What does a bakery chef do?
Bakery chef responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real bakery chef resumes:
- Integrate key culinary leaders into casino and food and beverage operations, achieving positive results and industry awards.
- Experience in safe operation of commercial food service equipment, including deep fryers, ovens, cook tops, and slicers.
- Own and operate successful gourmet restaurant/bakery/catering service
- Mix, weigh and proof ingredients in accordance with bakery recipes.
- Direct or coordinate bakery deliveries.
- Own and operate successful gourmet restaurant/bakery/catering service
Bakery chef skills and personality traits
We calculated that 49% of Bakery Chefs are proficient in Culinary, Kitchen Equipment, and Food Cost. They’re also known for soft skills such as Business skills, Communication skills, and Creativity.
We break down the percentage of Bakery Chefs that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Culinary, 49%
Trained and managed all culinary personnel, supervised and coordinated all culinary activities, estimated food consumption and managed food cost.
- Kitchen Equipment, 32%
Promoted proper food safety and sanitation at all time and ensure kitchen equipment is properly maintained
- Food Cost, 6%
Reduced food cost by recognizing market fluctuations of product and coordinating with Executive Chef to reformulate menus accordingly.
- Bakery Products, 4%
Coordinated and maintained bakery display cases and merchandised other bakery products.
- Oven Temperatures, 3%
Observe color of products being baked and adjust oven temperatures, humidity, or conveyor speeds accordingly.
- Safety Regulations, 3%
Maintained and disinfected work area in compliance with safety regulations.
Common skills that a bakery chef uses to do their job include "culinary," "kitchen equipment," and "food cost." You can find details on the most important bakery chef responsibilities below.
Business skills. The most essential soft skill for a bakery chef to carry out their responsibilities is business skills. This skill is important for the role because "executive chefs and chefs who run their own restaurant need to know how to budget for supplies, set prices, and manage workers so that the restaurant is profitable." Additionally, a bakery chef resume shows how their duties depend on business skills: "prepared and executed annual business plan(s) to meet profitability goals. "
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform bakery chef duties is communication skills. Bakery chefs responsibilities require that "chefs must convey their instructions clearly and effectively to staff so that patrons' orders are prepared correctly." Bakery chefs also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "direct sales consultant in-home presentations of products customer one-on-one interaction; sales and customer service post-sales communication via phone and email"
Creativity. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of bakery chefs is creativity. This skill is critical to many everyday bakery chef duties, as "chefs and head cooks need to develop and prepare interesting and innovative recipes." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "gained michelin star through my improvements in creativity, quality, and consistency of our cuisine. "
Leadership skills. For certain bakery chef responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "leadership skills." The day-to-day duties of a bakery chef rely on this skill, as "chefs and head cooks must be able to motivate kitchen staff and to develop constructive and cooperative working relationships." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what bakery chefs do: "interact with customers and provide leadership and training to all culinary and service staff. "
Sense of taste and smell. Another crucial skill for a bakery chef to carry out their responsibilities is "sense of taste and smell." A big part of what bakery chefs relies on this skill, since "chefs and head cooks must have a keen sense of taste and smell in order to inspect food quality and to design meals that their patrons will enjoy." How this skill relates to bakery chef duties can be seen in an example from a bakery chef resume snippet: "brainstormed new recipes and culinary creations to serve in in-store retail. "
Time-management skills. While "time-management skills" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to bakery chef responsibilities. Much of what a bakery chef does relies on this skill, seeing as "chefs and head cooks must ensure efficiency in meal preparation and service, especially during busy hours." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of bakery chefs: "ensured food came out on time and safely ran daily kitchen operations with the kitchen staff maintained a clean work environment"
The three companies that hire the most bakery chefs are:
- Price Chopper Supermarkets-Market 324 bakery chefs jobs
- P&S Surgical Hospital2 bakery chefs jobs
- Russell Morin1 bakery chefs jobs
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Compare different bakery chefs
Bakery chef vs. Head cook
A head cook is responsible for organizing the food preparation, organizing the kitchen operations, and ensuring the quality of the food presented. Head cooks' duties include monitoring the food inventory, creating new recipes, researching current market trends, responding to guests' inquiries and complaints, distributing kitchen tasks to the staff, and maintaining budget goals while maintaining the highest food quality. A head cook must always adhere to the sanitary procedures and hygienic standards, as well as have a broad knowledge of the food industry.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a bakery chef are more likely to require skills like "culinary," "bakery products," "oven temperatures," and "safety regulations." On the other hand, a job as a head cook requires skills like "meal preparation," "food service," "food preparation," and "quality standards." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Head cooks tend to make the most money working in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $43,083. In contrast, bakery chefs make the biggest average salary, $51,704, in the insurance industry.On average, head cooks reach similar levels of education than bakery chefs. Head cooks are 0.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Bakery chef vs. Chef de cuisine
A chef de cuisine, also known as an executive chef, oversees a kitchen's daily operations in public and private establishments to ensure food quality and efficient services. Their duties require cooking and leadership skills because they involve leading menu development and meal preparation, coordinating staff, delegating responsibilities, selecting and sourcing ingredients, and handling customer issues and concerns promptly and professionally. Moreover, a chef de cuisine leads and empowers staff to reach the kitchen's daily goals while implementing health standards and regulations.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that bakery chef responsibilities requires skills like "food cost," "bakery products," "oven temperatures," and "safety regulations." But a chef de cuisine might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "fine dining," "kitchen operations," "food preparation," and "customer service."
Chef de cuisines may earn a higher salary than bakery chefs, but chef de cuisines earn the most pay in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $53,893. On the other hand, bakery chefs receive higher pay in the insurance industry, where they earn an average salary of $51,704.chef de cuisines earn similar levels of education than bakery chefs in general. They're 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Bakery chef vs. Chef de partie
A Chef De Partie is responsible for supervising a section of the kitchen, such as pastry, butchery, fish, or sauces. They enforce strict health and hygiene standards.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a bakery chef is likely to be skilled in "bakery products," "oven temperatures," "safety regulations," and "product quality," while a typical chef de partie is skilled in "cleanliness," "food preparation," "fine dining," and "cuisine."
Chef de parties earn the highest salary when working in the hospitality industry, where they receive an average salary of $39,260. Comparatively, bakery chefs have the highest earning potential in the insurance industry, with an average salary of $51,704.When it comes to education, chef de parties tend to earn similar degree levels compared to bakery chefs. In fact, they're 1.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Bakery chef vs. Chef/catering
A Chef/Caterer is responsible for cooking dishes at events. They direct the kitchen staff and wait personnel in serving the food, attending to food stations, and setting up buffet tables.
Types of bakery chef
Updated January 8, 2025
