Grill cook vs fry cook

The differences between grill 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 grill cook and a fry cook. Additionally, a grill cook has an average salary of $31,895, which is higher than the $30,622 average annual salary of a fry cook.

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

Grill cook vs fry cook overview

	Grill Cook	Fry Cook
Yearly salary	$31,895	$30,622
Hourly rate	$15.33	$14.72
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	184,603	246,323
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 48%	High School Diploma, 53%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	4	4

What does a grill cook do?

A grill cook's primary role is to take charge of grilling food in restaurants or a similar establishment. Aside from grilling different kinds of food, they are also responsible for the plating, ensuring that it looks presentable and mouth-watering. Moreover, grill cooks have other duties such as preparing supplies and ingredients, maintaining the cleanliness of the work area, and training new members of the workforce. It is also essential to coordinate with other restaurant staff at all times as the operations can be fast-paced and will require accuracy and speed.

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.

Grill cook vs fry cook salary

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

	Grill Cook	Fry Cook
Average salary	$31,895	$30,622
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $39,000	Between $24,000 And $38,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Fresno, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	Washington
Best paying company	St. Petersburg Yacht Club	Anthony
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Hospitality

Differences between grill cook and fry cook education

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

	Grill Cook	Fry Cook
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 48%	High School Diploma, 53%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Culinary Arts
Most common college	-	-

Grill cook vs fry cook demographics

Here are the differences between grill cooks' and fry cooks' demographics:

	Grill Cook	Fry Cook
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 76.9% Female, 23.1%	Male, 80.8% Female, 19.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 8.5% White, 58.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%	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 grill cook and fry cook duties and responsibilities

Grill cook example responsibilities.

Manage portions of grill food items and garnish them, regulate temperature of broilers, grills and roasters.
Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Utilize for relief management, new hire training, inventory control and profitable aspects of people and service.
Maintain station clean food preparation areas; operate large volume cooking equipment such as grills, deep fryers, or griddles.
High-Pace business catering to the consumer needs using hospitality and culinary expertise to provide proper customer satisfaction.
Cook foods by baking, roasting, broiling, frying, saut? ing, steaming and grilling.

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.

Grill cook vs fry cook skills

Common grill cook skills

Sanitation Standards, 16%
Kitchen Equipment, 14%
Safety Standards, 13%
Food Handling, 9%
Math, 7%
Dexterity, 5%

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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Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Grill Cook
Grill Cook vs Fry Cook

Updated January 8, 2025

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