Cook

Major Duties and Responsibilities

• Prepares and cooks a variety of menu items including regular and special entrees and dessert items.
• Works alone or with a higher grade cook to roast, broil, bake, fry, boil, steam, and stew meats, fish, and poultry.
• Prepares soups, stocks, broths, gravies, sauces, and puddings without the use of packaged mixes.
• Makes a variety of dessert items such as baked Alaska, crepes, and mousses.
• Adjusts standardized recipes for the number of servings required in large quantity cooking.
• Maintains proper temperature for all foods during holding, transport, reheating, and serving to assure quality control and food safety.
• Prepares cold food platters; mixes and prepares cold sauces, meat glazes, molded aspics, and salad dressings.
• Carves vegetables and fruits as garnishes for food platters and dishes.
• Maintains rotation of food inventories to prevent spoilage.
• May assist management in purchasing and menu pricing decisions by performing yield tests for selected foods, in ordering items in accordance with daily and weekly menu requirements, and preparing food production worksheets from computerized recipe files.
• Receives work assignments orally and in writing from supervisor or higher-level cook.
• Plans, coordinates, and times assignments to assure food items are prepared on time and are at the proper temperature.
• Makes judgments about necessary recipe modifications.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Working Conditions

• Exposed to warm and noisy kitchens, steam, fumes and cooking odors;
• Danger of falling on freshly mopped floors;
• Burns from steam or hot foods;
• Cuts from knives;
• Shocks from electrical machines;
• Extremes in temperatures.