Fast food cook vs short order cook

The differences between fast food cooks and short order 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 short order cook. Additionally, a short order cook has an average salary of $30,734, 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 short order cook are food handling, customer service, and food preparation equipment.

Fast food cook vs short order cook overview

	Fast Food Cook	Short Order Cook
Yearly salary	$26,093	$30,734
Hourly rate	$12.54	$14.78
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	275,335	176,187
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 51%	High School Diploma, 43%
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 short order cook do?

A short-order cook takes responsibility for preparing foods in cafes and restaurants. Usually, they fry eggs, cook fries, and prepare sandwiches. Short order cooks work alongside line chefs in the foodservice market. Their manner of preparing food is quick, easy, and simple. They plan and handle work orders ensuring that all orders are complete and served on time. Strong communication, customer service, a good sense of taste, and the ability to work efficiently are necessary requirements for the job.

Fast food cook vs short order cook salary

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

	Fast Food Cook	Short Order Cook
Average salary	$26,093	$30,734
Salary range	Between $19,000 And $34,000	Between $24,000 And $38,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	Anaheim, CA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Washington
Best paying company	Dell	Columbia University in the City of New York
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Health Care

Differences between fast food cook and short order cook education

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

	Fast Food Cook	Short Order Cook
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 51%	High School Diploma, 43%
Most common major	Business	Culinary Arts
Most common college	-	-

Fast food cook vs short order cook demographics

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

	Fast Food Cook	Short Order Cook
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 74.2% Female, 25.8%	Male, 65.1% Female, 34.9%
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, 10.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.7% Asian, 8.1% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between fast food cook and short order 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.

Short order cook example responsibilities.

Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Ensure that ovens and stoves remain at appropriate temperatures.
Clean kitchen including wiping down grills, slicers and deep-frying equipment.
Develop teamwork skills with cooks, dishwashers and wait staff, through efficient clean up and preparation of food.
Prepare guest food orders as they are either transmit via the POS system or orally convey at the counter.
Cook foods on the grill station, oven, barbecue grill, deep fryers, and other industrial cooking apparatus.

Fast food cook vs short order cook skills

Common fast food cook skills

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

Common short order cook skills

Food Handling, 20%
Customer Service, 14%
Food Preparation Equipment, 11%
Kitchen Equipment, 9%
Food Service, 7%
Safety Standards, 7%

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Fast Food Cook vs Short Order Cook

Updated January 8, 2025

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