I‘m not/have never been a pro, just really into cooking and following chefs and cooking as a hobby online and in cookery books. I love old videos of Keith Floyd and in one he gave this speech about how a kitchen only has one chef, that it came from the French word for chief, and that everyone else in the kitchen is a cook.

I know that’s dated as there are multiple chefs in some kitchens, but I told my friend this (also a hobbyist) and he was seriously incensed and got really argumentative about how pro cooks are chefs.

It was a stupid argument either way, but I haven’t ever gotten to ask actual chefs what they think? It seemed offensive that I said not all cooks are chefs, but I was just thinking (based on Floyd) it’s clearer in a kitchen setting. The cooks cook and the chefs have some additional responsibilities to the cooking. Is this accurate or is it just case by case?

Do you still have that passion for cooking at home? If not do you ever see yourself finding that passion again?

I'm opening a cafe later this month and inherited an electric Vulcan Combi oven. I have a basic manual but there is very little information on how to use it. Do I follow air fryer instructions? How do I determine where to set the humidity percentage and cooking time? I've scoured the internet looking for answers.

Heyo; fresh produce at my restaurant has roughly a 3 day turnover; and this past years I’ve noticed a significant increase in the number of rejected produce. So if we reject, we’re out. We currently have ~7 distributors ranging from local to Sysco and I’ve been trying to figure out a better system of what to do when we reject shipments.

As of now, I have one of the sous’s run to an ethnic grocery store or major chain to grab what we need, but that’s a significant waste of labor

I'm relatively new to the space (graduated culinary school a year ago, been working at a fine dining establishment for two) and looking for adjustments I can make to more basic dishes or just techniques I could use to improve overall while I'm down. I busted my back pretty bad at work a few months ago, but I'm trying to get better where I can before I make my triumphant return.

I work for Aramark as a Chef manager and absolutely have it. The job won't allow me to fire bad employees and everyone my director hires is a complete waste of time. Im wondering if everywhere is this bad or if I should just leave.

This topic has been on my mind a lot lately. I love cooking at home but it is something I do for pleasure and leisure. I think it could be awesome to find an avenue in which I am making a career out of this somehow, but I don't want to work in a restaurant because I know it can be pretty soul-sucking, and I just don't perform well under fast-paced overwhelming environments. Is it possible to somehow make a lucrative career revolving around cooking without that? What would that even look like? Private chef for a wealthy family, maybe? But how would I be able to attain that without extensive professional kitchen experience? Just curious what options are out there in the world? I'm working as a video editor right now but I'm always butting heads creatively, and I also just don't see this being a job that is going to really exist in 10 years time, with the rise of AI capabilities. Food will always be there and needed to be prepared by a human

Hi r/Chefit,

I spoke with the mod team beforehand and they kindly made an exception to the no-research rule for this post – thanks to them for that.

I'm Hannah, a journalist working for ARD, Germany's public broadcaster. We're researching working conditions in German fine-dining and Michelin-level kitchens: hours, pay, hierarchy and the culture on the pass, the "passion as payment" trade-off, and where the line between hard work and abuse gets crossed.

Even though the focus is Germany, I know many chefs here have worked across borders or have a clear read on the industry, so I'd genuinely value hearing from you – whether you've worked in German kitchens or want to share your experience from neighbouring countries (Austria, Switzerland etc).

What I'm looking for: people who've worked in fine-dining/Michelin star kitchens and are willing to share their experience: on the record, on background, or fully anonymous, whatever you're comfortable with. No obligation to appear on camera.

How to reach me: share your experiences here in the comments or contact me privately at finedininginvestigation@proton.me. I'm happy to verify who I am first and send you a copy of my press card or an email from my official editorial address.

Source protection is taken seriously, and nothing gets used without your consent.

Food service is often jumping from one burning dumpster fire to the next.

Came in at 17:00 and the afternoon shift had clearly been destroyed. Ten boxes of dough still downstairs, then I got trapped on the oven, tickets wouldn't stop printing, staff food had to go out… and suddenly the dough we normally ball on a strict schedule was 3 hours late.

The problem: this is Wednesday's 72-hour fermented pizza dough.

It will obviously continue fermenting, but those extra three hours in bulk could change the gluten structure and final proof enough that Wednesday's shift inherits the consequences.

Anyone running long-fermentation pizza dough professionally: would you expect a 3-hour delay in balling to be noticeable 72 hours later?

Hello all, I wanted to ask what has your experience been with the culinary program at Disney World? What is a day like? What was it like preparing prior to departing for Disney World when selected? Do you have any regrets? Anything to add would be great insight.

Looking for some good insight wheather this would be a good fit for me. Thank you.

FML I forgot to order beef for tomorrow after we finished up restaurant week in my town, sold over 200 steaks the past 2 days. Thought we would carry over one more day but I guess not.

Saw some numbers from the NRA's 2026 report and the loyalty program stats made me think about how much of that ends up hitting the kitchen without anyone really talking about it.

Here's how many customers say being part of a rewards program actually matters when they're choosing where to order from:

• 70% for delivery
• 65% for takeout
• 64% for drive-thru
• 63% for limited-service dine-in
• 56% for full-service dine-in

I always figured loyalty programs were mostly a marketing or ownership thing, points, app notifications, that kind of stuff. But if the majority of customers are picking a restaurant partly because of the program, that's a lot of ticket volume tied to whatever reward or redemption item is active that week. Not just repeat customers using points they already had, but people actively choosing you over somewhere else because of it.

Millennials lean into this the hardest, 77% say loyalty matters for delivery specifically. Gen Z isn't far behind. Makes sense given how much of their ordering happens through an app that's already tracking points for them.

For comparison, discounts and specials still matter more overall (81% for delivery), but that's kind of expected, people like deals. The loyalty number felt like the bigger deal because it's not really about price, it's about whether being enrolled in the program changes where the order goes in the first place.

I wish they had picked a better background color for that table

Currently I run a personal chef and catering business but I have a commissary, overhead, food cost etc to manage and I really hate that side of it. I’ve never gone the in home model because I assume I would need a scalable business to retire me. But I have a business coach who’s had her scaled food business for two plus decades and the freaking drama never stops. Every 6 months to a year it’s a massive kitchen floods, chefs doing typical chef shit like drugs at work or quitting without notice, partners screwing her over or some other shit. It all sounds terrible. So I’ve been considering switching to an in home model and keep it simple and maybe retire on investments

If you’re an in home personal chef, how do you plan to retire?

Anyone know where I can buy the SIKA Energy BOA 30202 in the US?

I’ve been looking everywhere but can’t find a US seller. I’m okay with ordering from Europe too as long as the store is legit and ships to the US.

Any recommendations?

Thank you.

Hello, I am a 21 year old female, who has recently gotten a position as a sous chef in a new kitchen. I have 2 years of production experience, but no management experience at all. My head chef has been incredible so far in helping me, but I thought I would seek out more advice from other professionals.

What can I do to help gain the respect of those older than me and with more experience?

What can I do to feel more comfortable and confident managing those around me?

Any advice is greatly appreciated and welcome.

Genuine question that's been stuck in my head for a while now. Every chef I've seen has this whole relationship with their knives.. sharpens it themselves, won't let anyone else so much as pick it up, treats it like an extension of themselves, then same person will grab whatever bent, half-broken ladle or tongs the kitchen happens to have lying around. No complaints, no personal one, no ritual. Sometimes they even find a work around to work with the defective item.

Is that just about skill/technique living in the knife specifically? Is it a culinary-school thing — you're taught from day one that the knife is yours and nothing else is? Or is it just tradition nobody's ever actually questioned?

Has anyone here ever felt that same protectiveness over something that isn't a knife — a spoon, a ladle, tongs, anything? Or is the knife really just in its own category for everyone? What's the one non-knife tool you'd genuinely be annoyed to lose or have someone else touch, if any?

Aspiring chef here. I have been working part time in the different kitchens for the past 2 years. I just graduated from swedish high school and have been working as a runner in a fine dining restaurant during the summer. Headchef gave me the advice of venturing out to the continent and working in different places. Does anyone on the sub have any extra advice? what should i look out for? any websites where i can find jobs in europe? Any regions or locations that are noteworthy?

I'm a culinary student who joined this field out of a genuine passion for cooking. I’m enrolled at a hospitality institute while doing an apprenticeship at the same time. During the academic year, I spend 2 days a week studying and 3 days training at a workplace. In the summer, I work 5 days a week under a official employment contract at a 5-star hotel. The pressure is intense—we handle service for around 500 covers at lunch and up to 1,800 covers at dinner. I'm also fluent in Arabic, French, and English, and my total training program lasts 3 years. I really dislike wasting time on something that won't yield substantial long-term rewards or career growth, even if it takes time to get there. Given the demanding environment and the 3-year commitment, do you think staying in this field is worth it in the long run?

Hello,

I’m sure this question has been asked a ton already but figured it can’t hurt to ask.

For some background, I’ve been doing kitchen work for about 2 years at this point and I’m a bit on the heavier side so I occasionally burn out quick. Most shifts I’ve worked have been 6-8 hour shifts and if I had a longer shift I was given the day after off to essentially reset.

Recently I started a new job. My training days were 6 hour shifts, 9-3. No biggie. Tomorrow I start my normal schedule working 11-9 one day and then 8-3 the 4 days after.

What are some good tips to get through that longer day without screwing myself over for the rest of the week?

Edit:

What do you guys eat before work to not feel like shit through your shift?

My previous job and current job are polar opposites.

Previous job. Lots of piercings and tattoos. Lots of jokes and innuendo. Sometimes screaming, drama and arguments. But it also felt like we were a family.

Current job: Very bureaucratic kitchen. Managers never show emotion whateoever. Lots of meetings and HR. Its so boring.

Things are more efficiently ran and my job is a bit easier as a result. Less situations where were underprepared and im doing two peoples work. At the same time, I feel incredibly bored and like Im slowly dying inside.

I can think of many good memories from the previous kitchen. Almost none from this one.

I also feel like the coworkers each place attracts are different. The previous job had more people I had things in common with, people Id hang out with outside of work.

Have any of you had experiences like this working in each kind of kitchen?

I feel like Im somewhere in the middle of the spectrum between order and chaos. Im all for running things efficiently but I dont want a workplace to lose its humanity.