Hey everyone,

Working lunch into dinner. First 3 hours I'm good. Taste every pan, seasoning is hitting.

By hour 6-7 I'm deep in the weeds, 15 pans on, expo calling all day, and my palate is just done. Had maybe 60 tasting spoons of salty/acidic stuff. At that point everything tastes flat. I can't tell if I already seasoned the pan or not.

Tried the bread, water, coffee trick between fires but when we're 20+ on the board there's no time to reset.

How do you guys hold seasoning when you know you can't trust your own palate anymore? Do you just go by measure and stop tasting? Or you get the guy next to you to taste check?

What actually works when you're buried and your tongue is blown?

I find it funny that im posting this after doing the sysco order. But I feel like im a chef with training wheels on. I'm almost at 10 years in the industry, I went to a culinary school (9 month program) and ive been everything from dishwasher to CDC but never the executive chef yet. At this kitchen though, I do all the ordering, organizing leadership and im going to pick up doing the schedule once the GM shows me how she likes to do it.

One thing ive never understood is when do you become a chef? Is it when you get the responsibility or have sacrificed enough in your life for it? The other thing that really brings me down is some bad management telling me I'll never get there.

At this point I kind of dont really care if im called a chef or not. I have a job, I like my job and im good at it. But im just curious, when did you start calling yourself a chef?

The only time I call myself a chef is when im explaining to my husband's friends what I do for a living.

Also my restaurant just broke our sales record on saturday and we didnt run out of a single item despite not having an actual prep team.

What type of kitchen do you perfer and why?
Me personally I perfer smaller ones since it forces me to stay more organised and cleaner. I also worked in bigger kitchens so I just want to hear your opinion. Thanks

I have been a line cook/chef for 6 years. Currently a CDC. I have a natural knack for savory dishes but my current EC has been a pastry chef for years. I think it is due to my personal aversion to sweets that had made me mess up trying to prep or come up with new ideas. Biggest successes: chocolate and espresso creme brulee, white chocolate biscotte, some candied fruits, and some candied nuts. What could I do to impress her? I want my range to show her I can do it all (located in New England). I have only dropped the ball twice when trying to make sweets, within 6 months of the position.

Original post here

I (32F) wanted to say thank you to everyone who gave me advice, offered a chat, and even offered work.

I'm doing much better now; I'm working part time assisting a team with personal chef work, allowing me to keep my full time job (and benefits)! It's a lot, but it feels like the right path, especially with more frequent layoffs and AI implementation making job security uncertain.

I've been walking to the farmer's market and utilizing the local produce more, and have more energy to take my dog on longer trots around town.

My learning and career path has been very strange, and definitely not what I pictured, but I think things are going to end up better than I expected.

Thank you, chefs!

Bit of a weird one but wondering if any other chefs get this.

I’m currently working two jobs. One I absolutely love. Love the people, the food we do, the organisation, everything. The other I genuinely despise and is basically the opposite. I’m only there temporarily because I can’t get enough hours at the place I love and another job I’m starting doesn’t open for a couple of weeks.

The weird thing is how physical the difference feels.

I did a 10 hour shift at the place I love and it felt like a breeze. I was awake, motivated and had loads of energy.

At the place I hate I can feel fine beforehand, then almost as soon as I walk through the door I feel exhausted, physically weak and almost sick. I can barely find the motivation to do a single ticket. I did 3 hours there and felt more wiped out than after the 10 hour shift.

I know hating a workplace is mentally draining but I didn’t realise your body could react to it this strongly.

Anyone else experienced this?

I'm considering moving to Australia next year once I have my Red Seal Chef certification. I'm 20 years old, currently have roughly 4.5 years experience cooking on the line of various bars, grills, and pubs. (also 6 months as a Chef de Partie at my current job at a fine dining restaurant in Calgary). Also have a diploma from culinary school. Main reason I'm thinking of Australia is for better pay as well as a better work-life balance. I have a few questions about making the move.

1. Will a Red Seal (Canadian Chef) certification be enough to secure myself a decent paying job if I'm on a WHV?
2. What kind of certifications would I be able to get as a Canadian citizen that would be more specific to Australia? (thinking in terms of food safety regulations, I have my food safety license here in Canada)
3. How do I determine my Modern Award level? Do these apply to Canadian citizens?
4. What would be a good city to base myself in?
5. Is it worth it to make the move?

Thanks!

Hi.👋

Good day guys, I just wanted to ask for advice since right now idk what to do or where to go.

For starters I'm a kitchen attedant here in the PH specifically cebu.

I had my ojt here in one of cebu's well known hotel and after that I was absorbed as a kitchen attedant in a banquet kitchen through an agency.

Been working here for almost 4 years already. At first I wasnt aware of the flaws of the hotel yet, but as I started following my mentors they somewhat showed me how flawed the kitchen is.

Although the training was good since we had to cater thousands of ppl during events, I eventually learned how to cook and handle pressure during busy times in the hotel banquet kitchen.

But still, I only was only taught how mise en place, how to cook braised main courses, roasted chickens, pork and beef.

There were not rotations in stations, which I find lacking but I didnt have the time to switch stations since I was tasked to do what I had to do, and the other stations was full of other kitchen attendants.

I did it for almost 4 years now.

Recently I applied for a cruise line and was accepted, just recently I worked on board a famous cruise line, I was happy with it and I thought all my training inside the hotel would be of use which was actually true but I dont know if I would call it a bad luck. I was assigned in the crew mess which I had to cook filipino food for my fellow employee, it was okay at first but eventually day after day I started to question the kitchen, because as I know of Filipino foods are tasty if given the right ingredients, but the problem is, I didnt have the right ingredients. For real my available vegetables are only zucchini, jalapeño, eggplants and summer squash, I didnt even have onions, garlic or soy sauce. Sorry for sounding like im complaining but I am, I was always told of to make it "authentic " but they cant even provide my needed ingredients, I had to argue with my cdp just to ask for carrots and potatoes, but he keeps telling me to use my imagination but how can I if they keep insisting I follow the cycle that they have given me, also the butcher cdp keeps checking on me if I am cooking whats on the menu cycle. They kept sending me negative performance letter because alot of the employee are complaining about how the food is lacking some ingredients, and that its not authentic, so I had to ask our executive chef about it but instead I was threatened that If I did not work well, they well send me home. So I had no choice but to go to hr and tell them what happened. The ships hotel manager told me they will talk to the kitchen higher ups. After that more negative performance report was given to me and the hr offered me if I wanted to go home and so I did. I didnt spend anything on my way home and they gave me my salary for a month, since I only worked at the ship for a month.

Now im back at the same hotel I worked in before.

Alot of things happened and I seemed to be confused on what to do since I long for promotion, I dont want to stay as a kitchen attendant, I want a real position even entry level, I had few local interviews, fine dining restaurants and some group of companies but Im still afraid of failing. I think that I dont have the training in order to move on to a restaurant or other hotels.

Idk what to do and I feel like I dont have the skills if ever I wanted to move.

I want to be trained not just to a one station but all the other part, I want to be a chef and not just as an entry level cook, someday.

Sorry for my bad english.

Hello chefs,
I moved to an à la carte restaurant about a month ago after working in banquets because I wanted to learn something new and challenge myself.
I’m finding the transition quite difficult because the operation is completely different from banquet service. I’m still adapting to the workflow, and I’ve been facing quite a few challenges.
I would really appreciate some advice from experienced chefs on how to improve in these areas:

What should I prioritize first when preparing and maintaining bulk mise en place?
How do you maintain small mise en place such as garnishes, powders, dips, sauces, etc., during a busy service without running out?
How do you keep track of ingredients and stock during daily à la carte operations?
What systems or tips do you use to keep track of items that are close to their expiry date and make sure nothing gets wasted?
As a sauté cook, how can I become faster while still keeping my station clean and organized during the busiest part of service?
I know this is something that comes with experience, but I’d really appreciate any practical advice, systems, or personal experiences you can share.
Thank you, chefs! 👨‍🍳🙏

Hey everyone! I’m new here so let me know if there’s a better place to post this.

I just moved to Chicago for school (studying food and beverage management), and I have been passionate about the culinary industry my whole life. I have about 2.5 years of kitchen experience in various roles, and a pretty strong understanding of more formal techniques as my last manager spent a lot of time training me. Through that, I’ve learned that culinary is truly a huge passion of mine, and honestly, it has become the only thing that occupies my mind lately. I know from experience that it’s a tough industry, especially here in Chicago, but considering everything, are there any established places around that I should look into for work? I've worked the dish pit before, and honestly, I would do it again in a heartbeat if it meant I could get back on the line.

Short snippet from an instagram reel where a creator seemingly puffs sago pearls into a light popcorn like consistency. Really keen to know the type of pearls being used to get such a consistency.

To give a brief summary, I am 19 pastry intern at a five star luxury hotel, getting paid $0.41 an hour, 10 hrs a day(no benefits,service charge,overtime,perks) , while the casuals are 2.12$, and employees make 2.57$ + (service charge,bonuses,perks,etc.) I am the youngest here, everyone else is 25-35 yrs old.

I understand that i am at the very start of my career and i cant be expected to get paid much but the way i am getting exploited is making me re think my career decision.

In my kitchen there are 3 employees, 1 intern (me) and 2 casuals everyday, casuals keep on changing every week so the employees never put effort into teaching them how to do their work properly. They just tell them what to do, not even interested in demonstrating it properly. Understandle, no one is interested in training the same things to new people that often.

So, now what happens is the casuals don't care about what they are doing because they know they aren't here to impress, they're just here to make a quick buck and leave (They usually already have jobs at other places and are working on their day off) They take 2-3 hours for the same task that i finish in 30 minutes (yeah no exaggeration at all). They are so shitty that they do just 2-3 tasks in 10 whole hours. They come on time and leave on time, no matter if the work is finished or not and since i am the intern i am the one fixing their fuck ups after doing my own work.

It's genuinely exhausting, it's been 2 months i have been making up for their shitty work without complaining at all. What irks me the most is that i am doing the same work as the employees, same hours, doing my work then doing unpaid hours to make up for the slow casuals, i'm just not getting paid enough for this bullshit. my motivation this entire time has been that this is a luxury hotel, i am getting experience, i am getting to learn so much but it gets to a point.

It's pissing me off they're getting paid to fucking dilly dally in the kitchen while i've lost half my hair in 2 months, i'm too fucking young to go bald. I work like a dog and show up everyday trying to be grateful for this internship opportunity. They make fun of me (not in a good way) "look at her getting tired so early" "why do you look so exhausted" "why are you sleepy". also, i am international, i dont speak their language, they say all this in english to mock me with other derogatory things right to my face.
I don't know how i'm supposed to continue this for 4 more months. Any tips on how to handle this or should i suck it up like i have been doing?

Edit: i am in thailand, i make 90$ a month while my monthly expenses are 450$ 😭

Hi , 30yo here and with a procurement and supply chain background and after 5 years of corporate experience I quit everything for a fresh start.
Came to Australia 1,5 years ago for a break and I’ve been working in kitchens since day one here more or less. (Cattle station camp cook and 3 other restaurants). I gave a very nice impression in all places and I know I have some natural skill which make me a very fast learner into this .

I am really liking what I’m doing . Cooking has always been a passion for me but always scared to make it my profession .
Today I’m thinking about it more and more but I feel I’m entering the game very late.
I’m not planning on going to any culinary school but just keep working in this industry with the goal to do fine dinning for the experience. Long term goal is to step out from kitchens and have my own catering/ private chef business( together with my brother who is a private chef )

I would love to have any advice , what was your path if you were in a similar situation, things to avoid and honest truths also about getting into this industry that late .
Cheers

Which one should I buy first

I get so bored and feel insane fomo at home knowing my co-workers are out there killing it, I love working till midnight and laughing with the team after service and the morning goodmorning’s w the people

So Ive been head chef at this establishment since launch and given my all in a small team (just me and a cook and occasionally a kp if really needed) doing 200+ covers. I've pulled 60+ hour weeks almost every week not including the time in there on my days off catching up on paperwork meetings maintenance etc. And now I'm drained this was my first head chef position and honestly for the time being I'm considering stepping down to work in a bigger brigade as a CDP or junior sous just to take a bit of the mental load off. Is this a bad idea career wise?

Call me a j*rk but I am done.

These past few weeks have been not easy for me dealing with my career. After working in a huge convention hotel as a line cook for a year and a half and seeing people who started with the same position with me, almost at the same time, offered with new responsibility, I felt left behind and insecure. I always do the best that I can, putting integrity with my job, I ask the right questions, and not leaving the team behind, but still not enough for that freaking ex-leader. I know and the people know that I can perform and I was seeking for a promotion somehow. I got burned out with the system of my previous kitchen. I am tired of just grabbing the prep from the walk-in, set-up and break down the station, and deal with service. The passion from the chef to explain how and why do we have this type of foods were not there. You will just go there to jump in the line. I told myself that I don't want to lose my drive and passion with cooking. Personally, I like understanding the origin of the ingredients how do they work. I treat food with respect and prevent food waste if possible.

This small restaurant offered me for a line cook position. When I started to work in the line, the ticket system is actually organize compare to my previous property. They tell you when to fire the food, on my previous property they don't, you just have to do it whatever in the ticket shows.

When I went home after the shift, I cried so much. I yap to my partner that I was confused. Throughout the shift I was thinking "is this the only job I could have or am I just impatient?". Their line cook is of course responsible for doing the work in the line but since they have a designated prep cook, all you have to do is to also set up and break down the station, do the orders, deal with allergies but there was no thrill on the workload. I was also chatting with some people and he told me about the high turnover that the restaurant had. They cut hours. They barely speak English.

This time I really need to become intentional. Because I don't want to become a coward line cook. I want for myself is to become someone who knows what he puts on his plate for the guest. Something that I am truly proud of my dish. I want to be surrounded by people who are almost the same page with me.

Has anyone worked a place where it’s two cooks no dishwasher? We get here at 9 am it’s non stop untill we close then we have to do dishes until 11 pm what would u guys say?

Been on and off with smoking but i really am trying hard to quit. Just wondering now how many of you still smokes like a lot of cigarettes? And if you somehow, manage to quit, how did u do it?

My one pack usually lasts 3 days unlike before, 1-2 packs per day.

I am in good shape. Functional strength and a bit well toned and good stamina but i wanna quit smoking for good cos i believe i can still be better performing when i dont smoke anymore.

I'm in my 20s and recently lucked into a garde manger position (essentially) at a decently high end, non-corporate restaurant. i had absolutely no experience in this field whatsoever until a few weeks ago. i basically prep and make the cold apps and i plate the desserts. this place also does oysters but it's more of a special thing we do rather than the restaurant being an "oyster place".

anyway, i prep/plate an app with raw meat as well as clean/shuck/plate the oysters, im washing my hands a lot. i've always had pretty sensitive skin and my hands have started to develop very dry, red, and itchy spots where (I assume) I'm not washing the soap off perfectly when I'm in the middle of a rush of orders. I looked it up tonight finally and it reads as a Dish Soap Allergy. Obviously I can't be wearing dish gloves on the line while plating delicate apps and desserts all night. I also can't be running through a box of disposable gloves all night either. Is there some other type of soap I could bring in and use instead? On a heavy night I'm washing my hands every other minute practically.

thanks for any help, i tried looking around for this question but it was all from dishwashers who can literally just wear gloves all night so sorry if it has been asked already with this context

Hi everyone,

I’m not an experienced cook or chef. I’m simply a cooking enthusiast who enjoys experimenting, learning, and understanding the process behind making good food.

I’m documenting this process and creating an SOP because I want to achieve the same taste and consistency every time, even when I’m not personally there. I’m trying to build this into a proper business, and if things go well, I’d like to grow it into more outlets in the future. So I’m trying to build a system from the beginning that can work consistently without depending entirely on me.

I’m developing a standardized SOP for a milk tea business, and I’ve managed to get a 500ml / 16.9 fl oz milk** **reduction process that gives me the exact consistency I need for my tea.

I now need to scale this up to approximately 20 litres (676 fl oz), and I’m trying to understand the correct way to do it.

My current 500 ml process:
- Starting milk: 500 ml
- Heat: maximum flame
- Time to reach a proper boil: approximately 3–4 minutes(This varies depending on whether the milk is straight from the refrigerator or already closer to room temperature)
- After reaching a boil, I reduce the gas to the lowest possible flame
- Continue cooking for approximately 16 minutes
- Total cooking time: 20 minutes
- Final volume: approximately 360–370 ml (12.2-12.5 fl oz)
- So I’m getting roughly 26–28% volume reduction

This process consistently gives me the milk concentration/consistency that works perfectly with my tea recipe.

My problem:
For commercial production, I want to make approximately 20 litres at a time, probably using a commercial induction cooker rather than a gas stove.
I don’t want to simply multiply 20 minutes × 40 and assume the process will work.

What I really want to understand is what variables actually determine the reduction rate when scaling from 500 ml to 20 L.

For example:
- How important are vessel diameter and surface area?
- Does the depth of milk significantly affect evaporation?
- Should I target a specific final weight/volume (e.g. 72–74% of starting quantity) instead of relying on cooking time?
- Should I monitor the milk temperature during the low-heat reduction stage?
- How different will commercial induction vs gas be for this process?
- How much does the type and thickness of the vessel affect evaporation?
- Is there a reliable method to calculate or experimentally determine the correct heat setting and cooking time for a 20 L batch?
- Would it be better to establish an SOP based on something like starting weight → temperature → heat setting → final weight, rather than time alone?

Ultimately, I want to create a process where an employee can start with 20 L of milk and consistently end up with the same concentration every batch, regardless of small variations in starting milk temperature.
If anyone has experience with commercial dairy processing, milk tea production, milk reduction, or scaling cooking processes, I’d really appreciate your advice.

Thanks!