Chef 101: How to Get a High-Paying Job in the Kitchen

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To be a chef is to love cooking if any one jumps In to the food business for money will be very disappointed., in short period of time but bottom line what ever make happy and if you can make a living out of it go for with out regrets.

Chef alberto of TX 9:18PM March 21, 2013

These people are looking in the wrong places to be a cook or chef! In my home state of Alaska, you can easily make $50 to $60K a year working as a cook or baker, but it has to be one of those remote camps, usually on the North Slope. They make anywhere from $13 to $20 an hour, depending on the employer, but most of the $ are from overtime. You usually work 3 weeks straight, then home for 3 weeks. If you want to make even more than that, work on tugboats or ships for weeks on end, providing you have Merchant Mariner Credentials, at $60 to $70K per year or at the radar sites doing more than just cooking for even more money and cooking for only half a dozen folks. The executive chefs at Anchorage's fine restaurants and ski resorts are probably making in the 60's per year and the jobs are much more mentally stressful. And finally, there are government jobs as cooks ranging from WG-5 to WG-8 that pay from $40 to $65K per year that are pretty laid back. And some permit overtime. But they're also hard to come by, thanks to Obama.
I think culinary school is a waste of time and money. You can work your way up to chef with many companies, such as Aramark, but most of them don't give a damn about their employees and work them half to death. The chefs you see on TV are making money from the shows, not working at the restaurant.
Institutional cooking is the way to go. The customers at a fine restaurants don't care who's preparing their food, but you work where the food served is on a steam table line, many people show some gratitude toward you
My old boss on the North Slope was a Swiss gentleman that had a fine restaurant in Washington and pastry shop, but there was no money in it and he worked on the North Slope for years at twice the money.
Unless you're lucky or work really hard and have some networking, you won't get wealthy in this business, but can make a comfortable living. And you must really have an art and passion for cooking, plus know all the science for baking to succeed.
As a final note, I spent 22 years in the Air Force and part of it cooking, where I got most of my training. Cracks me up how service members complain about being underpaid.

Jon of AK 6:37PM November 18, 2012

You are right when a student finishes most Culinary schools they are qualified to be a prep cook or a line cook only . My students wanted to learn the glory of sauteed and seeing the wine on fire, decoration of a beautiful cake first. They thought that was the School part. So I would sit them all down before We started the first class and asked them if you were to build a house what is one of the most important things ? Most said, a Plan and a good foundation . I asked what is the most important thing about decorating a cake ? Taste of the cake and the texture of it . That is what you will receive at great Culinary School a good solid foundation to build upon. You have to learn measurements, cooking terminology, how to sauteed, Blanche,fry,broiled,grill correctly, Stock is the foundation of cooking ! If thee stock is not great everything you put it in will not be that great. If the stock is delicious everything will be delicious you put it into.
A Doctor that is a surgeon might have 10 operations a week. But Great Chef operates on thousands from the inside out. What you eat and drink just like the correct gas in a race car determines the flow of the car. So think culinary student the cake can look beautiful on the outside, but it is what is inside that really counts. It's all about the food!
I created a Culinary School from scratch and ran it for 11 years. Been cooking for 45 years and I Ann still learning . When you stop learning in life in general you start to die. We as Chef's I believe have the highest calling on earth. Humans live and die from the food and drink We consume .

Executive Chef Richard of GA 2:11PM November 02, 2011

If you want to go to culinary school, know what you are getting into. I went and wrote all about it (here, if you are interested: "Culinary School: Three Semesters of Life, Learning, and Loss of Blood" http://bit.ly/m2ROR1). It's a must-read for any potential culinary school student, I believe.

Culinary School: Three Semesters of Life, Learning, and Loss of Blood of NY 1:54PM May 13, 2011

Anyone going into the culinary world and expect to make the big bucks will find themselves with a disappointment, it's never about the money. I cook because I love to cook. It is a hard work, and sometimes you will get your ass handed back to you in the kitchen, but it is all worth it, the rush that comes from doing 200 covers a night flawlessly makes it all worthwhile. I remember back in culinary school, there were 18 new students at orientation, including me, 14 months later there were only 4 people left in my group that made it to graduation. People often enroll in a culinary school thinking it's all glamor like you see in Food Network, but it's not. I do agree with the article that working a restaurant job, whether it's a dishwasher or prep cook, before enrolling in an expensive culinary program will benefit people more because they will see for themselves what it's like to work in a restaurant. Now I work in a decent local upscale restaurant, I was lucky enough to get a reference from a former classmate of mine who graduated months before me (being nice to other people pays). The pay is OK, no benefit or anything but I have learned a lot of things that I did not from the culinary school.

Tan of FL 12:32AM April 13, 2011

The culinary profession can be extremely lucrative. There are plenty of people who earn a decent living doing it, and plenty people on the opposite end of the spectrum. It sounds to me like Total BS must have been the 'sous chef' in a neighborhood bar and grill. Cooks that do not speak English are not necessarily illegal immigrants; that is a foolish misconception... a broad and ignorant stereotype.

Foodie4Life of NY 9:09PM January 03, 2011

Professionally cooking sucks. If you go to culinary school, you might end up in debt or waste saved money on a low-paying occupation. If you go to an apprenticeship, then you you think you know everything and you work for years for nearly nothing only to be released into the workforce with a still-mediocre wage. If you just start working, then you view everyone else in the kitchen who has taken a more structured approach to it with suspicion and contempt. They all pay poorly.
You must either suck it up and except that your profession stinks and insult everyone else who despises it because you can't get out of it yourself and, perhaps, see no other options as an out, or you come from a privileged background that allows you to enter it with the help of someone's money and graciousness.
Just turn off the food network and go get a normal life and a decent paycheck. Life in America is about exactly that despite what that idiot PA Chef says. The good ole' days of being a Chef are OVER. Now it;s all about the bottom line. That's why kitchens are filled with illegal immigrants and drug-alcohol fueled idiots. They have no power to change the status quo.
All of the foodie crap out there is a facade that only the artistically-obsessed fall for.
Leaving the business after making it to Sous Chef was the best decision I've ever made and now I can afford the time AND money to eat at expensive restaurants OFTEN. Be care what you wish for.
P.S. Hey PA Chef?! Make sure you don't screw up my order and make it quick while you're at it! Veet! Veet!

TooMuchMoney of HI 1:15PM October 03, 2010

Amen! Where's your restaurant, again? I bet you run that kitchen like a well oiled engine. Bet your food is great.

Ms. B of CO 6:34PM April 23, 2010

What is wrong with people that don't speak English? They work just as hard as everyone else. Maybe you should learn Spanish.

big steve of WI 9:05PM April 01, 2010

Its not about the money. Its about the food. Its always about the food, and the energy, and the intensity and the rush. Its the controlled chaos and kitchen comradery. So, Mr. BULL TRYPE peel these carrots and when your done with that clean my station and when your done with that fetch me a beer, make that 2 beers, one for me and one for my non-english speaking, immigrant sous chef whos making good money now and who got promoted over you, the english speaking american guy that cant see past the f&%#ing pay check and cant cook his way out of a wet paper bag.

Ed of PA 5:20AM January 08, 2010