Pastry chef vs culinary chef

The differences between pastry chefs and culinary 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 culinary chef. Additionally, a culinary chef has an average salary of $49,417, which is higher than the $44,879 average annual salary of a pastry chef.

The top three skills for a pastry chef include culinary, food handling and customer service. The most important skills for a culinary chef are culinary, fine dining, and food service.

Pastry chef vs culinary chef overview

	Pastry Chef	Culinary Chef
Yearly salary	$44,879	$49,417
Hourly rate	$21.58	$23.76
Growth rate	15%	15%
Number of jobs	18,844	20,066
Job satisfaction	3	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 49%	Associate Degree, 46%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	6	6

Pastry chef vs culinary chef salary

Pastry chefs and culinary chefs have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Pastry Chef	Culinary Chef
Average salary	$44,879	$49,417
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $78,000	Between $34,000 And $70,000
Highest paying City	Urban Honolulu, HI	-
Highest paying state	New Jersey	-
Best paying company	The Culinary Institute of America	-
Best paying industry	Media	-

Differences between pastry chef and culinary chef education

There are a few differences between a pastry chef and a culinary chef in terms of educational background:

	Pastry Chef	Culinary Chef
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 49%	Associate Degree, 46%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Culinary Arts
Most common college	Drexel University	Boston University

Pastry chef vs culinary chef demographics

Here are the differences between pastry chefs' and culinary chefs' demographics:

	Pastry Chef	Culinary Chef
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 35.7% Female, 64.3%	Male, 63.9% Female, 36.1%
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, 11.0% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.3% Asian, 11.3% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between pastry chef and culinary chef duties and responsibilities

Pastry chef example responsibilities.

Hire, schedule and manage a staff of 9 direct reports (5 in kitchen and 4 in caf).
Control food and payroll costs to achieve maximum profitability.
Follow food safety and cleanliness guidelines.
Work as per the HACCP standard.
Create specialized dessert items for wine and holiday dinners.
Operate blenders, mixers, grinders, slicers, and other cooking equipment.

Culinary chef example responsibilities.

Manage a kitchen of military personal and Japanese civilian chefs.
Provide informative culinary instruction and product knowledge to create exceptional customer experiences.
Balance emerging trends and culinary creativity with cost, utilization and operational execution.
Develop seasonal menus focusing on classical French cuisine with consideration to customer base, product availability and cost.
Develop and open a USDA inspect production facility.

Pastry chef vs culinary chef skills

Common pastry chef skills

Culinary, 19%
Food Handling, 11%
Customer Service, 10%
Food Preparation, 7%
Pastry Kitchen, 6%
Fine Dining, 6%

Common culinary chef skills

Culinary, 30%
Fine Dining, 10%
Food Service, 8%
Cuisine, 7%
Kitchen Equipment, 6%
Recipe Development, 4%

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Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Pastry Chef
Pastry Chef vs Culinary Chef

Updated January 8, 2025

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