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Kitchen chef vs executive chef

The differences between kitchen chefs and executive chefs can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a kitchen chef and an executive chef. Additionally, an executive chef has an average salary of $59,416, which is higher than the $37,579 average annual salary of a kitchen chef.

The top three skills for a kitchen chef include culinary, food handling and quality standards. The most important skills for an executive chef are culinary, food preparation, and customer service.

Kitchen chef vs executive chef overview

Kitchen ChefExecutive Chef
Yearly salary$37,579$59,416
Hourly rate$18.07$28.57
Growth rate15%15%
Number of jobs33,78583,085
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 34%Associate Degree, 56%
Average age4242
Years of experience66

Kitchen chef vs executive chef salary

Kitchen chefs and executive chefs have different pay scales, as shown below.

Kitchen ChefExecutive Chef
Average salary$37,579$59,416
Salary rangeBetween $24,000 And $57,000Between $40,000 And $87,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-Hawaii
Best paying company-Bridgewater Associates
Best paying industry-Hospitality

Differences between kitchen chef and executive chef education

There are a few differences between a kitchen chef and an executive chef in terms of educational background:

Kitchen ChefExecutive Chef
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 34%Associate Degree, 56%
Most common majorCulinary ArtsCulinary Arts
Most common collegeStanford UniversityDrexel University

Kitchen chef vs executive chef demographics

Here are the differences between kitchen chefs' and executive chefs' demographics:

Kitchen ChefExecutive Chef
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 70.0% Female, 30.0%Male, 87.5% Female, 12.5%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.4% Asian, 12.7% White, 53.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 10.8% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage9%9%

Differences between kitchen chef and executive chef duties and responsibilities

Kitchen chef example responsibilities.

  • Integrate key culinary leaders into casino and food and beverage operations, achieving positive results and industry awards.
  • Create and prepare international cuisine for executive clientele by using ingenuity, organization, efficiency in production and attention to detail
  • Cook menu items on a grill, broiler, and used a deep fryer, oven, stove, and toaster.
  • Monitor the buffets, organize inventory, purchase orders, record temperatures, make chocolate sculptures, and sugar sculptures.

Executive chef example responsibilities.

  • Manage a kitchen of military personal and Japanese civilian chefs.
  • Cater off-premise events, parties, holiday dinners and seasonal BBQ cookouts.
  • Own and operate a full charge BBQ catering business from a 30 foot mobile kitchen.
  • Close high percentage of sales opportunities for large builder and designer accounts with strategic VIP events.
  • Supervise high volume and VIP catering events to include black tie, charity and outdoor events.
  • Create systems to control BOH operations including: purchasing, receiving, storage, inventory & food cost tracking.
  • Show more

Kitchen chef vs executive chef skills

Common kitchen chef skills
  • Culinary, 16%
  • Food Handling, 13%
  • Quality Standards, 11%
  • Kitchen Equipment, 6%
  • Fine Dining, 5%
  • Food Storage, 5%
Common executive chef skills
  • Culinary, 14%
  • Food Preparation, 8%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • Kitchen Operations, 6%
  • Food Safety, 5%
  • Food Service, 5%

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