What does an institutional cook do?
Institutional cook responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real institutional cook resumes:
- Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
- Ensure customers convenience are met/exceed by accommodating and notifying customers of ingredients that may trigger food allergies or intolerance.
- Provide leadership that promotes and exemplifies excellent customer service.
Institutional cook skills and personality traits
We calculated that 32% of Institutional Cooks are proficient in Food Handling, Kitchen Equipment, and Culinary. They’re also known for soft skills such as Dexterity, Physical stamina, and Sense of taste and smell.
We break down the percentage of Institutional Cooks that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Food Handling, 32%
Maintain proper/hygienic food handling techniques and overall sanitation requirements of food service area and the personnel.
- Kitchen Equipment, 23%
Handle food supplies and kitchen equipment by estimating future needs.
- Culinary, 15%
Weekend volunteer work entailing participation in coordinating of activities involving seniors Culinary hands on experience with customers and business employees 1.
- Slicers, 7%
Operate commercial range, char broiler, slicers, along with miscellaneous choirs to keep the business in a presentable order.
- Mixers, 7%
Operated mixers and managed ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
- Broilers, 4%
Organized production and set up broiler station for lunch shift, managed grill with 30-40 steaks at varying temps and cuts.
"food handling," "kitchen equipment," and "culinary" are among the most common skills that institutional cooks use at work. You can find even more institutional cook responsibilities below, including:
Dexterity. The most essential soft skill for an institutional cook to carry out their responsibilities is dexterity. This skill is important for the role because "cooks should have excellent hand–eye coordination." Additionally, an institutional cook resume shows how their duties depend on dexterity: "wash hands prep food to be cooked. "
Physical stamina. Another essential skill to perform institutional cook duties is physical stamina. Institutional cooks responsibilities require that "cooks spend a lot of time standing in one place, cooking food over hot stoves, and cleaning work areas." Institutional cooks also use physical stamina in their role according to a real resume snippet: "analyzed prisoner's social attitudes, mental capacity, character and physical capabilities for preparing food products. "
Sense of taste and smell. institutional cooks are also known for sense of taste and smell, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to institutional cook responsibilities, because "cooks must have a keen sense of taste and smell to prepare meals that customers enjoy." An institutional cook resume example shows how sense of taste and smell is used in the workplace: "wash and check galley equipment and kitchen appliances. "
The three companies that hire the most institutional cooks are:
- Compass Group USA2 institutional cooks jobs
- Nana Management Services, LLC1 institutional cooks jobs
- NANA1 institutional cooks jobs
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Compare different institutional cooks
Institutional cook vs. Cook chill technician
A cook/dietary aide is an individual who works along with the dietary managers, cooks, and dieticians. Dietary aides prepare meals, beverages, and snacks. They set up tables or dining areas with proper order and cleanliness. They serve meals and make sure that the hygiene and safety protocols for food are followed all the time. The skills significant for this job include attention to detail, strong communication skills, excellent customer service, and knowledge in food preparation and its safety protocols.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an institutional cook are more likely to require skills like "food handling," "slicers," "mixers," and "broilers." On the other hand, a job as a cook chill technician requires skills like "haccp," "cooling towers," "chill," and "safety issues." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
On average, cook chill technicians reach similar levels of education than institutional cooks. Cook chill technicians are 1.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Institutional cook vs. Cook/dietary aide
Cooks are responsible for preparing meals for guests or employers. They must be knowledgeable about the different recipes and ingredients needed. They are also responsible for managing the inventory and ensuring that the pantry is well-stocked. They prepare meals from scratch, cutting ingredients, measuring them, and following recipes. Cooks should be creative, especially when ingredients are lacking, and they must find alternatives that will not compromise the food taste. They should be precise, imaginative, and patient. Cooks should also have good time management skills and decision-making skills.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that institutional cook responsibilities requires skills like "culinary," "mixers," "broilers," and "food preparation equipment." But a cook/dietary aide might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "meal service," "patients," "food service," and "diet orders."
Cook/dietary aides earn similar levels of education than institutional cooks in general. They're 2.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Institutional cook vs. Cook
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an institutional cook is likely to be skilled in "meal preparation," "civil service," "making salads," and "correctional facilities," while a typical cook is skilled in "food service," "cleanliness," "basic math," and "customer service."
Most cooks achieve a similar degree level compared to institutional cooks. For example, they're 1.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Institutional cook vs. School cafeteria cook
Even though a few skill sets overlap between institutional cooks and school cafeteria cooks, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an institutional cook might have more use for skills like "culinary," "slicers," "mixers," and "broilers." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of school cafeteria cooks require skills like "safety standards," "cpr," "haccp," and "customer service. "
The average resume of school cafeteria cooks showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to institutional cooks. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 0.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.0%.Types of institutional cook
Updated January 8, 2025
