/ck/ - Food & Cooking

Former chef here that worked in a nice hotel chain for years running the kitchen for the restaurant and our huge banquet halls.

For the love of god, get yourself a real job that isnt cooking. Cook with passion at home for friends/family, and maybe even start your own catering service where you feed private gatherings with top notch food that have no problem paying good prices for good quality.

Working yourself to the bone all day every day in a restaurant/hotel kitchen making somebody else rich with your skills is only feeding the beast thats slowly killing you on the inside.

>before draining fryer we always let it cool down for an hour first
>newish guy whos been working there for a month says "nah its fine, lets just change it right now" while its only been off for about 3 minutes because he wants to get it done and out of the way
>tell him no and he argues a bit but finally gives in after we tell him how dangerous it is
>Me and souschef are downstairs in the freezer checking on how much supplies we have
>hear loud BANG up stairs and then screaming
>we run up there
>dude tried changing the fryer while we werent around even after we told him not too
>he put a huge pot on the floor to catch the hot oil, and then tried picking it up
>he bumped into something while carrying it and because it was so full it spilled over the edge onto his chest and all the way down the front of his body
>chef whites are super absorbent shitty clothes that off no protection against anything so the oil went straight through to his skin
then he dropped the huge pot of oil on the floor which made the loud bang
>hes laying there with his jacket off trying to get his pants off, basically totally naked screaming trying to get all his clothes off
>we pull him over to the dishpit and use the dish sprayer with cold water to cool off the huge fucking burns all over him from his chest down
>even his fucking dick had blisters on it
>we call the ambulence, call the boss shows at home because its almost midnight, and then spend the next 4 hours staying later cleaning old fryer oil off of fucking everything and out from underneath everything in the goddamn kitchen because it seeped into every goddamn nook and cranny

>>5344197
eh, not really.
i mean, cooks/ chefs consider bakers to be something totally different, but i think the feeling is mutual, and its really true. totally different jobs, skills, and cultures. i wouldnt call it a rivalry though.

chefs/cooks tend to be pretty chummy. there is a lot of turnover in restaurants so after a while everyone knows eachother, at least second hand. plus, you cant go burning bridges. if you don't get along with the other chefs/cooks/servers in your market, who the hell are you going to drink with on Tuesday nights at 1am?

obligatory

>get so many steaks sent back we had to put a fucking chart with pictures in our menu showing levels of steak done-ness because customers are fucking stupid

>suddenly stop getting steaks sent back

Remember kids. The majority of the human population is dumb as a bag of rocks. And usually customers in any kind of establishment are the majority of the human population.

contribuan

back in college there was this Chinese joint that had amazing food. they didnt know dick about running a restaurant but the food was good. during lunch they had a simple buffet with just 2 entrees, rice, and eggrolls. It was all great and only $4.50

naturally it was a busy lunch spot, and many diners were alone. they had only 6 place tables, so this place solves their seating problem by just seating strangers together. It was kind of fucking magical. you could end up sitting at a table with 5 people who all dont know each other.

miss it big time.

Was working my way to chefdom.

Was cooking professionally for about 7 years, took some schooling and was working on my apprenticeship. Almost got my red seal.

Eventually I finally came to my senses and said fuck this job. I fucking love cooking, but cooking for a living is for chumps. IMO its not worth the stress, and amount of time Id spend doing the job. LOL weekends, holidays, and nights off, what are those?

Its also pretty irritating when people can get jobs with not nearly the same amount of work and stress, and make more than twice what you'll ever make cooking unless you hit if off big with your own restaraunt. And hell even people that own restaraunts have to basically live in the place 24/7 to make sure the quality keeps up because employees are lazy shits that will let your quality slip at the drop of a hat.

Many, MANY cooks I worked with were also crackheads, and or alcoholics to dealw ith the stress/no time off. Even in high end places with fancy high quality food, the cooks were strung out of their minds because they have to deal with 3 separate banquets, as well as 100 seats out front wanting food right now.

My brain and body is healthier for getting out of cooking.

Not everybody has the same opinion as me though. Some people are perfectly content to slave away in kitchens their whole lives. Not me though man.

>>4445446
>Doesn't take into account the you know, actual food you are getting, the prep for it, ingredients...

You're the kind of asshole who goes into a restaurant and then argues after they've eaten the food that it's too expensive and you could have made it at home for $10 aren't you?

I worked in the "industry" for 7 years, and it fucking sucked, and I got the fuck out of there. I did it all. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, dishwasher, prep-cook, sous chef, kitchen manager/headcook/chef. I worked in shitty restaurants, and I worked in high-end hotels doing huge ass banquets for hundreds of people. Its shitty work, and the only people who would sanely do it for a living either do it because they really, really love cooking, or its the only thing they can do and are too afraid to move on to anything else.

>very low pay
>stressful as shit
>long hours
>work all weekends and holidays
>all weekends and holidays are busy as fuck
>almost all the people you work with are drunks and/or crackheads to deal with the stress
>most servers are dipshits 24/7, and they will probably make more money that you

Heres a big tip. If you are ever moving up in a restaraint/hotel/whatever, and they want you to go on salary, tell them to fuck right off. They will try to make it sound awesome because LOL YOULL BE MAKING WAY MORE MONEY. Fuck them. To them getting you on salary means they can work you to the bone, all day, every day, and they dont have to pay you overtime, or for any of the crazy hours you work, because now are you paid a set amount every time. Tell them you get paid by the hour, or they can fuck right off.

Cooking is one of those jobs where they expect you to work extra hard for free. If a mechanic, or a plumber, or a trucker works extra long hours on a holiday? Fuck year im earning double time and a half. Ill gladly work this holiday!

former cheffag here

i have long term plans of building up a restaurant style kitchen for my own amusement. flat top is on my short list for purchase.
im just watching craigslist for a used one though. you can score restaurant grade appliances on the cheap when restaurants close down.

...they usually need alot of work though.

>muh flat top
>muh tilt skillet
>muh convection oven
>muh deli slicer

>>4149549
a few years ago:

>New years eve
>we makin butter poached lobster for 200 people
>all that butter left over
>gallons of it
>FRY EVERY FUCKING THING IN LOBSTER BUTTER

awesome

i've always got button mushrooms in my fridge. such a versatile ingredient.

>food olympics

>almost every single team makes nothing but tons of elaborate french style gelatines and terrines

Its like they are stuck in the 70's and cant escape. Seriously. Everytime I hear news about the food olympics and see all the shit they make, most of it is pretty looking turine logs sliced up on platters.

Yargh. Call me when you guys start making some interesting food.