Third cook vs lead cook

The differences between third cooks and lead 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 third cook and a lead cook. Additionally, a lead cook has an average salary of $35,964, which is higher than the $33,974 average annual salary of a third cook.

The top three skills for a third cook include food preparation, kitchen equipment and culinary. The most important skills for a lead cook are customer service, food handling, and culinary.

Third cook vs lead cook overview

	Third Cook	Lead Cook
Yearly salary	$33,974	$35,964
Hourly rate	$16.33	$17.29
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	137,854	160,223
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 37%	Associate Degree, 35%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	4	4

Third cook vs lead cook salary

Third cooks and lead cooks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Third Cook	Lead Cook
Average salary	$33,974	$35,964
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $41,000	Between $27,000 And $46,000
Highest paying City	-	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	-	Washington
Best paying company	-	Freeport-McMoRan
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between third cook and lead cook education

There are a few differences between a third cook and a lead cook in terms of educational background:

	Third Cook	Lead Cook
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 37%	Associate Degree, 35%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Culinary Arts
Most common college	-	-

Third cook vs lead cook demographics

Here are the differences between third cooks' and lead cooks' demographics:

	Third Cook	Lead Cook
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 63.0% Female, 37.0%	Male, 72.6% Female, 27.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 20.0% Asian, 8.4% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4%	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 9.4% White, 57.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between third cook and lead cook duties and responsibilities

Third cook example responsibilities.

Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Maintain and follow proper hygiene and sanitation standards.

Lead cook example responsibilities.

Manage food expo; facilitate food temp logs; creation of menu specials; management and supervision of production staff
Manage inventory and purchasing of groceries.
Operate standard cooking equipment including slicers, food choppers, fryers, refrigerators, ovens and stoves.
Operate ovens, stoves, grills, microwaves, turbo chefs, and fryers.
Use and clean commercial ovens, meat slicers, steamers, combination ovens and steam kettles.
Operate ovens, stoves, grills, microwaves, kettles, and tilt skillet.

Third cook vs lead cook skills

Common third cook skills

Food Preparation, 31%
Kitchen Equipment, 29%
Culinary, 25%
HACCP, 15%
Kitchen Line, 0%

Common lead cook skills

Customer Service, 14%
Food Handling, 14%
Culinary, 11%
Food Service, 11%
Kitchen Equipment, 7%
Math, 5%

Third Cook vs. similar jobs

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Third Cook vs Lead Cook

Updated January 8, 2025

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