Specialty foods cook vs kitchen cook

The differences between specialty foods cooks and kitchen 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 foods cook and a kitchen cook. Additionally, a specialty foods cook has an average salary of $31,497, which is higher than the $31,452 average annual salary of a kitchen cook.

The top three skills for a specialty foods cook include food handling, basic math and dishes. The most important skills for a kitchen cook are dishes, food handling, and cleanliness.

Specialty foods cook vs kitchen cook overview

	Specialty Foods Cook	Kitchen Cook
Yearly salary	$31,497	$31,452
Hourly rate	$15.14	$15.12
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	189,118	250,354
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 50%	High School Diploma, 44%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	4	4

Specialty foods cook vs kitchen cook salary

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

	Specialty Foods Cook	Kitchen Cook
Average salary	$31,497	$31,452
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $39,000	Between $25,000 And $38,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Ncar - The National Center For Atmospheric Research	Hilltop Ski Area
Best paying industry	Retail	Retail

Differences between specialty foods cook and kitchen cook education

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

	Specialty Foods Cook	Kitchen Cook
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 50%	High School Diploma, 44%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Specialty foods cook vs kitchen cook demographics

Here are the differences between specialty foods cooks' and kitchen cooks' demographics:

	Specialty Foods Cook	Kitchen Cook
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 72.7% Female, 27.3%	Male, 65.8% Female, 34.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 18.5% Asian, 7.0% White, 58.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%	Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.7% Asian, 9.1% White, 58.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between specialty foods cook and kitchen cook duties and responsibilities

Specialty foods cook example responsibilities.

Develop ability to manage multiple stations simultaneously while maintaining high levels of culinary excellence.
Operate a large volume of cooking equipment such as grills, deep fryers, and griddles.
Collect orders from customers, clean dining room, wash dishes, safely cook food to customer liking.
Ensure food are stored and cook at correct temperatures by regulating temperature of oven, broilers, grills and roasters.
Bag merchandise by following standard procedures.maintain Drive-thru times.
Leverage teamwork to fully utilize kitchen staff to generate remarkable food and service to ensure customer satisfaction.

Kitchen cook example responsibilities.

Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Inspect clean and utilize ovens, grills, fryers, mixers, etc.
Experience on grills, fryers, knife handling and slicers.
Experience with fryers, weigh machines, slicers and other similarities.
Used electric ovens and electric stoves.
Regulate temperature of ovens, broilers, grills, and roasters.

Specialty foods cook vs kitchen cook skills

Common specialty foods cook skills

Food Handling, 45%
Basic Math, 35%
Dishes, 5%
Food Service, 4%
Safety Standards, 3%
Food Products, 1%

Common kitchen cook skills

Dishes, 13%
Food Handling, 11%
Cleanliness, 8%
Math, 8%
Basic Math, 8%
Culinary, 7%

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Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Specialty Foods Cook
Specialty Foods Cook vs Kitchen Cook

Updated January 8, 2025

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