Job Description of A Culinary Arts Chef

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A culinary arts chef is a person that basically earns a living working in the culinary arts field. A couple of examples would include hotel chefs, caterers, and restaurants. Using the loosest interpretation possible, a culinary arts chef is the person who prepares and cooks food for a living. He or she can also prepare and create drinks such as beverages and cocktails as well. He or she combines the technical processes of preparing food and drinks with the innovativeness of an artist.

However, in daily use, chefs that aren’t working in high-end, professional kitchens are typically called cooks.  They don’t get new cabinets whenever they want. A chef may find employment in unusual places like retirement centers and hospitals, or other places within the entertainment industry like cruise ships, yacht or providing meals for film sets – this is also known as craft services.

Culinary Job Description

•Culinary arts chef runs the kitchen in a restaurant or in other food establishments.

•The chefs choose the ingredients and develop all the recipes in the menu.

•The chef orders the food and kitchen supplies, checks the freshness of food and how the food smells (aroma) and tastes.

•Maintains inventory.

•The chef hires, trains and supervises the kitchen staff in order to make sure that every food that leaves the kitchen is well prepared.

•The chef ensures that the kitchen is properly sanitized and also makes sure that every staff follows the sanitary and safety procedures that comply with the federal, state and local laws put in place for food preparation and sanitation in commercial kitchens.

The Work Environment for a Culinary Job

The description concerns the utensils used on a regular basis. A chef utilizes very sharp utensils in the preparation of food; he or she works close to uncomfortably hot heating elements and may also have to work on a slippery surface. A large number of commercial kitchens are jam-packed quarters, so everyone who works in the kitchen must be able to work as a unified team. Culinary arts chefs typically spend a lot of their time on their feet and also have to work irregular hours like early in the morning or late evenings in order to accommodate food vendors and customers. Chefs might also have to go to work during the holidays. Running a commercial kitchen demands long hours and shifts to keep things running safely and smoothly.

Career Outlook and Salary

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there is an expected decline – less than one percent (1%) – for chefs from 2010 to 2020. Though a rising population in the United States will stimulate the demand for eateries and restaurants, an attempt to reduce expenses will cause a lot of restaurants to use general cooks to perform the duties of chefs. A large number of job opportunities will come as a result of a large number of chefs leaving the profession because of retirement, long work hours, and very intense work environment. According to BLS, as of 2011, the mean salary of a culinary arts chef was $46,600 per annum.