Tag Archives: weigh

Are You Paying For Your Frozen Yogurt Cup too?

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Believe it or not, the warmer months will be here before long and we’ll all be looking to cool down at the local froyo shop. Today, many of these frozen yogurt shops allow the consumer to dispense as much frozen yogurt he or she wants. 

The yogurt is priced at around fifty cents per ounce, so if you want many different flavors or a cup that is filled sky high, you can. However, the real question is are you paying for just the yogurt and toppings that you consume or are you also paying for the cup that the yogurt is placed in?

Many yogurt shops determine price based on the weight of the yogurt and toppings, but they are required to subtract the weight of the cup or package first (which is called the tare weight). According to Jerry Butler, NCDA & CS Weight and Measures program manager, not every shop is aware of that. Butler heads a team of 24 inspectors whose job is to inspect scales in the state, and he guesses that they’ve inspected around a hundred or so yogurt shops so far. Of those, he estimates about 75 percent have not been using their scales properly. “Say you’re a family of four,” Butler says, “you could be paying up to a dollar extra just for the weight of the cups. So it’s important that the shops know how to use their scales.”

Now that the NCDA & CS inspectors have discovered that yogurt shops use scales, they’re keeping an eye out for them as they drive to other jobs. If they see a frozen yogurt shop while they’re out, they’ll step inside to inspect it. Most shops that have been violating are quick to correct their mistakes, which were usually made in ignorance, Butler says. A second offense would result in a notice of violation, and a third offender must pay a penalty of up to $5,000. So what can frozen yogurt eaters do to make sure they’re getting the most yogurt for their buck? “The bottom line is: the consumer needs to look and ask,” Butler says. “Make sure that the yogurt shop employee uses the tare. And if they’re not, the consumer needs to call me.”

Fortunately for frozen yogurt shop owners, we have electronic scales available that make this process fairly easy to accommodate. Contact the sales staff today (919) 776-7737 and they will be happy to provide you with prices for the legal for trade scales that will work best to accommodate weighing frozen yogurt by the ounce, and using the tare feature to subtract out the weight of the cup.

scale for weighing frozen yogurt by the ounce

Scales for Every Application 

We have standard legal for trade counter top scales. We have point of sale scales that can connect to your cash register. Finally, we have price computing scales that can display the weight and price on both the front of the scale and the back of the scale. 

We offer over 40,000 products (and counting) — the largest selection of quality weighing products available—and the best customer service in the business. Contact us today for all of your scale needs.

Restaurant Owners: Portion Control Is Very Important To Keeping Your Ingredient Costs Under Control

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If you are in the restaurant business then you understand how much your ingredients like cheese really cost, since you purchase them from your suppliers on a regular basis. Think about this for a second… Let’s say you’re making your best selling pizza or your most popular sandwich. What if you could cut back on your most expensive ingredient by just a smidgen. Actually, a better way to say it would be — what if you could develop a consistent way to add your ingredients so that every large pizza had exactly eight ounces of cheese or six ounces of pepperoni. The results would hopefully lead to more profitability and a consistent product your patrons could enjoy each and every visit.

This outstanding must read article that is referenced below goes into great detail about portion control and why it’s so important to a company’s bottom line.

“You can have the best pizza in the world. But you can lose your shirt if you’re not careful,” he said. “If you ain’t weighing it, you are winging it.” While many operators habitually weigh dough balls, nothing provides a pizza operator with more margin/cost control than weighing their cheese portions.

…. it’s important to keep cheat sheets for employees to remind them how much cheese to use, and even have the cheese pre-weighed in cups for them. This allows an operator to ensure consistency and to know the cost of every single pizza. The difference, for example, of 7 ounces and 10 ounces of cheese can be 60 cents per pizza. He also suggested adding a weighing scale that is easy for employees to use. Training and incentivizing is important for employees, who may free throw either through habit or to save time.

…. At the end of those 30 days, the concept saved about 200 pounds of cheese totaling $1,200, which was then split between the four employees as a bonus.

I like how the author wrote this article since it’s always great to see real world examples. As you can see from reading the entire article, your business can really benefit by adding some type of weighing functionality into your kitchen. Not only does this help control costs but it should also help restuarants increase their consistency. How many times have you gone to a restaurant and had one pizza with too much cheese or too little sauce, then you go back a couple weeks later and it’s the opposite problem. Customers love a consistent sandwhich or entrée (just ask my in-laws).

If you need some guidance on choosing the correct scale for your restaurant or prep kitchen please contact our sales department at 919 776-7737 or visit our site centralcarolinascale.com which has many scales posted for you to view. We also have a Youtube channel that shows a few of our scales in video format.

Bakery Reduces Ingredient Waste and Bad Batch Costs by Over $39,000

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A large national baking company realized that improving the performance of their minor ingredient scaling could lead to a significant impact on their profitability. Additionally they were averaging one bad batch a week due to errors in the minor ingredient hand adds. They looked to Doran Scales to provide the solution to reduce costs from wasted ingredients and bad batches.

THE SOLUTION was a Doran FC6200 Formula Control Scale. A Doran FC6200 is installed at the ingredient scaling station. Ingredient batching is automated, stepping the user through the formula and ensuring the correct ingredients are accurately scaled every time. Formula Loader software is installed on a PC. This recipe software is used to create and maintain minor ingredient batches. Recipes, formulas and production schedules are then uploaded to the FC6200 through USB flash drive or through an Ethernet connection. Increase accuracy is achieved through user programmable ingredient target weights and tolerances giving management effective control of the batching operation. Multi-tasking Operators who are distracted by other production responsibilities can now return to the partially scaled formula assured that the scale will pick up right where they left off, prompting them through the remainder of the formula without error. Ingredient Lot Numbers are automatically recorded for traceability during formula scaling while ensuring each ingredient meets the desired weight tolerance.

Test Weights And Boats

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A customer recently mentioned having an odd question to ask.  His firm does stability testing on boats and ships, and has rented 1000lb NIST Class F Cast Iron Test weights in the past.  He was looking to do a similar test in the U.S. Virgin Islands and having problems finding a local vendor for test weights.

Curious, we asked what exactly do you use the weights to test?  Normally around here, the weights are put on a truck scale for a yearly calibration or to test a floor scale out.  The customer said, he does stability testing on ships and other small craft such as yachts. With larger ships, large blocks of concrete (which are weighed before the test) are often used; however with smaller vessels where deck space is tight, your 500, 1000 and sometimes 2500 lb test weights are ideal and are easy to handle.

They have the added benefit of being certified weights, thus there is little question about accuracy. On some smaller vessels they used the 50lb weights and moved the weights by hand during the test. Basically the test weights are placed on board and then moved transversely from side to side to apply a known moment as the heel angle is measured. Using the principles of naval architecture, the vertical center of gravity is then calculated.

Avoid dimensional weight charges

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Many years ago in the shipping world we just weighed a package on top of a shipping scale and paid charges based on the weight. Today, you pay shipping charges based on both weight and the size of your box that you are shipping. Smaller packages are greener packages because more of them fit on a pallet or in a truck, meaning it takes less fuel to move them. Larger packages take up more space and, ultimately, use more fuel. That’s the principle behind dimensional weight. Since dimensional weight is a very important measurement it can be a good idea to add a dimensional weighing and measurement tool to your shipping process. Continue reading →

Common Questions Answered Regarding Counting Scales

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Counting Scales are very similar to other scales in terms of weighing, but the counting scale does two additional functions, by performing operations in division and multiplication based on the internal resolution.  Please continue reading below as Jim Daggon and Ann Crowley from Rice Lake Weighing Systems answer some of the common questions relating to counting scales like the Digi DC-300, Digi DC-190, DC-788 and the DC-782.

1. What is internal resolution?
The internal resolution of a counting scale is the number of divisions into which it divides the total capacity of the scale.

Example: A 50 lb counting scale with 1 million count resolution divides up the 50 lb into 1,000,000 parts. This means each internal resolution is translated to 50/1,000,000 or 0.00005 lb.All of the weights are calculated on this basis. For example, if some parts were placed on the counting scale, and the internal calculation was 210 internal counts, the weight to be displayed would be 210 times 0.00005 lb = 0.01050 lb. Since the weight display might only be five digits, then the weight display would be 0.01 lb. This is the external resolution. (rounded off).

The operator can key in the sample quantity—for example, ten pieces. The scale still “knows” how many internal counts are being used (210) and now divides that number by 10 to get the number of internal counts per piece (210/10 = 21). Continue reading →

Buy Label Printing Scale and Get $50 Gift Card

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Starting 7/15/2010, CAS Scale will begin offering to customers of Central Carolina Scale $50 (Visa/Mastercard Gift Card) for every CL5000 and/or LP1000’s that they purchase till 8/15/2010. For each qualifying product purchased, $50 will be added to the gift card. That can be a lot of savings!

The CL5000 Label Printing Scale has the functions you need at an affordable price. Includes CL-Works software package. Use in supermarkets, specialty stores, deli’s and more. 60 lb Capacity with 3,000 PLU’s & 1,000 Ingredients. CL-Works Software Package Included. Features PLU Editor – Label Editor – Keypad Editor. Compatible with Microsoft Windows® 2000 / XP / Vista.

The CAS LP-1000 Thermal Label Printing Scale was designed specifically for the food service environment where you need to pre-pack and price items. The CAS LP 1000 is perfect for your deli or grocery. With 54 preset Pricing keys and the flexibility to pre-program your items, prices, and ingredients into the scale, thus reducing errors and giving the consumer the information they require. Optional pole display (model LP-1000NP) is also available.

This promotion will run for a limited time only. For instructions on how to claim gift cards, see below. Please note: All gift card requests from end-users must be postmarked within 20 days of the invoice date.  Qualifying Products must be purchased between 7/15/2010 – 8/15/2010 to be eligible for this promotion. Qualifying products are: CL5000B – CL5000R – LP1000N – LP1000NP.

Medical Scales

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I took a tour recently of a local pediatrician office. Unlike the other people on the tour, I was actually sneaking a peek at what scales the doctor’s office had.  I was able to see a digital Detecto Medical scale along with a couple of digital baby scales. There was also a separate stand alone height rod in the weighing station for the kids.  All the weighing equipment seemed to be in good condition and it appeared that the scales had calibration stickers on them stating that the scales had been checked for accuracy on a consistent basis. Continue reading →