Specialty cook vs grill cook

The differences between specialty cooks and grill cooks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a specialty cook and a grill cook. Additionally, a specialty cook has an average salary of $33,829, which is higher than the $31,895 average annual salary of a grill cook.

The top three skills for a specialty cook include food handling, culinary and kitchen equipment. The most important skills for a grill cook are sanitation standards, kitchen equipment, and safety standards.

Specialty cook vs grill cook overview

	Specialty Cook	Grill Cook
Yearly salary	$33,829	$31,895
Hourly rate	$16.26	$15.33
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	141,369	184,603
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 44%	High School Diploma, 48%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	4	4

Specialty cook vs grill cook salary

Specialty cooks and grill cooks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Specialty Cook	Grill Cook
Average salary	$33,829	$31,895
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $42,000	Between $25,000 And $39,000
Highest paying City	Vancouver, WA	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	Hawaii	Washington
Best paying company	Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics	St. Petersburg Yacht Club
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Hospitality

Differences between specialty cook and grill cook education

There are a few differences between a specialty cook and a grill cook in terms of educational background:

	Specialty Cook	Grill Cook
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 44%	High School Diploma, 48%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Culinary Arts
Most common college	-	-

Specialty cook vs grill cook demographics

Here are the differences between specialty cooks' and grill cooks' demographics:

	Specialty Cook	Grill Cook
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 77.4% Female, 22.6%	Male, 76.9% Female, 23.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.3% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 21.5% Asian, 9.0% White, 55.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%	Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 8.5% White, 58.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between specialty cook and grill cook duties and responsibilities

Specialty cook example responsibilities.

Work grill, saut, & expediter stations.
Complete culinary tasks using various cooking methods and techniques/ very good knife handling skills.
Work all stations, saut, grill, pantry, fryer, breakfast, in upscale American bistro.
Maintain cleanliness and a sanitary environment within kitchen area to meet all health and safety requirements.
Unload and store groceries and supplies.
Maintain balance inventories of groceries and supplies.

Grill cook example responsibilities.

Manage portions of grill food items and garnish them, regulate temperature of broilers, grills and roasters.
Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Utilize for relief management, new hire training, inventory control and profitable aspects of people and service.
Maintain station clean food preparation areas; operate large volume cooking equipment such as grills, deep fryers, or griddles.
High-Pace business catering to the consumer needs using hospitality and culinary expertise to provide proper customer satisfaction.
Cook foods by baking, roasting, broiling, frying, saut? ing, steaming and grilling.

Specialty cook vs grill cook skills

Common specialty cook skills

Food Handling, 23%
Culinary, 16%
Kitchen Equipment, 16%
Cuisine, 12%
Food Quality, 7%
Fine Dining, 5%

Common grill cook skills

Sanitation Standards, 16%
Kitchen Equipment, 14%
Safety Standards, 13%
Food Handling, 9%
Math, 7%
Dexterity, 5%

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Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Specialty Cook
Specialty Cook vs Grill Cook

Updated January 8, 2025

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