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The differences between head cooks and kitchen cooks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a head cook, becoming a kitchen cook takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a head cook has an average salary of $44,412, which is higher than the $31,452 average annual salary of a kitchen cook.
The top three skills for a head cook include kitchen equipment, meal preparation and food service. The most important skills for a kitchen cook are dishes, food handling, and cleanliness.
| Head Cook | Kitchen Cook | |
| Yearly salary | $44,412 | $31,452 |
| Hourly rate | $21.35 | $15.12 |
| Growth rate | 15% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 156,227 | 250,354 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 42% | High School Diploma, 44% |
| Average age | 42 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
A head cook is responsible for organizing the food preparation, organizing the kitchen operations, and ensuring the quality of the food presented. Head cooks' duties include monitoring the food inventory, creating new recipes, researching current market trends, responding to guests' inquiries and complaints, distributing kitchen tasks to the staff, and maintaining budget goals while maintaining the highest food quality. A head cook must always adhere to the sanitary procedures and hygienic standards, as well as have a broad knowledge of the food industry.
A kitchen cook prepares food for customers. Kitchen cooks help devise new menu items and methods of cooking. Their duties are to prepare food before the arrival of guests, manage employees in the kitchen, and season food according to recipe needs. They assist other cooks during the food assembly process, estimate food consumption, and organize preparation. They keep records and accounts of food purchases, prepare any necessary sauce before the meal service begins, and so on. As kitchen cooks, they must excel in organizational skills, verbal communication, culinary arts, and kitchen equipment. They should be equipped with knowledge of international cuisines, butchering, and basic computational skills.
Head cooks and kitchen cooks have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Head Cook | Kitchen Cook | |
| Average salary | $44,412 | $31,452 |
| Salary range | Between $32,000 And $61,000 | Between $25,000 And $38,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Antonio, TX | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics | Hilltop Ski Area |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Retail |
There are a few differences between a head cook and a kitchen cook in terms of educational background:
| Head Cook | Kitchen Cook | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 42% | High School Diploma, 44% |
| Most common major | Culinary Arts | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | - |
Here are the differences between head cooks' and kitchen cooks' demographics:
| Head Cook | Kitchen Cook | |
| Average age | 42 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 63.5% Female, 36.5% | Male, 65.8% Female, 34.2% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.7% Asian, 9.1% White, 58.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 6% |