Cook 2 Job Description

Line Cooking

I've been a line cook for 16 years. I've worked in the kitchen as well as an expo. It's hard work in a busy restaurant, but it's worth it if you love what you do.

Consistency is key and attention to detail is important. Every dish must be the same. If one cook gets overwhelmed and starts to go down, the whole line is affected.

The heat of the dinner service on a busy Saturday night is like no other. You're in the trenches, taking grenades with your fellow cooks for hours, pumping out massive volumes of food. A lot of patience and ability to work under pressure are what I have.

If you're a hot head in the real world, you will fail as a line cook. It is correct. It is difficult to cook in a busy restaurant.

Maillard Reaction: From Baking to Large-Scale Food Production

Baking is the process of cooking food in an oven. The steam from the food is converted to the dry heat of the oven to cook it. bread, cakes, jacket potatoes, and pastries are some of the common baked foods.

Blanching is a very similar cooking technique to boiling, in which food is immersed in a boiling liquid for a short time, before being removed and plunged into ice water to stop the cooking process. Vegetables and fruits are some of the common blanched food items. The food is cooked in a liquid, which is held below boiling point, in the same way that boiling is done.

The boiling point of most liquids is between 100 and 120oC, and compared to the simmering point of most liquids, it is a slower method of cooking. Vegetables, soups and sauces are some of the common types of foods that are simmered. Grilling is the cooking of food using a heat source that is dry.

There are several sources of dry heat that can be used for grilling. Fish, meat, vegetables, and bread are some of the common types of food grilled. The cooking of food by steam is called steam cooking.

The steam is generated by boiling water and carries the heat to the food. Vegetables and fish are some of the foods that are cooked by steaming. Hundreds of different compounds are created during the Maillard Reaction, which is similar to caramelisation.

Line Cooks: A Career Path in Food Operations

Line Cooks are responsible for preparing ingredients at an establishment that serves food, processing customer orders, producing meals and cleaning their workspace to follow health and safety guidelines. Cooks follow recipes, make adjustments based on customer requests, communicate with wait staff, and prepare attractive presentation for each meal. Cooks can be employed at many places.

Personal cooks can work in people's homes. Cooks use their knowledge of the menu to prepare multiple dishes at once, help stock inventory, organize fridges and communicate with other kitchen staff to deliver dishes to customers in a timely manner. They are responsible for interpreting meal orders and producing meals that are the right temperature for diners.

Cooks interact with customers at food stations. A high school degree is required for a job as a cook. Vocational or technical school diplomas are preferred.

The apprenticeship programs are sponsored by the American Culinary Federation and are accredited. A basic cook position requires little to no experience, but more experience will give you skills and talents that will be useful. Many cooks become proficient in their trade through experience, beginning in food preparation or as a kitchen helpers to learn the basics of cooking, then progressing to become an assistant cook or line cook and eventually becoming a full cook.

Others learn through apprenticeships. Good cooks thrive in high-pressure environments so that they can produce large amounts of high-quality dishes during lunch and dinner rushes. They can work behind a hot grill doing physical labor for long shifts.