Culinary chef vs cooking chef

The differences between culinary chefs and cooking chefs can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a culinary chef and a cooking chef. Additionally, a culinary chef has an average salary of $49,417, which is higher than the $34,973 average annual salary of a cooking chef.

The top three skills for a culinary chef include culinary, fine dining and food service. The most important skills for a cooking chef are food service, food handling, and kitchen equipment.

Culinary chef vs cooking chef overview

	Culinary Chef	Cooking Chef
Yearly salary	$49,417	$34,973
Hourly rate	$23.76	$16.81
Growth rate	15%	15%
Number of jobs	20,066	136,558
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 46%	Associate Degree, 31%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	6	6

Culinary chef vs cooking chef salary

Culinary chefs and cooking chefs have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Culinary Chef	Cooking Chef
Average salary	$49,417	$34,973
Salary range	Between $34,000 And $70,000	Between $24,000 And $49,000
Highest paying City	-	Teaneck, NJ
Highest paying state	-	New Jersey
Best paying company	-	Memphis Country Club
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between culinary chef and cooking chef education

There are a few differences between a culinary chef and a cooking chef in terms of educational background:

	Culinary Chef	Cooking Chef
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 46%	Associate Degree, 31%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Culinary Arts
Most common college	Boston University	Drexel University

Culinary chef vs cooking chef demographics

Here are the differences between culinary chefs' and cooking chefs' demographics:

	Culinary Chef	Cooking Chef
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 63.9% Female, 36.1%	Male, 76.3% Female, 23.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.3% Asian, 11.3% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	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%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between culinary chef and cooking chef duties and responsibilities

Culinary chef example responsibilities.

Manage a kitchen of military personal and Japanese civilian chefs.
Provide informative culinary instruction and product knowledge to create exceptional customer experiences.
Balance emerging trends and culinary creativity with cost, utilization and operational execution.
Develop seasonal menus focusing on classical French cuisine with consideration to customer base, product availability and cost.
Develop and open a USDA inspect production facility.

Cooking chef example responsibilities.

Manage a kitchen of military personal and Japanese civilian chefs.
Assist culinary instructor in food preparation.
Cook foods by baking, roasting, broiling, frying, saut? ing, steaming, grilling.
Travel to various locations throughout the city to perform culinary task.
Obtain in-depth experience working on grills, ranges, and steamers.
Experience with baking, broiling, frying, roasting and grilling.

Culinary chef vs cooking chef skills

Common culinary chef skills

Culinary, 30%
Fine Dining, 10%
Food Service, 8%
Cuisine, 7%
Kitchen Equipment, 6%
Recipe Development, 4%

Common cooking chef skills

Food Service, 23%
Food Handling, 19%
Kitchen Equipment, 16%
Culinary, 10%
Cleanliness, 9%
Dishwashers, 7%

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Culinary Chef
Culinary Chef vs Cooking Chef

Updated January 8, 2025

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