What does a deli cook do?
Deli cook responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real deli cook resumes:
- Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
- Clean, operate cash register, dismantle and clean equipment, slicers, fryers, rotisserie ovens and reassemble.
- Maintain department cleanliness, and provide customer service.
- Slice meats & cheeses with rotary blade slicers, size the slices, weigh and wrap foods according to customers satisfaction.
- Package meats; grind beef, frozen hamburger patties, chicken fryers, cut up meats, and conduct food inventory.
- Maintain cleanliness and preparedness of deli.
- Leverage teamwork to fully utilize kitchen staff to generate remarkable food and service to ensure customer satisfaction.
- Instruct cooks or other workers in the preparation, garnishing, or presentation of food.
- Create pizzas for customers as listed or request and run a large pizza oven.
Deli cook skills and personality traits
We calculated that 21% of Deli Cooks are proficient in Food Handling, Basic Math, and Cleanliness. They’re also known for soft skills such as Sense of taste and smell, Dexterity, and Listening skills.
We break down the percentage of Deli Cooks that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Food Handling, 21%
Ensured adherence to all standards for customer service, product quality, safety monitoring and food handling
- Basic Math, 19%
Performed basic mathematical computations to multiply ingredients in the preparation of a meal.
- Cleanliness, 10%
Maintained cleanliness and preparedness of deli.
- Kitchen Equipment, 7%
slice deli meats and cheeses; stock all deli items, shelves and freezers; clean and maintain all kitchen equipment.
- Slicers, 5%
Cleaned all dishes, slicers, display cases, and stocked deli food items.
- Customer Service, 5%
Provided courteous and informative customer service in an open kitchen format while consistently adhering the sanitation and safety requirements.
Common skills that a deli cook uses to do their job include "food handling," "basic math," and "cleanliness." You can find details on the most important deli cook responsibilities below.
Sense of taste and smell. The most essential soft skill for a deli cook to carry out their responsibilities is sense of taste and smell. This skill is important for the role because "cooks must have a keen sense of taste and smell to prepare meals that customers enjoy." Additionally, a deli cook resume shows how their duties depend on sense of taste and smell: "cleaned meat aisles, storage areas and work areas, following all health and safety guidelines. "
Dexterity. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling deli cook duties is dexterity. The role rewards competence in this skill because "cooks should have excellent hand–eye coordination." According to a deli cook resume, here's how deli cooks can utilize dexterity in their job responsibilities: "achieved completion to cook, prep and dish meticulous meals to an immense amount of customers with proficient dexterity quality. "
The three companies that hire the most deli cooks are:
- Festival Foods45 deli cooks jobs
- Cosentino27 deli cooks jobs
- NexDine14 deli cooks jobs
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Compare different deli cooks
Deli cook vs. Cook/dishwasher
Cooks/dishwashers must develop kitchen skills to excel in this line of job. Each cook or dishwasher must learn to develop skills in food preparation, sanitation, and customer service. Cooks or dishwashers can be assigned to different areas, either in the kitchen area, food preparation, or in washing dishes. The scope of their responsibilities may include the cooking surface area, specific food items, or menu items. Also, they are expected to maintain the cleanliness of the kitchen, assist in preparing food, and may do any other duties demanded by the chef.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between deli cooks and cook/dishwasher. For instance, deli cook responsibilities require skills such as "food handling," "basic math," "cleanliness," and "slicers." Whereas a cook/dishwasher is skilled in "wash dishes," "prep food," "mop floors," and "bus tables." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Cook/dishwashers tend to make the most money working in the hospitality industry, where they earn an average salary of $27,723. In contrast, deli cooks make the biggest average salary, $32,826, in the hospitality industry.cook/dishwashers tend to reach similar levels of education than deli cooks. In fact, cook/dishwashers are 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Deli cook vs. Cook/trainer
Cooks/servers are employees who take on the dual role of being a cook and a server in the restaurant. They are usually trained cooks who are in charge of preparing meals for the guests. They prepare ingredients, cook them according to the recipe, and serve them to guests. They are responsible for ensuring that the food is prepared and served to guests within the promised time. They are in charge of managing the pantry, ensuring that the stock is fresh, and checking whether the stock is low. They are expected to have culinary skills, precision, and time management skills.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, deli cook responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "basic math," "dishwashers," "fifo," and "strong customer service." Meanwhile, a cook/trainer has duties that require skills in areas such as "food safety," "haccp," "workstations," and "cooking methods." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Cook/trainers earn similar levels of education than deli cooks in general. They're 0.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Deli cook vs. Cook/server
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a deli cook is likely to be skilled in "food handling," "basic math," "cleanliness," and "dishwashers," while a typical cook/server is skilled in "pos," "allergies," "drink orders," and "mathematics."
Cook/servers earn the best pay in the retail industry, where they command an average salary of $29,014. Deli cooks earn the highest pay from the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $32,826.When it comes to education, cook/servers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to deli cooks. In fact, they're 0.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Deli cook vs. Deli sales associate
Even though a few skill sets overlap between deli cooks and deli sales associates, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a deli cook might have more use for skills like "basic math," "cleanliness," "kitchen equipment," and "dishwashers." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of deli sales associates require skills like "product knowledge," "quality customer service," "slice meat," and "customer issues. "
In general, deli sales associates hold similar degree levels compared to deli cooks. Deli sales associates are 0.9% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of deli cook
Updated January 8, 2025
