Culinary artist vs pastry cook

The differences between culinary artists and pastry 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 culinary artist, becoming a pastry cook takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a culinary artist has an average salary of $40,757, which is higher than the $34,858 average annual salary of a pastry cook.

The top three skills for a culinary artist include dishes, food handling and food preparation. The most important skills for a pastry cook are culinary, cleanliness, and food handling.

Culinary artist vs pastry cook overview

	Culinary Artist	Pastry Cook
Yearly salary	$40,757	$34,858
Hourly rate	$19.59	$16.76
Growth rate	15%	16%
Number of jobs	5,981	136,754
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 39%	Associate Degree, 51%
Average age	42	38
Years of experience	6	4

Culinary artist vs pastry cook salary

Culinary artists and pastry cooks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Culinary Artist	Pastry Cook
Average salary	$40,757	$34,858
Salary range	Between $20,000 And $82,000	Between $27,000 And $44,000
Highest paying City	-	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	-	Hawaii
Best paying company	-	Sailfish Club of Florida
Best paying industry	-	Hospitality

Differences between culinary artist and pastry cook education

There are a few differences between a culinary artist and a pastry cook in terms of educational background:

	Culinary Artist	Pastry Cook
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 39%	Associate Degree, 51%
Most common major	Business	Culinary Arts
Most common college	Boston University	Cornell University

Culinary artist vs pastry cook demographics

Here are the differences between culinary artists' and pastry cooks' demographics:

	Culinary Artist	Pastry Cook
Average age	42	38
Gender ratio	Male, 71.4% Female, 28.6%	Male, 29.8% Female, 70.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.7% Asian, 8.4% White, 56.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 22.5% Asian, 9.6% White, 51.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4%
LGBT Percentage	9%	6%

Differences between culinary artist and pastry cook duties and responsibilities

Culinary artist example responsibilities.

Manage inventory and facilitate product orders of the culinary and science departments.
Create dishes to fulfill changing menu requirements on a daily basis.
Instruct cooks in the preparation, cooking, garnishing, and presentation of food.
Coordinate constant clean up in kitchen; operate grills, fryers, and microwaves.
Conceptualize and develop terrain models using Maya and partner with director and animators to correspond and produce effective shots.
Provide model of strong work ethic, assume leadership when in crisis, and professionally handle extremely hectic situations.

Pastry cook example responsibilities.

Manage cold kitchen production for a luxury hotel with a Michelin star restaurant
Clean steamers, hot @ cold line.
Serve customers ordering at the bistro.
Work in dining room during Sunday brunch and buffets serving desserts.
Engage in meetings including an annual board presentation of USDA budget.
Focuse on maintaining budget while meeting USDA and BSA nutrition requirements.

Culinary artist vs pastry cook skills

Common culinary artist skills

Dishes, 34%
Food Handling, 31%
Food Preparation, 29%
Culinary, 4%
Cooking Techniques, 1%
Fine Dining, 1%

Common pastry cook skills

Culinary, 17%
Cleanliness, 10%
Food Handling, 10%
Quality Standards, 7%
Fine Dining, 6%
Food Safety, 6%

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Culinary Artist
Culinary Artist vs Pastry Cook

Updated January 8, 2025

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