Specialty foods cook vs short order cook

The differences between specialty foods cooks and short order 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 short order cook. Additionally, a specialty foods cook has an average salary of $31,497, which is higher than the $30,734 average annual salary of a short order cook.

The top three skills for a specialty foods cook include food handling, basic math and dishes. The most important skills for a short order cook are food handling, customer service, and food preparation equipment.

Specialty foods cook vs short order cook overview

	Specialty Foods Cook	Short Order Cook
Yearly salary	$31,497	$30,734
Hourly rate	$15.14	$14.78
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	189,118	176,187
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 50%	High School Diploma, 43%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	4	4

Specialty foods cook vs short order cook salary

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

	Specialty Foods Cook	Short Order Cook
Average salary	$31,497	$30,734
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $39,000	Between $24,000 And $38,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	Anaheim, CA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Washington
Best paying company	Ncar - The National Center For Atmospheric Research	Columbia University in the City of New York
Best paying industry	Retail	Health Care

Differences between specialty foods cook and short order cook education

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

	Specialty Foods Cook	Short Order Cook
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 50%	High School Diploma, 43%
Most common major	Business	Culinary Arts
Most common college	-	-

Specialty foods cook vs short order cook demographics

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

	Specialty Foods Cook	Short Order Cook
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 72.7% Female, 27.3%	Male, 65.1% Female, 34.9%
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, 10.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.7% Asian, 8.1% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between specialty foods cook and short order 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.

Short order cook example responsibilities.

Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Ensure that ovens and stoves remain at appropriate temperatures.
Clean kitchen including wiping down grills, slicers and deep-frying equipment.
Develop teamwork skills with cooks, dishwashers and wait staff, through efficient clean up and preparation of food.
Prepare guest food orders as they are either transmit via the POS system or orally convey at the counter.
Cook foods on the grill station, oven, barbecue grill, deep fryers, and other industrial cooking apparatus.

Specialty foods cook vs short order 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 short order cook skills

Food Handling, 20%
Customer Service, 14%
Food Preparation Equipment, 11%
Kitchen Equipment, 9%
Food Service, 7%
Safety Standards, 7%

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Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Specialty Foods Cook
Specialty Foods Cook vs Short Order Cook

Updated January 8, 2025

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