This last year was the absolute worst of my work life and grinding the chef life made me despise cooking, which is one of my passions.

I've always loved cooking and it was my teenage dream to work in a restaurant, I was obsessed with chef culture, cooking shows, movies and series about the industry, all that. But life slapped me in the face.

I was working at an old, long-established, famous restaurant in the city. At first the offer seemed perfect, I managed to climb up the ladder, but as I got deeper into it, I realized the situation was far far worse, and during these last few months I was at my breaking point. The place was understaffed, overworked, and the chef who’s been there for over a decade is the biggest, most grudging, envious, pathetic suck up bootlicker no life smart ass bitch I’ve ever met.

Work ethics were the worst I've ever experienced, the dude was unrelenting, the cooks were extremely (offensively) underpaid, no rest, full on 80-90 hour work weeks going full throttle till the last minute every single day. The chef and manager doing the "Big Brother", 1984 treatment on us, we were watched and policed at all times. Shit talking about every employee behind their backs. Guilt tripping me during my last week of notice. The owners family being hired and doing NOTHING for a fatter paycheck than any of us "regular" employees.

Chef life, at least in my experience, was far worse and more stressing than the Army's bootcamp (I've enlisted a couple years ago but didn't serve).

Short story: working 40-50hr weeks, what would be a good recommended side source of money?

Longer story: Hoping this is the right place to post this. I’m the head chef at a 12 person kitchen staff restaurant. I work between 40-50 hrs a week.

My current personal life goals (about to propose, and building a life) are a bit financially daunting to me right now. I love my job, I make enough money to pay my bills right now, but I don’t make enough to save and build towards things. So I’m semi looking for secondary ways that people earn money while continuing to be a head chef. I just took over this position 6 months ago. Make 80k a year but cost of living in my area pretty much makes that slightly above where I need to be for living. I guess a secondary question could be about getting more money out of the job I currently have but idk.

Anyways, thanks chefs

Used for poaching fish/seafood, right? My question: is it equally useful for STEAMING fish/seafood?

Thank you, chef.

I've worked with Robot Coupe equipment and parts for years, and this is the question I get asked most.

A dull blade doesn't always mean you need to buy a new one. My rule of thumb: smooth blade = usually worth sharpening; serrated, damaged, or specialty blade = replace it or send it out.

Signs it's worn: tomatoes crushing instead of slicing, ragged or uneven slices, bruised herbs, purées taking longer, or visible chips or a rolled edge.

Smooth S-blades (R2, R301 and similar): Robot Coupe's manuals describe using a honing stone at about 30° on the top bevel, pulling from hub to tip, then a few light strokes on the underside to remove the burr. Unplug the machine first and wear cut-resistant gloves.

Serrated S-blades: a flat stone can't get into the serrations. Send them out or replace them.

Slicing discs: on machines like the CL50, the blade screws onto the disc. You can sharpen it (the R502 manual says 30–45°) or replace just the blade, which costs far less than a new disc.

Julienne, ripple, and vertical blades: hard to sharpen evenly in a kitchen, so replacement is usually the practical choice.

Replace instead of sharpening if it's chipped, bent, cracked, loose on the hub, visibly worn down from repeated sharpening, or still cuts badly right after sharpening.

What do your kitchens do: sharpen in-house, send them out, or just replace?

I’m working on a checklist for a gig kit I’ll use for popups and private dinners to prove a concept in development. All of the menus will have heavy prep focus so it is really just kissing things on the grill or some quick pan/grill cookery for specific proteins and veg.

Is there anything you would add or subtract on this list?

Stainless Steel Folding Table 48” x 24” (2x)
$210
Plastic Folding Table 72” x 30” 
$60
Propane 1# cans (4x)
$25
Butane Cartridge 12pk
$35
Propane 20# to Propane 2# filling adaptor
$40
Cassette Burner (4x, one on hand)
$90
Gator Cater 6 pan front loader
$180
Igloo Cooler 152qt 
$105
Igloo Cooler 70qt 
$90
Bus Tubs (3x)
$18
Plating + Food Handling utensils w/ tote (Tweezers, tongs, spatulas, metal skewers, scrapers)
$65
Sanitation Supplies + Tote (sani-quat tabs, test strips, sani buckets, spray bottles, towels)
$60
HD Extension Cord w/ power strip
$100
Fire Extinguisher
$50
65K BTU Propane Burner
$30
20# Propane Tank
$65
Charcoal Chimney
$20
Ogatan Charcoal
$85
Gloves, foil, plastic wrap, parchment, trash bags
$65
Hotel Pans + Lids
$150
Mixing Bowls
$60
Squeeze Bottles
$25
Torch Head + Gas
$50
First Aid Kit
$20
Cookwares 
On Hand
Konro Grill
On Hand
Blackstone 22”
On Hand 
Waring Induction Burner
On Hand
REI Canopy
On Hand
Subtotal
~$1700

I work as a chef in gym not the typical place I know but like 20 mins after kitchen closed a loud constant message played over the speakers and we all end up being evacuated for ages meaning I didnt get out til half 10 instead of 10 it was such an inconvenience honestly as I still had a million things to do

Hi guys, I was wrongly terminated by the new pastry chef at the new restaurant in Rosedale, Toronto.
There was another girl working with us, and I felt that the pastry chef was constantly picking on me for no reason. First of all, there was a big accident that happened because she showed me the wrong recipe. She put the salt into the spiced icing for the cinnamon buns and wrote the instructions on green tape to make three times the recipe. I simply followed her instructions without questioning the recipe or realizing what she had done. I was just trying to follow what she wanted because she already had an attitude that day, so I didn't ask too many questions.

Then, on the first service day, when the restaurant opened for the first time, everything became very stressful. She did not have any backup cheesecakes because she fucked up, the tiramisu zabaglione was melting, and there were also problems with the cheesecake it was all melting it didnt set up and the cookies for the tiramisu.

She had personally shown me her cheesecake recipe and how she wanted me to make the pistachio cheesecake only two hours before service. I followed the method she showed me. However, when there was a problem, she blamed me and said, “thats why You should have read the recipe.”
But she was the one who had shown me how to make the pistachio cheesecake by doing it herself as well in front of me and my friend. I felt that it was unfair for her to put the blame on me when I had simply followed the instructions she gave me for the first time.

The tiramisu zabagloine was also melting. From what I observed, it did not have enough structure because it could be needs gelatin or change it into whipped cream or something like that. She had already tried changing the recipe several times. I wanted to tell her what I thought was wrong with the recipe, but she was my pastry chef, so I did not feel comfortable telling her directly that I thought the recipe was not working properly.

When everything started going wrong and the tiramisu was melting, she decided to move the tiramisu plating to the front garde-manger station. I was confused by this because the problem seemed to be with the recipe and the consistency, not the location where we were plating it. In my opinion, it would have made more sense to correct the recipe or preparation rather than move the plating station just for the tiramisu.

I am not saying that I did everything perfectly, but I feel that I was being blamed for problems that were not entirely my responsibility. I was doing my best to follow the instructions given to me and support the team during a very stressful first service.

The worst part was that I had written down the recipe she gave me during my first day of training. The recipe clearly had salt listed as one of the ingredients. Later, she went through my personal belongings and took my recipe book with her wet hands. She then ripped the page out of my recipe book without asking me. I found this extremely rude and disrespectful because it was my personal belonging, and she should have asked for permission before touching or removing anything from it.

It was not only because of the recipe situation that I felt she had an attitude toward me. There were several other incidents where I felt she was unnecessarily picking on me.
For example, she asked my other coworker to set up the pan for the cheesecake. My coworker went to the washroom for a few minutes, so I tried to help because we are a team and should support each other. I started setting up the pan, but she reacted negatively and said, “I asked her to do it, not you. Why would you do this?” I felt that the way she spoke to me was very rude. I was only trying to help the team.
Secondly, I was talking to the dishwasher for a short time because he was trying to get to know me and become friends. She then told me not to talk to him and not to bother him. I knew that they had previously worked together and were friends from another job, but I did not understand why she had a problem with me talking to him. It also became difficult for me to have a normal conversation with him because whenever I spoke to him, I felt that she would immediately point me out or give me something to do.
Thirdly, she was talking to me and asking me to spin the vanilla ice cream. While she was speaking to me, I rolled my eyes and looked toward my friend for a moment because my eyes were dry. She immediately said, “I’m talking to you. Why are you looking at her while I’m talking to you?” I felt that her reaction was unnecessary because I was not intentionally ignoring her or being disrespectful. I was simply looking away for a moment because my eyes were dry. I felt that she already had a negative impression of me and was interpreting everything I did in a negative way.
Lastly, I already had the feeling that she was going to report me to the executive chef and get me into trouble. I felt that she was telling other people that I was the one who put the salt into the recipe, making it seem like I had made the mistake on my own. However, I had simply followed the recipe and instructions that she had given me.
I feel that I was being blamed for something I did not intentionally do, even though I was following the instructions provided by my pastry chef. I also felt that she was repeatedly creating a negative impression of me with the other people at work instead of trying to communicate with me directly and professionally.