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I enjoy cooking and baking old and new recipes.
Do you think being a Pastry Chef at a bakery, hotel ect.. is less stressful then being a Chef in a restaurant?
I would think being a Pastry Chef would be atleast a little less stressful.
I dont think so....... just being in a commercial kitchen is stressful!
DD is gonna be going to the CIA to be a pastry chef next year, she is currently in the culinary program at the technical HS here, she just rolled her eyes at me when I posed the OPs question to her......
Be careful not to mix the hobby of baking/cooking with the career of baking/cooking! A commercial kitchen is meant just for that - commercial. Money in, food out. Money money money is what its all about. You will have little time to really enjoy yourself and your cooking as you are essentially a "make my food" machine.
I enjoy cooking and baking old and new recipes.
Do you think being a Pastry Chef at a bakery, hotel ect.. is less stressful then being a Chef in a restaurant?
I would think being a Pastry Chef would be atleast a little less stressful.
I worked in commercial kitchens through high school, college and ten years after college until I realized that it is a young person's game (and that if you could run a kitchen, you could run another business and get paid 3-4x more).
Cooking and baking are two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT skills. Sure, there are some people who can do both, BUT generally people fall into one or the other. Baking is a chemistry project where proportions are important and if you don't get the chemistry right, you do not get a quality product. Cooking is somewhat more forgiving. As you can see, weighing out dry ingredients was never one of my favorite things.
ALL kitchen jobs are stressful. If you don't want stress, find another career and cook in the kitchen at home.
A pastry chef will be asked to produce thousands of pastries in a relatively short period of time. Often, you work a lot of hours at odd hours as kitchens have very limited oven space and they'll need the ovens around meal time. You will be given ten and twelve hours of work to get done in about eight hours.
Like any kitchen management job, you will be asked to PRODUCE A PROFIT. That means that you will do a lot wonderful things with a staff that is underpaid and often uneducated. Your success will be based on how well you motivate them. And your product will must be near perfect.
If you attach the name "Chef" to anything business related it will be stressful. the difference between a chef (of any kind) and a family cook is the difference between driving your kids to school and being a Nascar driver............
Be careful not to mix the hobby of baking/cooking with the career of baking/cooking! A commercial kitchen is meant just for that - commercial. Money in, food out. Money money money is what its all about. You will have little time to really enjoy yourself and your cooking as you are essentially a "make my food" machine.
As a French/Americana Executive Chef for 10 years I must admit I smiled at your comment.
In a lot of ways you are right. Money in, food out. This was a harsh realization for me in my younger years.
If you are committed to your craft, and not afraid of new ingredients, you will be able to make a living.
The key is getting into a kitchen that encourages quality, and has a certain amount of pride. People like to be a part of a fine restaurant, weather it be in the kitchen, or at the table.
It is certainly a talent to master the chemistry of baking - But it doesn't have a leg to stand on compared the millions of combination's and complexities of cooking.
It is certainly a talent to master the chemistry of baking - But it doesn't have a leg to stand on compared the millions of combination's and complexities of cooking.
My daughter doesnt think so, thank goodness for that, or I would never get a tarte tatin, or any other goodies!
She loves the precision and challenge of baking.
I dont think so....... just being in a commercial kitchen is stressful!
DD is gonna be going to the CIA to be a pastry chef next year, she is currently in the culinary program at the technical HS here, she just rolled her eyes at me when I posed the OPs question to her......
Your daughter must "want" to become a Pastry Chef right?
Your daughter must "want" to become a Pastry Chef right?
Very badly! She has maintained a 4.0 since enrolling in the culinary academy at her high school.
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