---
title: Read the plate cost docket
description: Understand batch cost, plate cost, food-cost percentage and the on-target, watch, over and uncosted stamps, and test a price change with the what-if slider.
order: 33
updated: 2026-09-16
keywords: recipe, plate cost, food cost, docket, pricing, what-if
---

The cost docket appears wherever a dish does: in the recipe book, the items list and the detail page. This guide reads it.

**Before you start:** recipes access. Recipes and menus are loaded with your onboarding team; the screens are read-only in the app.

## The docket

| Field       | Meaning                                                     |
| ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| Batch cost  | Cost of the whole recipe batch at current ingredient prices |
| Plate cost  | Batch cost divided by portions, with yield applied once     |
| Menu price  | The selling price on the menu                               |
| Food cost % | Plate cost as a share of the menu price                     |
| Stamp       | **On target**, **Watch**, **Over** or **Uncosted**          |

_Uncosted_ means an ingredient has no price yet, usually because no invoice for it has been approved. Approve one and the docket updates.

## Where the prices come from

Each approved supplier invoice records a price observation for the items on it. Recipe costs use the latest observed price at the outlet, so the docket moves when your suppliers' prices move.

## Scale a batch

In the recipe book, switch the batch scale between half, one, two and five times. Costs recompute on the spot.

## Test a price change

Open **Recipes › Pricing**. Drag the slider from 20% below to 50% above the current plate cost and read the food-cost percentage before and after. This is a what-if; publishing a price change is done outside ChowChirp for now.

## Audit a cost to the order line

**Recipes › Explosions** lists every closed order line with its per-ingredient consumption, cost and origin, and flags approximate figures.

## Related

- [Check dish feasibility before service](/docs/how-to/check-dish-feasibility)
- [Menu engineering explained](/docs/explanation/menu-engineering)