I Want to be a Great Chef: How to go from Home Cook to Professional

There is nothing quite like having a hobby you love. It is even better when you can take that hobby and turn it into an enjoyable career. Going from cooking meals at home for family and friends, to working in a professional kitchen is a big step. It is a step that requires a willingness to take what you know and use it as a foundation for further growth.

Joining the Team

If you are like most home cooks, you are probably used to working alone when you cook at home. When you move into a professional kitchen, you need ease away from the lone cowboy school of cooking and become part of a team. You are not the only one holding the fort down.

You will be joined by sous chefs, salad chefs, line chefs, dessert chefs, pastry chefs, and a head chef, among other kitchen support staff. Each of you will have a specific job to perform. Learning how each role fits into the grand scheme will help ease your transition.

Measuring Up

Close enough isn't good enough. When you cook at home, you can fudge recipes as you go. Aside from baking, it is very similar in a professional kitchen. As a home cook, you prepare meals for a handful of people. As a professional chef, you may need to be able to prepare dishes for possibly a thousand or more.

This requires mastering the art and memorization of ratios and formulas to achieve the right flavor at the desired scale. After all, you don't want one customer experiencing one meal and another customer who orders the same dish tasting something completely different.

Finally, when the meals are ready, portion control and presentation are critical skills to perfect. Every dish you plate up must measure up and leave the kitchen looking the same as the last. This ensures consistent product quality, consistent customer experience, and it keeps the kitchen's budget in the black.

Seasoning with Science

The science of cooking is fascinating and studying it is enthralling. Learning how chemistry and biology interact is the key to taking a good dish and transforming it into a masterpiece. Most home cooks enter the professional kitchen with a general idea of the science of cooking.

Through hands-on experience, you will learn how everything comes together in the pot, on the pan, or atop the baking tray. Mastering the science of culinary arts will help you discover the most effective methods of achieving the perfect texture and delivering the most flavor in every morsel you prepare.

Managing Multiple Priorities

It is one thing to cook a big meal for family and friends. Cooking a hundred meals or more for strangers is an entirely different ballgame. Mastering the ability to manage shifting priorities and juggle multiple dishes while they cook is critical. Whether you are preparing baked brie, a crème brûlée, or a sirloin steak, you have to stay on top of every dish you have on the grill, in the oven, or on the stove.

Adjusting Your Pace

Professional kitchens have three speeds; slow, busy, and holiday. These change with the days of the week and the seasons of the year. As a professional chef, you have to come to work prepared for both the daily routine, the expected reservations, and the unexpected rush. There will be days when things move at the speed of cold molasses, and there will be nights that fly by in the blink of an eye. You will need to master the art of shifting seamlessly between these paces. With experience, you will learn how to forecast the future so that you can get ahead on slow days and stay afloat when the crowd walks through the door.

Channeling Your Creativity

It is natural for home cooks to fall into a routine. This includes everything from the way you cook food to the dishes you create. Working as a professional chef creates an opportunity to break free of routine and explore new creative potential. This is an exciting transition that you shouldn't resist. By opening your mind to new techniques, recipes, and flavor combinations, you can take your creativity to dizzying new heights.

Honing Your Skills

Culinary school helps home cooks hone their skills to a sharp point. But, it does more than that. It teaches new skills that home cooks can use to expand their opportunities. Each class, each exam, and every lesson fills in the blanks between what you know and what you need to know. This gives you an advantage when you enter a professional kitchen. It makes you a finely honed instrument of culinary creativity.

Are you interested in learning how to cook, professionally? If you want to earn an Associate of Applied Science in Culinary Arts, ECPI University's Culinary Institute of Virginia offers this program at an accelerated rate. For more information about this exciting opportunity, connect with a friendly admissions advisor today.

It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!

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