Every bar operator has sat down at one point in their career and crunched the numbers behind chicken wings. This is for two main reasons:
- Chicken wings are typically the highest volume item in conventional North American pub cuisine. In some operations, wing sales volume can be 4x higher than the second highest-selling item.
- They are inexpensive, and this allows operators to use them as a loss leader for “wing night” promotions, which drive traffic and increase beverage sales. Additionally, variations of flavor are simple to create in house, which add more value to the guest.
Because wings have high sales volume, are inexpensive, and are purposely sold at break-even (or a loss) to drive traffic, it is vitally important to know the mathematics of chicken wings. It is also key to understand how to control the inventory from the time it is received to the time it is plated for the guest.
Here are three tips every kitchen operator needs to know about chicken wings.
1. Understand the differences between fresh wings vs. frozen, pre-cooked wings.
Fresh wings will cost approximately $0.23 / oz and pre-cooked wings can be almost double that at $0.50 / oz.
Raw wings have a lower yield due to the presence of blood. Depending on your supplier, raw wings may be shipped by weight in a bag. That bag will contain blood, and that blood is unusable. The presence of that blood in the package will automatically reduce the effective yield you can get from that item. Frozen wings have no blood in the packaging, so it doesn't affect the yield.
Raw wings also require higher input costs prior to service. When raw wings are received in a bag or box, they are typically breaded and fried once, then placed in a container such as a bus bin prior to service. Once service begins, the wings are flash fried for each order before sauce or seasoning is added. So, although the raw wings are cheaper upon delivery, all of the inputs for preparation, including the labor, the bread crumbs, the egg wash, possibly milk or brine, and also the deterioration in oil from the first round of frying, are all part of the end cost an operator incurs. These are often overlooked by operators in their calculations of cost / ounce.
Comparatively, frozen wings require no additional inputs prior to frying and less oil.
Raw wings spoil faster. Raw wings are typically defrosted before fried. Once defrosted, they have 2-3 days maximum in a fridge before they start to go bad.
On the other hand, frozen wings can be put into a deep fryer from a frozen state, and therefore their rate of waste is much lower.
Although an intelligent chef will be able to control prep levels of raw wings to minimize waste levels, waste will inevitably happen with raw wings. From this perspective, frozen wings are more “dummy proof” and one less concern a kitchen manager must police.
2. Factoring in the cost of sauce and seasoning and train staff to control it
Wings are flavored by adding approximately two-ounce units for wet sauces, and 0.5 oz units for dry seasoning. The sauce and seasoning allocations can be anywhere from $0.20 - $0.50 per serving. Sauces are typically portioned freehand with the use of plastic squeeze bottles, and seasonings are either done by hand with a “pinch” or directly from the shaker.
Because these are typically not done with a portion control tool, it is common to see losses in sauce / spices in high-volume wing operations. Controlling sauce and seasoning costs comes down to training. This can only be accomplished by training each chef how much sauce comes out from a squeeze bottle or what their “pinch” of dry spices translates to when weighed on a scale.
3. Portioning by weight or by piece
The most optimal way to control wing variance is to portion each serving by a pre-determined weight (usually a pound), in plastic bags. This is the best way to ensure wing variance is kept to a minimum. Pre-portioning wings costs labor, as the chef must take the time to individually bag each serving. However, if the kitchen is a high-volume wing operation, the $20 spent on labor to bag each serving could easily save $200 / week in losses that could occur from serving portions by piece.
Whenever kitchens portion wings by the piece, there are always negative variances. Keep in mind that although each wing is about 1.5 oz in weight, no two chicken wings are the same. Because of this variation in piece size, the most practical way to ensure wings are served according to their theoretical size is to use weight. This concept of using an absolute for portion control is true for all kitchen inventory. The less grey area there is in portion control, the less variance there will be. And portioning by weight is the most black and white solution an operator can use to control chicken wings.
Kevin Tam is a Sculpture Hospitality franchisee with more than a decade of experience working directly with bar, restaurant, and nightclub owners on all points of the spectrum. From family-owned single bar operations to large companies with locations on an international scale, Kevin works with them all and understands the unique challenges each kind of company faces. He’s also the author of a book titled Night Club Marketing Systems – How to Get Customers for Your Bar, a regular writer/contributor for Bar & Restaurant News.
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