen Pros And Cons

Among many diners, there is a belief that fresh food tastes better and is better for you. In watching many of the popular food shows, you will find that fresh or frozen pros and cons are not presented in a balanced manner. There are certain types of foods where only fresh will do, but ruling out frozen foods may seriously limit the menus in some locations.

Availability is a key element. Not every restaurant has access to a fish market within reasonable distance. Nor can every cook go to the docks to pick up the day's catch to serve to customers. When it comes to seasonal foods, some are simply not available in either fresh or frozen form during certain times of the year. The availability of salad greens in northern climates during cold weather may be limited, and the lettuce itself may be several days old by the time it reaches your restaurant.

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The cost may make the different between choosing fresh food or frozen food. On the one hand, purchasing frozen food is usually more expensive than purchasing the same food fresh, because there is additional processing costs. This has to be balanced against the probability of more loss when fresh food is used. However, this equation assumes that there are no shipping costs involved.

Taste is another factor that is often used in favor of fresh food over frozen food. For most food items, fresh is better, particularly if it is not bruised or mishandled during the trek from farm, market, processing plant to the restaurant. If the correct freezing methods are used, there are steps taken to preserve flavor and avoid deterioration before freezing.

A restaurant must have the proper facilities for storage of the food items, regardless of whether it is frozen or fresh. Freezer burn is a risk even when the items are properly processed. In taste tests, diners rated fresh or quickly frozen items over those which had been frozen for more than a few days. There is also a need to thaw frozen foods properly in order to preserve flavor, without posing a health risk.

Looking over the fresh or frozen food choices, each owner or restaurant manager must review the elements of taste, cost and availability. It is assumed that the storage equipment will be adequate for either or both types of products. The sophistication of the customer palates may also be an element in making the choice.

Catering Template and Forms

Running any business must rely on a set pattern or rules to abide by and follow; it helps to keep the work on the right track.  A catering business which deals only with consumable items like food and drink naturally needs to have a solid model to base their operations.  Catering templates provide exactly that – a defined outline for every aspect of the business to function smoothly and expertly without losses.

People who first ventured into the catering business learned through trials and mistakes and eventually came up with their own basic catering templates.  The guidelines evolved with the changing times and became more functional and suitable for modern day catering services.  The demands and choices of customers have changed rapidly and with it the catering services style of functioning.

Every event or occasion that needs catering, have some basic necessities which must be looked into before making further progress.  Since every catering order is for different occasions, it works best to have a ready made format to work out the requirements of the customer; and a catering template for such an event makes the work easier.  The catering template has it all there in black and white, so you do not miss out on any crucial point.  All you need to do is tick off the correct box as you discuss with your client.

Dave Lipson, who has been a successful restaurateur for the past twenty years or so, has used his vast experience to help out other restaurateurs to achieve equal success.  He has a website called FreeRestaurantForms.com where he gives out catering templates for all parts of the catering business absolutely free.  The site offers catering templates on kitchen inventory, liquor inventory, restaurant business cards, special occasion tickets like New Years Eve or Christmas, and many more such vitally necessary detail formats.  Every occasion has its own catering template as well with complete details of wine, food, people, seating arrangements, buffet style, tables, chairs, costing etc.  Catering templates help you to take care of the basics and give you more time to focus on the extra demands of the customer.

Making A Liquor Inventory Spreadsheet

When you’re in the restaurant business, keeping track of the amount of liquor you purchase with the help of a liquor inventory spreadsheet is very, very important. After all, liquor doesn’t come cheap and you need to ensure that you aren’t being cheated! Moreover, if you’re serious about making a healthy income (read profit!) from your business, this tool is essential.

In fact, don’t limit your inventory to the end of each month. Conduct one at the end of every week. Here is a free liquor inventory form you can use. Now we come to the all-important question. What should you include in your inventory? In other words, how should you go about the entire process of looking for a free liquor inventory spreadsheet?

Components

In a good liquor inventory spreadsheet, you need to include the type of liquor - Whether they fall in the category of spirits or fortified wines or table wines or draught beer or draught lager or bottled beer or even cider. Yep, that’s a whole lot of types of liquor isn’t it? That isn’t all; you need to include all the specific liquor you buy, of each type in your list!

Make sure you don’t mix up the categories! For example, Spirits should include liquor such as Gordon’s Gin, Absolut, Baileys etc. Fortified wines should include Martini Dry, Bristol Cream, Club Classic. Table wines should include Pinot Giorgio, Jacobs Creek and Piesporter.

Draught beer should include Boddingtons and Murphy’s, Draught Lager should contain Stella Artois and Hoegaarden. Bottled Beer can include Smirnoff Ice or Black Ice, Old Speckled Hen and Bacardi Breezer. Cider can have Strongbow and Woodpecker.

Tired after reading all that? Let me tell you, that’s just the beginning! Your inventory is primarily concerned with profit! So you need to put in the prices per bottle as well as prices per shot, or wherever it is applicable, prices per keg and prices per pint. Compare that with the retail prices of the same quantity of liquor, so as to best calculate your profit.

Then you need to put in a record of the number of liquor units purchased during the course of the week. Then you’re all set to get exact figures! Sounds like a daunting task, doesn’t it? Well, it is, but we, at Free Restaurants Forms are here to help you. You can get detailed forms for your liquor inventory spreadsheet all for the grand total of nothing, at our site!