Sous chef vs cooking chef

The differences between sous 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 sous chef and a cooking chef. Additionally, a sous chef has an average salary of $48,716, which is higher than the $34,973 average annual salary of a cooking chef.

The top three skills for a sous chef include culinary, food handling and food preparation. The most important skills for a cooking chef are food service, food handling, and kitchen equipment.

Sous chef vs cooking chef overview

	Sous Chef	Cooking Chef
Yearly salary	$48,716	$34,973
Hourly rate	$23.42	$16.81
Growth rate	15%	15%
Number of jobs	22,393	136,558
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 51%	Associate Degree, 31%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	6	6

What does a sous chef do?

A sous chef is responsible for directing food preparation and general kitchen tasks with the supervision of an executive chef. A sous chef duties also include customizing healthy menus, maintaining quality check for foods, adhering to the highest sanitation procedures and standards, monitoring food and equipment supplies, suggesting new specialties, assisting customer's inquiries, and managing client's complaints. A sous chef must have excellent communication and decision-making skills, as well as updated with the current food trends to provide the best services for the customers.

What does a cooking chef do?

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.

Sous chef vs cooking chef salary

Sous chefs and cooking chefs have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Sous Chef	Cooking Chef
Average salary	$48,716	$34,973
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $70,000	Between $24,000 And $49,000
Highest paying City	Atlantic City, NJ	Teaneck, NJ
Highest paying state	Hawaii	New Jersey
Best paying company	RH	Memphis Country Club
Best paying industry	Government	Health Care

Differences between sous chef and cooking chef education

There are a few differences between a sous chef and a cooking chef in terms of educational background:

	Sous Chef	Cooking Chef
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 51%	Associate Degree, 31%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Culinary Arts
Most common college	Drexel University	Drexel University

Sous chef vs cooking chef demographics

Here are the differences between sous chefs' and cooking chefs' demographics:

	Sous Chef	Cooking Chef
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 82.1% Female, 17.9%	Male, 76.3% Female, 23.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 11.3% White, 54.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	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%

Differences between sous chef and cooking chef duties and responsibilities

Sous chef example responsibilities.

Manage FOH duties, along with customer relations.
Train, mentore, manage and discipline lead chefs, associate chefs, prep cooks, pastry assistants and dishwashers.
Manage a staff of 45 union personnel in preparation of meals for hospital patients and cafeteria patrons for three meals daily.
Control food and payroll costs to achieve maximum profitability.
Manage people and oversee production of high-volume establishment for this upscale restaurant specializing in Mexican cuisine.
Train and manage all culinary personnel, supervise and coordinate all culinary activities, estimate food consumption and manage food cost.

Cooking chef example responsibilities.

Manage a kitchen of military personal and Japanese civilian chefs.
Assist culinary instructor in food preparation.
Cook foods by baking, roasting, broiling, frying, saut? ing, steaming, grilling.
Travel to various locations throughout the city to perform culinary task.
Obtain in-depth experience working on grills, ranges, and steamers.
Experience with baking, broiling, frying, roasting and grilling.

Sous chef vs cooking chef skills

Common sous chef skills

Culinary, 15%
Food Handling, 8%
Food Preparation, 7%
Customer Service, 5%
Fine Dining, 5%
Food Service, 5%

Common cooking chef skills

Food Service, 23%
Food Handling, 19%
Kitchen Equipment, 16%
Culinary, 10%
Cleanliness, 9%
Dishwashers, 7%

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Sous Chef
Sous Chef vs Cooking Chef

Updated January 8, 2025

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