Summary: Chefs and dinner cooks prepare, season, and cook food.

Chefs and head cooks direct the preparation, seasoning, and cooking of salads, soups, fish, meats, vegetables, desserts, and other foods. They may plan and price menu items, order supplies, and keep records and accounts. Chefs and head cooks supervise, train, and observe cooks and kitchen workers. They inspect supplies, equipment, and work areas. Restaurant chefs and cooks usually prepare a wide selection of dishes, cooking most orders individually. Institutional chefs and cooks work in the kitchens of schools, cafeterias, businesses, hospitals, and other institutions. They typically prepare large quantities of a limited number of entrees, vegetables, and desserts. Restaurant and institutional chefs and cooks weigh, measure, and mix ingredients using various kitchen utensils and equipment. They prepare meat, baked goods, and fruits and vegetables for hot or cold service. Chefs and cooks portion, arrange, and garnish food. They wash pots, pans, dishes, utensils, and other cooking equipment.

Work Activities

• Collaborate with personnel and plan and develop recipes and menus.
• Supervise and coordinate activities of cooks and workers engaged in food preparation.
• Wash pots, pans, dishes, utensils, and other cooking equipment.
• Portion, arrange, and garnish food, and serve food to waiter or patron.
• Inspect supplies, equipment, and work areas to ensure conformance to health standards.
• Determine production schedules and worker-time requirements.
• Estimate amounts and costs and requisition supplies and equipment.
• Train and instruct cooks and workers in proper food preparation procedures.
• Wash, peel, cut, and seed fruits and vegetables.
• Weigh, measure, and mix ingredients, season and cook food according to recipes or personal judgment.
• Butcher, cut and bone meat, fowl or shellfish prior to cooking.
• Bake, roast, broil, steam, carve and trim meats, fish, vegetables and other foods.
• Bake bread, rolls, cakes, and pastry.

General Activities

• Monitor processes, material, and surroundings.
• Teach others.
• Coach and develop others.
• Staff organizational units.
• Judge the qualities of objects, services, or people.
• Make decisions and solve problems.
• Organize, plan, and prioritize.
• Evaluate information against standards.
• Scheduling work and activities.
• Handle and move objects.
• Perform general physical activities.
• Identify objects, actions, and events.
• Control machines and processes.
• Document and record information.
• Implement ideas, programs, systems, or products.
• Estimate the characteristics of materials, products, events or information.
• Get information needed to do the job.
• Inspect equipment, structures, or materials.
• Monitor and control resources.
• Communicate with supervisors, peers, or subordinates.
• Coordinate the work and activities of others.
• Guide, direct, and motivate subordinates.