Cook apprentice vs lead cook

The differences between cook apprentices and lead cooks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a cook apprentice and a lead cook. Additionally, a lead cook has an average salary of $35,964, which is higher than the $34,707 average annual salary of a cook apprentice.

The top three skills for a cook apprentice include culinary, kitchen equipment and sauces. The most important skills for a lead cook are customer service, food handling, and culinary.

Cook apprentice vs lead cook overview

	Cook Apprentice	Lead Cook
Yearly salary	$34,707	$35,964
Hourly rate	$16.69	$17.29
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	137,414	160,223
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 39%	Associate Degree, 35%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	4	4

Cook apprentice vs lead cook salary

Cook apprentices and lead cooks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Cook Apprentice	Lead Cook
Average salary	$34,707	$35,964
Salary range	Between $28,000 And $42,000	Between $27,000 And $46,000
Highest paying City	-	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	-	Washington
Best paying company	-	Freeport-McMoRan
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between cook apprentice and lead cook education

There are a few differences between a cook apprentice and a lead cook in terms of educational background:

	Cook Apprentice	Lead Cook
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 39%	Associate Degree, 35%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Culinary Arts
Most common college	-	-

Cook apprentice vs lead cook demographics

Here are the differences between cook apprentices' and lead cooks' demographics:

	Cook Apprentice	Lead Cook
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 72.3% Female, 27.7%	Male, 72.6% Female, 27.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 17.5% Asian, 8.5% White, 57.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4%	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 9.4% White, 57.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between cook apprentice and lead cook duties and responsibilities

Cook apprentice example responsibilities.

Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Cook foods by baking, roasting, broiling, frying, saut? ing and grilling.
Operate standard cooking equipment, including grills, ovens and broilers.
Gain cooking methods, including roasting, deep fat frying, broiling, and saut ing.
Cook foods by frying, saut? ing, steaming and grilling.
Acquire cooking skills, saut, grill, salad, breakfast, soups and desserts.

Lead cook example responsibilities.

Manage food expo; facilitate food temp logs; creation of menu specials; management and supervision of production staff
Manage inventory and purchasing of groceries.
Operate standard cooking equipment including slicers, food choppers, fryers, refrigerators, ovens and stoves.
Operate ovens, stoves, grills, microwaves, turbo chefs, and fryers.
Use and clean commercial ovens, meat slicers, steamers, combination ovens and steam kettles.
Operate ovens, stoves, grills, microwaves, kettles, and tilt skillet.

Cook apprentice vs lead cook skills

Common cook apprentice skills

Culinary, 41%
Kitchen Equipment, 29%
Sauces, 11%
Roasting, 5%
La Carte, 4%
Food Quality, 3%

Common lead cook skills

Customer Service, 14%
Food Handling, 14%
Culinary, 11%
Food Service, 11%
Kitchen Equipment, 7%
Math, 5%

Cook Apprentice vs. similar jobs

Cook Apprentice related careers

Cook Apprentice related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Cook Apprentice
Cook Apprentice vs Lead Cook

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse food preparation and restaurant jobs