I have been out of circulation for a while due to a very busy restaurant and a lot hours in the trenches. I was recently up for a promotion that I worked really hard for and really deserved. Much to my dismay I did not receive the promotion that I was looking for. In this business you may not always get what you deserve for what ever reason but you have to stay focused and continue to master all facets of this trade. Make no mistake about it I will achieve my goals and as one door closes another will open. I will not be denied my just dues. You have to understand that this business is a life long commitment to the grind.

Culinary school is not a prerequisite for becoming a chef. I used to be under that misconception. It is your experience and skills that make you a chef. I worked in the business for about eight years before I went to culinary school and that was to try and boost my income.

In reality I probably would have made close to the same income with out a degree; however I cannot discount the effect that it has on those who graduate from the more well known institutions. This troubles me because these individuals very rarely posses the skills to be successful right out of school.

It takes years of experience working in the kitchen managing people and situations as well as building skills that will allow you to be successful. I suggest that any one interested in becoming a chef would spend some time in the kitchen first to see if they are really cut out for this line of work before wasting money on culinary school.

I believe that education is part of the natural progression of any profession, but there are many different ways to educate one’s self. In the kitchen hands on experience is the best way. Culinary school then validates that already learned knowledge, which increases your value as a chef.

We in the business use a term called go hard or go home. This is a way of life for anyone who is serious about becoming a chef. The bottom line is, there is no way of getting around paying your dues in this business. Every day that you step into the kitchen you must bust your ass to get better or your are wasting your time.

Working in the restaurant business is to hard of a job to just be going through the motions. You must have the chef mentality at all times and take advantage of every opportunity to learn and develop the necessary skills to be a great chef. If you do not want to be the best you can possibly be then just find a different occupation, because being a chef is going hard.

Understand that you must learn as many skills and information as possible, under any chef you work for. These skills are what you need to be successful. It is your job to ask as many questions as possible and to apply the skills and information that you have learned. You need repetition and practice doing these things so that at some point it becomes second nature and you are no longer thinking so much and you just react.

If at any point in your career you feel like you have moved along as far as you can go, it is time to move on to the next kitchen to learn more and further your development. Every chef does things differently, so you have the opportunity to learn many different ways of doing things. This allows you to assess which way works better for you. If you are serious about becoming a chef, it is your job to do what ever it takes to attain as many skills as possible.

As you make your way onto the hot line, things get a lot hotter and more dangerous, so you must be more aware of your surroundings.

A deep fat fryer, convection oven, salimander, and possibly a microwave will be on this station. This means that there is a serious danger of being hurt or seriously injured.You will need to practice good sanitation and safety skills.

You should not be on the line if you are not comfortable working with hot food, hot equipment, and sharp knives. All of the skills you should have accumulated up to this point in your development should have prepared you to excel on this station.

The majority of your food items, will probably be from the fryer or a convection oven. Each shift the fryer should be filtered or cleaned to ensure even color, good texture and most importantly the over all flavor of the food.

Dirty fryers produce dark colored food and a bitter unpleasant taste. Always adjust the fryers according to the food items you are preparing; for example sweet potatoes are high in sugars which are caramelized when cooked in the grease, so a lower temperature is recommended to keep them from burning or discoloring.

As of part of working this station you will have some sort of flour mixture or cornmeal as well as, an egg wash or some sort of liquid dairy mixture to coat food items. Clean fryer oil is crucial in producing the proper texture and color because items that have been breaded, battered, and dusted in flour mixtures are very easily burned if you are not careful.

Organization is one of the most important aspects of being good at any job. The restaurants is no different, being organized is the difference between success and failure. Working the grill station forces your to become focused and urgent. You need to be able to cook a high volumes of various foods. Know how to measure the temperature of meat, poultry and fish, mean while organizing what table gets what.

You must be able to collect your thoughts and perform under a tremendous amount pressure to get food out as quickly as possible. A chef needs to be able to recognize what works and what does not work. Your line needs to be set in a way that is the most efficient. For example, the items that you use the most, need to be the easiest to reach. Convenience is an asset in a busy kitchen.
The grill is a good way to build a tolerance for cooking in high temperatures. You have to temp proteins by touching them while they are still on the hot grill. After doing this over a long period of time, your hands and finger tips will begin to tolerate higher temperatures. With out this ability you will have difficulty working any where on the hot line.

In this business your integrity is one of the only things that can not be influenced by cuisine, skill level, job title, or how you are perceived by your peers. I had the pleasure to work with a chef who had it. Either you have it or you do not, and Jason Rice you got it.

Once you give it away, you will never get it back. For the true grind kings, your journey through this business will be long and hard but never relinquish your integrity.

Working this station helps you to develop some finesse because most dessert features are delicate food items that require the proper handling and storage. The refrigeration unit must stay at or below 41 degrees fahrenheit to ensure a quality product; desserts they must also be properly wrapped or covered to keep them fresh until they are used.

Some responsibilities of this station consist of preparing fruit purees and sauces to accompany these desserts as well as, the plate’s presentation. This process helps you to develop an artistic feel for food and how that relates to becoming a chef. We eat with our eyes first, so presentation is important.

Neccessary tools for working the dessert station may include a container of clean water for your knives. You need a chef knife, a ten to twelve inch slicer, a serrated knife, and parring knife, pastry bag with tips and a thermometer. You will be able to utilize each of these in some capacity while working this station. There is an assortment of culinary tools you will need and use but these are the staples.

As always, cleanliness is a very important issue when working with food, so knowledge and the proper training in this area is key. You should frequently be checking the temperature of your reach-ins and freezers. The freezer should be at or below zero degrees farenheit. When you are ready to begin cutting into a pie or cake, you should dip the entire blade in to the clean water first before cutting, this helps the dessert not stick or cling to your blade which could damage the dessert.

When working in the kitchen it is important to be able to follow directions and recipes effectively. This truely is the case when preparing or presenting desserts because your margin for error is very small and it could be very costly. Lets talk about proper storage for a moment.  I constantly have to monitor the conditions of the desserts, the number of desserts in the cooler because you do not want to have to many exposed to any collateral damage. Your sauces and garnishes should be properly covered, any pour bottles, pastry bags or squeeze bottles should be whipped clean after using and kept refridgerated if neccessary. You need to be aware of the condition of station and all of your tools, equipment and product.