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The differences between cooking chefs and prep cooks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a cooking chef, becoming a prep cook takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a cooking chef has an average salary of $34,973, which is higher than the $32,292 average annual salary of a prep cook.
The top three skills for a cooking chef include food service, food handling and kitchen equipment. The most important skills for a prep cook are food handling, culinary, and sanitation standards.
| Cooking Chef | Prep Cook | |
| Yearly salary | $34,973 | $32,292 |
| Hourly rate | $16.81 | $15.53 |
| Growth rate | 15% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 136,558 | 168,265 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 31% | High School Diploma, 48% |
| Average age | 42 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
A cooking chef oversees all people performing kitchen duties under their mandate. These professionals oversee timeliness, sanitary issues, ingredient preparation, meal preparation, and final presentations. Besides engaging in menu planning and creating recipes, a cooking chef also performs several administrative tasks from one day to another. They place supply orders, track inventory, calculate payroll, calculate costs, and handle complaints from the employee or customer. Moreover, a cooking chef trains the kitchen staff to ensure they perform their duties correctly.
Prep cooks are responsible for preparing ingredients. They are usually part of an assembly line-like structure in the kitchen. They are often the first station in this assembly line. Prep cooks are in charge of thawing, skinning, cutting, mincing, slicing, and chopping ingredients so that the line cooks can just get these ingredients for their own stations. Prep cooks may also start doing some of the initial activities in the cooking process, such as preparing water for boiling, laying out ingredients, and ensuring that the stoves are clear.
Cooking chefs and prep cooks have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Cooking Chef | Prep Cook | |
| Average salary | $34,973 | $32,292 |
| Salary range | Between $24,000 And $49,000 | Between $25,000 And $40,000 |
| Highest paying City | Teaneck, NJ | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Washington |
| Best paying company | Memphis Country Club | Kemps |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a cooking chef and a prep cook in terms of educational background:
| Cooking Chef | Prep Cook | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 31% | High School Diploma, 48% |
| Most common major | Culinary Arts | Culinary Arts |
| Most common college | Drexel University | - |
Here are the differences between cooking chefs' and prep cooks' demographics:
| Cooking Chef | Prep Cook | |
| Average age | 42 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 76.3% Female, 23.7% | Male, 61.3% Female, 38.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 17.9% Asian, 12.0% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 8.6% White, 57.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 6% |