Fast food cook vs fry cook

The differences between fast food cooks and fry cooks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a fast food cook and a fry cook. Additionally, a fry cook has an average salary of $30,622, which is higher than the $26,093 average annual salary of a fast food cook.

The top three skills for a fast food cook include food handling, safety standards and customer service. The most important skills for a fry cook are kitchen equipment, customer service, and safety standards.

Fast food cook vs fry cook overview

	Fast Food Cook	Fry Cook
Yearly salary	$26,093	$30,622
Hourly rate	$12.54	$14.72
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	275,335	246,323
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 51%	High School Diploma, 53%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	4	4

What does a fast food cook do?

Fast-food cooks maintain utensils, food preparation areas, and cooking surfaces. Besides cooking and serving beverages, fast food cooks also perform their daily duties as per the safety standards and health standards. Their other duties include ordering and taking supply deliveries, cleaning, preparing meals ingredients, and running cooking equipment such as griddles, deep fat fryers, or grills.

What does a fry cook do?

Generally, a fry cook works in a kitchen specializing in fried foods and operating the deep fryer. Fry cooks or chefs cook food by submerging in boiling oil. They prepare food to be fried, work with frying pans, and watch over deep fryers. The skills they need to establish include food preparation, dexterity, physical stamina, and comprehension. They are also expected to be understanding and patient, noting that these qualities help impress the customers.

Fast food cook vs fry cook salary

Fast food cooks and fry cooks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Fast Food Cook	Fry Cook
Average salary	$26,093	$30,622
Salary range	Between $19,000 And $34,000	Between $24,000 And $38,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	Fresno, CA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Washington
Best paying company	Dell	Anthony
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Hospitality

Differences between fast food cook and fry cook education

There are a few differences between a fast food cook and a fry cook in terms of educational background:

	Fast Food Cook	Fry Cook
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 51%	High School Diploma, 53%
Most common major	Business	Culinary Arts
Most common college	-	-

Fast food cook vs fry cook demographics

Here are the differences between fast food cooks' and fry cooks' demographics:

	Fast Food Cook	Fry Cook
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 74.2% Female, 25.8%	Male, 80.8% Female, 19.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.5% Asian, 8.6% White, 56.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%	Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 8.5% White, 58.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between fast food cook and fry cook duties and responsibilities

Fast food cook example responsibilities.

Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Execute daily operations of filtering of the fryers.
Leverage teamwork to fully utilize kitchen staff to generate remarkable food and service to ensure customer satisfaction.
Can make and food at mcdonalds.

Fry cook example responsibilities.

Develop ability to manage multiple stations simultaneously while maintaining high levels of culinary excellence.
Grill burgers and used the deep fryers for various foods, clean all equipment at the end of the shift.
Bread and cook chicken, fry foods, run and clean fryers, clean coolers, do dishes general utilities.
Job responsibilities include preparing and executing dishes, as well as assuming responsibility for cleanliness of restaurant.
Provide friendly, quality, customer service to each Chipotle customer.

Fast food cook vs fry cook skills

Common fast food cook skills

Food Handling, 18%
Safety Standards, 17%
Customer Service, 10%
Grills, 6%
Kitchen Equipment, 5%
Culinary, 4%

Common fry cook skills

Kitchen Equipment, 23%
Customer Service, 11%
Safety Standards, 10%
Deep-Fat Fryers, 9%
Food Products, 5%
Fine Dining, 5%

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Fast Food Cook vs Fry Cook

Updated January 8, 2025

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