Culinary chef vs head cook

The differences between culinary chefs and head cooks 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 head cook. Additionally, a culinary chef has an average salary of $49,417, which is higher than the $44,412 average annual salary of a head cook.

The top three skills for a culinary chef include culinary, fine dining and food service. The most important skills for a head cook are kitchen equipment, meal preparation, and food service.

Culinary chef vs head cook overview

	Culinary Chef	Head Cook
Yearly salary	$49,417	$44,412
Hourly rate	$23.76	$21.35
Growth rate	15%	15%
Number of jobs	20,066	156,227
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 46%	High School Diploma, 42%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	6	6

Culinary chef vs head cook salary

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

	Culinary Chef	Head Cook
Average salary	$49,417	$44,412
Salary range	Between $34,000 And $70,000	Between $32,000 And $61,000
Highest paying City	-	San Antonio, TX
Highest paying state	-	New Jersey
Best paying company	-	Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Best paying industry	-	Manufacturing

Differences between culinary chef and head cook education

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

	Culinary Chef	Head Cook
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 46%	High School Diploma, 42%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Culinary Arts
Most common college	Boston University	Stanford University

Culinary chef vs head cook demographics

Here are the differences between culinary chefs' and head cooks' demographics:

	Culinary Chef	Head Cook
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 63.9% Female, 36.1%	Male, 63.5% Female, 36.5%
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, 10.4% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 10.3% White, 57.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between culinary chef and head cook 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.

Head cook example responsibilities.

Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Accommodate all campers and staff with dietary restrictions, food allergies as well as providing vegetarian and vegan options.
Follow all equipment and safety procedures in all operations including slicers, choppers, mixers and other meal processing equipment.
Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Scramble eggs, sausage, potatoes, biscits and gravy.
Create and execute menus for the buffets.

Culinary chef vs head cook skills

Common culinary chef skills

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

Common head cook skills

Kitchen Equipment, 41%
Meal Preparation, 15%
Food Service, 7%
Food Preparation, 3%
Quality Standards, 3%
Safety Standards, 2%

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Culinary Chef
Culinary Chef vs Head Cook

Updated January 8, 2025

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