The answer to how many smoked roast portions per log a kitchen gets is written on the dial of the slicer, not on the log. The same 1800 g log gives 180 slices at a 10 g slice, 120 at 15 g and 72 at 25 g. The portion count is not a property of the log but the result of the operation's slice standard; where the standard is not written down there is no portion cost, only a guess.
Mortella's three smoked roast logs are the material for this calculation: Smoked Roast Beef 1800 g, Smoked Roast Turkey 1800 g and Smoked Roast Chicken with Pieces 1800 g. All three are unsliced whole logs, stored between 0 °C and +4 °C with the cut face wrapped. Their weight is the same and their cross-section width differs; that difference changes how the slice looks, not how many slices there are.
Every calculation below is a worked example with its assumptions stated; the real value comes from weighing the first three logs and goes onto the recipe card.
How many slices come from an 1800 g smoked roast log?
The usable weight of the log is divided by the slice weight; after the end-trim allowance, a 10 g slice gives about 171 slices, a 15 g slice 114 and a 25 g slice 68. The arithmetic runs like this: with an end-trim allowance of five percent, usable weight is 1800 × 0.95 = 1710 g, and that weight is divided by the slice weight.
Three assumptions must be written out: slice weight (verified by weighing, not by dial setting), end-trim allowance (measured on the first logs) and the assumption that slice weight stays constant along the log. The third is the weakest; as the log narrows or warms, slice weight drifts, and that drift is caught only by weighing midway.
A slice count becomes a portion count only through a portion definition; the definition changes with the use, and three separate definitions are given below.
The slice standard: thin 10 g, medium 15 g, thick 25 g assumptions
Three steps cover most operations. The thin slice (10 g assumption) is for canapés, rolls and the fan on a cold platter; held to the light, what lies behind it can be seen. The medium slice (15 g) is for sandwiches and buffets; the cross-section shows and the slice carries its own weight. The thick slice (25 g) is for plated service, hot sandwiches and the portion that feels like eating meat; the slice holds on a fork.
The dial position for each step varies by machine and is written on the recipe card with the machine's name. One slice is taken and weighed, the dial is adjusted until it delivers that weight, and the dial value stays on the card; an eyeballed thickness swings twenty percent from shift to shift and swings the portion cost with it.
Why the slice standard drives cost in food businesses is explained in general terms in a separate article; the note to add for smoked roast is that because the log is bought by the kilo, every gram in the standard shows up directly in the portion count.
How is the end-trim allowance accounted for?
The two ends of a log do not give clean slices, and from time to time a darkened layer is trimmed from the cut face; that loss is deducted from the usable weight at the outset. The starting assumption is three to five percent; the real value is measured on the first three logs by weighing the ends and the discarded slices.
Two practices shrink the allowance. The log is cut from one end and the other end stays in its casing; cutting from both ends creates two waste ends. The cut face is wrapped after every use; the darkened slice discarded the next morning from an unwrapped face is added to the allowance. In a kitchen where the end-trim allowance exceeds five percent, the problem lies in cutting discipline rather than in the log.
The ends are not rubbish; finely chopped, they go into salads, omelettes or hot sandwich fillings. That use does not lower the allowance in the cost calculation (the portion slice count does not change) but it shrinks the waste line.
Three portion definitions for buffet, sandwich and cold platter
| Use | Portion definition | Slice step | Slices per portion | Portions from an 1800 g log (5% end trim, 1710 g usable) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast buffet | Quantity sent out on the platter; guests serve themselves, average 2 slices per head assumed | Medium, 15 g | 2 | 114 slices / a round share for 57 guests |
| Sandwich | Number of slices covering the bread | Medium, 15 g | 2 (can be 1 for turkey) | 57 sandwiches (114 with turkey at one slice) |
| Cold platter, canapé | Weight presented per head, 40 g assumed | Thin, 10 g | 4 | 171 slices / 42 guests |
| Plated service, hot sandwich | Thick slice that holds on a fork, 50 g assumed | Thick, 25 g | 2 | 68 slices / 34 portions |
The table shows that one log can give anywhere between 34 and 114 portions; the threefold difference comes from the definition, not from the log. If smoked roast is used in three places on the menu, three separate portion costs are calculated and the order is placed on the sum of the three definitions.
Beef, turkey and chunky chicken smoked roast: does the cross-section change the portion?
It does not change a portion defined in grams; it does change one defined by slice count. Smoked Roast Turkey 1800 g has a broader cross-section than beef or chicken; the same 15 g slice comes off the turkey log thinner and wider and covers a sandwich bread on its own. Smoked Roast Beef 1800 g gives a narrower section; the same weight means a thicker slice, and two are needed to cover the bread.
On a sandwich line the consequence is direct: if the portion is defined as the slices that cover the bread, the turkey log can produce twice as many sandwiches from the same weight. On a buffet and a cold platter, where the portion is defined in grams, the three logs are equal and the choice follows taste.
They separate on taste and nutrition. Beef carries the highest protein-to-fat ratio at 21.5 g protein and 2.5 g fat per 100 g and the most pronounced meat flavour; turkey carries 20.4 g protein and 3.7 g fat; chunky chicken 20.6 g protein and 2.8 g fat. Smoked Roast Chicken with Pieces 1800 g shows visible pieces of meat in the cut and strengthens the perception of meat on a buffet; in the portion calculation it follows the same rules as the other two.
The logic of portion cost per log
Portion cost is the cost of the log divided by the portion count, and the portion count comes from the definition above; this article gives no prices, only the logic. The cost per kilo of the log is read from the quote, multiplied by 1.8 and divided by the portion count after the end-trim allowance. If the slice standard drops from 15 g to 10 g, portion cost falls by a third; if it rises to 25 g, portion cost climbs by sixty percent. The dial is a stronger cost tool than the price list.
In a quote comparison the net weight is what is read; the Turkish food labelling regulation (yeni sekmede açılır) counts net quantity among the mandatory label items, and the portion calculation starts from that figure on the label. Casing and packaging weight do not enter the sum.
The guide to slicing yield, waste and the cold-platter plan for block smoked roast in catering builds the same calculation at event scale; the table here is the daily-kitchen version of that plan.
Checklist for a smoked roast order plan
- Count the places on the menu where smoked roast is used and write a portion definition for each: buffet, sandwich, cold platter, plated service.
- Choose a slice step for each definition, weigh one slice and write the dial value on the recipe card with the machine's name.
- Weigh the ends and discarded slices on the first three logs; turn the end-trim allowance from an assumption into a measurement.
- Multiply weekly portions by definition, add them up and divide by the usable log weight; the order quantity is that result rounded up.
- Choose between beef, turkey and chunky chicken by the use: turkey where one slice should cover the bread, beef where the most pronounced meat flavour is wanted, chunky chicken where visible pieces of meat are wanted on a buffet.
- Measure product temperature at delivery, match net weight against the delivery note and write the cut-face wrapping discipline onto the shift card.
- Write to the EMKA FOOD sales team for a sample log, account opening and a delivery plan, and state your slicing capacity in the same exchange.
Read the portion count from the dial rather than from the log; once the standard is written, the cost of smoked roast stops being a guess and gives the same figure every week.
