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The differences between pastry chefs and cooking 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 pastry chef and a cooking chef. Additionally, a pastry chef has an average salary of $44,879, which is higher than the $34,973 average annual salary of a cooking chef.
The top three skills for a pastry chef include culinary, food handling and customer service. The most important skills for a cooking chef are food service, food handling, and kitchen equipment.
| Pastry Chef | Cooking Chef | |
| Yearly salary | $44,879 | $34,973 |
| Hourly rate | $21.58 | $16.81 |
| Growth rate | 15% | 15% |
| Number of jobs | 18,844 | 136,558 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 49% | Associate Degree, 31% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
Pastry chefs are culinary artists specializing in the creation of desserts, bread, and sweets. They order supplies and ingredients for the restaurant, aside from creating, decorating, and presenting pastries. They are in charge of recruiting employees to aid in pastry goods production and other enterprise aspects. The skills required for this job are attention to detail, experience as a baker or any relevant role, knowledge about sanitation principles, creativity, and leadership skills.
A cooking chef oversees all people performing kitchen duties under their mandate. These professionals oversee timeliness, sanitary issues, ingredient preparation, meal preparation, and final presentations. Besides engaging in menu planning and creating recipes, a cooking chef also performs several administrative tasks from one day to another. They place supply orders, track inventory, calculate payroll, calculate costs, and handle complaints from the employee or customer. Moreover, a cooking chef trains the kitchen staff to ensure they perform their duties correctly.
Pastry chefs and cooking chefs have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Pastry Chef | Cooking Chef | |
| Average salary | $44,879 | $34,973 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $78,000 | Between $24,000 And $49,000 |
| Highest paying City | Urban Honolulu, HI | Teaneck, NJ |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | The Culinary Institute of America | Memphis Country Club |
| Best paying industry | Media | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a pastry chef and a cooking chef in terms of educational background:
| Pastry Chef | Cooking Chef | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 49% | Associate Degree, 31% |
| Most common major | Culinary Arts | Culinary Arts |
| Most common college | Drexel University | Drexel University |
Here are the differences between pastry chefs' and cooking chefs' demographics:
| Pastry Chef | Cooking Chef | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 35.7% Female, 64.3% | Male, 76.3% Female, 23.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 10.7% White, 54.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 17.9% Asian, 12.0% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |