blog

date

November 27, 2024

blog

reading time

3 min

What is a Prep Cook? Role, Responsibilities, Career Advancement 2024

A prep cook is an essential member of the kitchen staff team responsible for preparing ingredients and performing mundane tasks to assist the head chef, sous chef, and line cooks, increasing efficiency and improving consistency.

A pair of hands slicing carrots on a wooden cutting board, surrounded by various fresh vegetables like tomatoes, onions, and peppers.

It is a crucial role to the entire restaurant, and especially the kitchen team because their tasks allow the restaurant to run smoothly during service time and provide a high turnover rate.

Although being a prep cook is taxing on the body, it will train you with discipline and a strong mentality.

So how do you become a prep cook?

Being a prep cook doesn't require any formal education such as culinary school or university, but a standard high school diploma is still mandatory to be a part of the kitchen staff.

It is a common entry level position for people wanting to go into the culinary industry or to earn their first salary, but depending on the type of restaurant, it might be quite difficult to land a professional kitchen job especially in a higher end restaurant.

The demand for prep cooks is high since all restaurant kitchens need support with pre service food preparation with repetitive tasks.

A close-up of a kitchen knife slicing zucchini on a wooden cutting board, with neatly cut pieces displayed.

Prep Cook Job Description

In a prep cook job description, there will be a list of qualifications including personality match, cooking skills, a full list of responsibilities, detailed notice of your direct supervisors such as the head chef or the sous chef, and if there is any need for previous experience.

It will include a description of overall kitchen operations, your hourly wage, and valuable skills to increase you chance to be a potential candidate for the next prep cook.

As a prep cook, you will need to utilize all basic cooking techniques and knife skills such as a dice, julienne, brunoise, and batonnet for most food items.

The prep cook position requires handling all food items in an orderly manner and while maintaining a friendly and confident demeanour in a high volume and high energy environment.

A talented prep cook will not only complete their necessary tasks in an efficient manner that meets all food safety standards, they will also support the culinary team in any way possible for the entire kitchen operation to maintain the highest quality.

Three transparent food storage containers stacked on top of each other, containing fresh produce like oranges, tomatoes, and avocados.

Prep Cook Responsibilities

There is a wide range of skills and responsibilities necessary for this job including organizational skills especially for mise en place, learning to work in a fast paced kitchen environment, and having interpersonal and communication skills to collaborate with kitchen managers and all types of cooks.

Note that restaurant automation is on the rise so responsibilities might change and range from kitchen to kitchen.

General responsibilities include:

Knowing how to operate all kitchen appliances, cooking equipment, and kitchen supplies
Contributing to an orderly kitchen with a clean kitchen station at all times
Having knowledge on food storage and menu planning
Being comfortable in a fast paced environment and busy kitchen environment with a flexible work schedule
Being able to keep up with all culinary kitchen prep
Assisting line cooks to the best of your ability
Understanding basic cooking functions, basic cooking knowledge, and cooking processes
Maintaining consistency in prep work to ensure consistency in food quality

Key Responsibilities include:

Efficient food preparation including chopping vegetables, peeling fruits, trimming meats, and preparing other raw ingredients
Measuring and portioning out ingredients for various components of dishes needed for service time
Stock management including organizing and restocking
Maintaining cleanliness in adherence to food safety standards
Organizing prep stations for the cooking team including the head cook, sous chef, and line cooks

Advancement for Prep Cooks

Current prep cooks, especially those who are wanting to increase their level of responsibility in a commercial kitchen, are able to move up the ranks as you increase your years of your culinary career in the restaurant industry. It is quite a flexible career, as are most in the food service industry.

Learn more about other food service jobs such as a server, a host, and a busser and see which food service job is the best fit for you!

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