The price per kilogram of a block product is low, while its cost per portion stays unknown until it gets calculated. Waste fills the distance between the two.
Why does the block format exist?
Packaging cost per kilogram falls.
There is no portioning step in production, so labour drops.
Shelf life runs longer because the surface area is small.
Volume efficiency in transport is high.
Those four reasons make the block format clearly cheaper than portioned product.
| Item | Block product | Portioned product |
|---|---|---|
| Price per kilogram | Reference | 20-30% higher |
| Work in the business | Thawing plus cutting | None |
| Waste | 8-12% | 0-2% |
| Portion consistency | Depends on staff | Fixed |
| Shelf life (unopened) | Long | Medium |
How does the thawing happen?
In a fridge at four degrees.
Twenty-four hours for a two and a half kilogram block.
Thirty-six hours for a five kilogram block.
The block sits in a container with a drip tray beneath it.
Thawing on a surface or in hot water does not happen; it creates both a safety problem and a loss of water.
What does uncontrolled thawing cost?
Under fast thawing the cell walls cannot hold their water.
The block gives up five to eight percent of its weight.
That water carries the taste of the product away with the weight.
What remains comes out dry and fibrous.
Under slow thawing the same loss falls to two or three percent, and the only difference is planning the time.
When does a block get cut?
Not once the block has fully thawed but while it is half frozen.
The centre still firm, the outside soft.
At that stage the blade cuts cleanly and the slice holds its shape.
A fully thawed block gets crushed under the blade.
A fully frozen block does not get cut; the blade suffers and shavings become waste.
Which cutting tool gets used?
A long chef's knife for thick slices.
A slicer for thin ones.
For dicing, the order runs slice, then baton, then cube.
A serrated blade does not get used; it tears the fibres.
The blade has to be sharp, since a dull one raises both waste and cutting time.
Where does the waste occur?
The first source is the water lost in thawing.
The second is shavings and trimming during cutting.
The third is the irregular ends of the block.
The fourth is whatever remains in the service container.
Added together, a well-run kitchen sees eight percent and a poorly run one fifteen.
What happens to the ends of a block?
They get diced into dishes.
They get minced and used as a filling.
They become a garnish in soups and rice.
They go into staff meals.
They do not get thrown away; the price of the block includes them, and discarding them raises the portion cost directly.
How does the portion standard get set?
The target grammage gets written down.
A scale stays at the cutting station.
The first ten portions get weighed.
Deviation stays under five percent.
Without a standard, portions from the same product vary by up to twenty percent, and that variation invalidates the menu price.
How does a block portion cost get calculated?
The cost of the block gets divided by the net weight after waste.
With ten percent waste on a two and a half kilogram block, two point two five kilograms remain.
The cost per kilogram gets recalculated against that net weight.
A hundred-gram portion is a tenth of that figure.
Without that correction the portion cost appears ten percent lower than it really is.
How does portioned product get stored?
Portions lie in a single layer with paper between them.
Two days in a sealed container in a fridge.
Four days if vacuum-packed.
Nothing goes back into the freezer.
Portioning only what the day needs is the one method that protects both quality and shelf life.
When does a block product make sense?
In businesses using more than a kilogram a day.
Where the portion size is specific to the menu.
Where the staff and bench capacity exist.
In low-volume businesses portioned product works out cheaper; waste and labour eat the difference per kilogram.
The decision follows the cost per portion rather than the price per kilogram.
How do the records work?
The incoming weight of the block gets written down.
The net weight after portioning gets weighed.
The difference between the two goes into the record as waste.
The monthly waste rate gets calculated.
Figures above twelve percent point to a problem in thawing, cutting or staff technique, and all three get checked separately.
How does ordering block product get planned?
The calculation runs from weekly consumption.
Thawing time joins the ordering interval; a five-kilogram block enters the fridge a day and a half ahead.
Safety stock never drops below one block.
On delivery the packaging and the temperature get checked.
The block gets weighed; the difference from the label should stay under two percent.
How does the portioning station get set up?
The bench sits close to the slicer and the scale.
The board is red, reserved for raw meat.
Portion containers stay within reach.
A separate container waits for the end pieces.
A notebook or tablet for the waste record sits at the same station; move it away from the bench and the record stops getting kept.
Which mistakes cost most with block product?
The first is thawing on the bench, losing both water and safety.
The second is trying to cut a fully thawed block.
The third is throwing away the end pieces.
The fourth is not setting a portion standard.
The fifth is keeping no waste record; that last one hides the other four and prevents them being corrected.
In which cuts does block product arrive?
Block beef kavurma comes in pieces and cooked.
Block select pastırma comes from lean muscles.
Block ribeye pastırma comes from the marbled back.
Each block asks for a different thawing time and a different cutting method.
Applying one thawing schedule to all three is the most common planning mistake.
