If you have ever thought of becoming a chef or have an interest in professional cooking, then this article is for you. You will learn all of the important information needed to have a better understanding on Cuisine and being a Chef. You will learn the requirements to be a chef, the tasks chefs do, where they work and how much they get paid. You will also have a better understanding on a typical work day in the kitchen and the dangers that may be involved with the job. This is a helpful article that will help you make up your mind and project your future as a chef. Learn what you can expect when retiring and what kind of influence you will have on people's lives.
Being a chef is an exhausting yet rewarding job, the average day in a chef's life involves more than cooking. Chefs also play an integral role in the inventory preparation and the management of the restaurant. The mise en place is an essential part of preparation to ensure that all the ingredients are ready for service. The chef is also in charge of creating new recipes and then work a long and excruciating shift which can end as late as 11 p.m. Despite working long hours, being a chef is a rewarding and fulfilling job.
Chefs play an integral role in the inventory preparation and the management of the restaurant. The mise en place is an essential part of preparation to ensure that all the ingredients are ready for service. The chef is also in charge of creating new recipes and then open shop and start the service.
In the morning, the first task required is usually inventory, chefs count and check for the quality of the ingredients that arrived that morning.They then store and label said ingredients.The mise en place is an essential part of preparation during the morning, it ensures that all the ingredients are ready for service, this includes cleaning and cutting the ingredients and making sauces. After mise en place the chef has the opportunity to try new recipes and menu items. Before service a briefing takes place to ensure that everyone knows what to do. During service, the chef supervises kitchen staff and will assist the areas where the team may be having difficulties. During dinner service, chefs will coordinate kitchen staff, ensure the quality and speed of production while assisting with cooking. The last part of the day is post-service, where staff cleans the kitchen and plan the next day's service.
Chefs can work in a variety of restaurants, culinary academies, grocery stores, specialty food stores, residential care facilities, schools, hospitals, private households and catering companies. They will mostly work somewhere where there is a cooking department or where their cooking skills and knowledge are required.
To become a chef you will have a lot of choices, either start out as a cook, an assistant chef, a preparatory chef or as an unpaid intern. In all of these cases you will need to sacrifice long hours in a low wage job. You will need this to gain the necessary experience before you can get a position of responsibility in a professional kitchen. Some people get these positions thanks to their years of hard work at culinary academies. All it takes is patience, hard work, dedication, and talent. You will need to have the guts to demonstrate your skills in order to advance in the kitchen ranks.
Chefs made on average $51,530 annually according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in May 2019. The numbers are similar to this nowadays and might change with the constant changes in economy.
Chefs are constantly learning new cooking techniques and are constantly becoming more knowledgeable. Working as a chef is the equivalent of practicing every day in any other field of work, because of this they don't really need additional training. Chefs learn everything in the kitchen, but if you really want a more in depth or specific training you can take complementary training programs that will target the different areas you want to explore.
Some common dangers of being a chef are, the possibility of cutting yourself, burning yourself, getting sick because of hazardous ingredients or slipping and falling in the slippery kitchen. Being a chef also requires physical stamina, because you will work long shifts standing on your feet, lifting heavy pots and other tools and ingredients. After those long days of work you can pull a muscle or tendon and at the end of the day your back and legs can hurt due to bad posture.
I think that it would be pretty unlikely that they take over the kitchen, if they did it will probably be in the far future. Robots would need to be very precise and meticulous in order to achieve the level of proficiency the long years of practice have given to professional chefs.
Chefs don't have a mandatory retirement age, they can work as long as their health and mind will allow them to. Most of them will retire at the default retirement age due to them being happy with their achievements.
As you may have seen, being a chef is a long and rewarding career. A career that will make you learn new things and will constantly develop your creativity.
Rationale: to inform or educate
Authority: edited reporting
Date: still relevant
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Rationale: to inform or educate
Authority: edited reporting
Date: recently published
Accuracy: probably true
Relevance: relevant for this document
Sources: cites sources