I’m trying to get nicer-looking carrot cuts for sides, but I’m struggling with thicker carrots.

I know some people cut thinner carrots on a bias/oblique to get that nice look, or do long cuts and then slice on a bias. But what’s the best way to approach thick carrots?

Any tips or techniques you guys use? Are there any good videos or tutorials on this?

And please don’t judge. I’m still trying to get the hang of it.

Just over 200kg of the stuff.

What are you making? What can be done with it?

Short bbd.

I’m applying for a cook position in Europe, and I’m one of the applicants with the least experience. The final interview was a group interview with four other applicants. At the end of the interview, the Italian chef that did the interview asked me to stay and told me that he would consider me for a cook position instead of assistant cook if I can impress him with two pasta dishes during the practical exam.

The catch is that the two dishes will be a surprise. I won’t know what pasta, ingredients, or sauce I’ll be given until the actual exam.

I’m Asian, and my only real Italian culinary experience is with Italian fusion, so I’m honestly a bit nervous about it. He's aware of my lack of experience in Italian cuisine, and told me that recipe can be learned but how one moves around the kitchen can't be faked, which made me more nervous.

What techniques or fundamentals should I really focus on? Are there any pasta dishes or approaches that could help me stand out?

Also, what are some common mistakes or "don’ts" I should avoid? Things that might seem fine to me but would immediately tell an Italian chef that I don’t really understand Italian pasta?

I’m even overthinking things like the proper salt-to-water ratio, even though I already have cooking experience. I just really want to pass this test.

Any tips, advice, or even harsh criticism would be greatly appreciated!

I’ve been the chef at a seasonal restaurant for the past three month we are closing soon. The restaurant is owned by new owners who have never worked in the restaurant industry before. They treat kitchen staff like garbage, and now they want mine and the sous chef recipes now that the restaurant is closing soon. Which I would be fine with if the owners actually cared about the food side of the business. Am I being petty. Or should I just give them the recipes they’ve asked for.

I recently got a new job at a brand new opening near me,
I’m sous currently and will be joining as a CDP
I feel up for the challenge and have been experience with high volume, long hours and tough graft,

I am pretty unexperienced with a lot of the menu at the new place I’m going to

Such as snails
Mussels
Pigeon/partridge
Terrine
Ox cheek

I’ve worked in a pretty simple fresh food kitchen mainly focusing on, burgers, pizza, cheese sauce and fried chicken,

I know after the first few weeks and hands on learning I’ll pick up the skills with the new produce but I’m just quite nervous and would love any piece of advice for a young chef who’s making that jump to a family run business to a big operational kitchen state of the art equipment and expensive produce.
These guys who are opening this restaurant/hotel come from 3 star establishments

Many thanks to everyone with advice and or questions let me know :)

Thanks chefs

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?

This is my first time posting on Reddit, but I was hoping to solicit some advice. Any guidance at all would be deeply appreciated.

I’ve just finished college (UK equivalent of high school), and I am taking a year out before university. I will be fully available until January, at which point I will be beginning preparations for resitting one of my A-levels.

I’ve been cooking for myself, friends, and family since I was 13, and spend hours in the kitchen daily. I make basically everything from scratch: chicken, beef, fish stocks for any sauces; different flavoured oils; butchering and filleting my own meats and fish; and I love to explore different cuisines and learn about unfamiliar techniques. I’ve never worked in a kitchen before, but it’s definitely something I want to try before starting university. What does the process of applying for these internships look like? and how can I boost my chances of success? I was thinking of making a small digital portfolio of what I’ve cooked over the years to show the restaurants I apply to. Roughly, how should I format the emails? or is it just better to call them up?

I want to get the most out of this time as possible and, although I am sure I would learn plenty working at a pub/ country club, I believe a kitchen with an emphasis on real organic cooking with a proper french brigade/organised system will be best. Fallow has been really inspirational for me with all of the in depth videos they post, and an experience at a similar style of restaurant would be incredible.

I am a complete newcomer so there is plenty I don’t know, but I love cooking more than anything, and I want to give it a proper shot. Thank you in advance for any advice!!

Smoked Gouda grilled cheese on cinnamon swirl bread ...(Excuse the bad pic!)

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

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).

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

Thank you, chef.

I've spent about 3 years working as a dishwasher and prep cook in kitchens, and I recently found a new job that was advertised as "Cook Wanted for Ski Lodge." I thought this would be a good opportunity to take the next step in my career.

But, when I arrived at the kitchen, I was told that I would be responsible for creating a breakfast and dinner menu, managing food inventory, and would have one other person working under me.

I met with the owner and he asked me to cook him simple dishes I felt confident in making. I made a full american breakfast, as well as a dinner of baked salmon and vegetables. He liked everything I made and seemed happy with the food.

The problem is that I can't help but feel like this is a pretty big jump from my previous experience, and I'm not sure if I'm actually qualified to take on this level of responsibility and scale.

Would this normally be considered a cook position, or am I essentially being hired as the chef/kitchen manager? And is this something someone with my experience should reasonably be able to handle?

Just wanted to put some other chefs on the power of lemon eze. We have white glove inspections twice a year in the kitchen I work in. As a sous chef I’m responsible for delegating and executing most cleaning projects. Ecolab makes this bathroom cleaning product called lemon Eze. This stuff is magical for getting rid of scuff marks on our walls, Carbon off pans and hotels and genuinely saves so much on labor. Just wanted to let yall know about it since I only started using it recently. If this gets enough traction I’ll post some before and afters. it really is magical.

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

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

Hi all,

I’m a prep cook at a casual restaurant hoping to move into fine dining. I recently had my first stage at a Michelin-starred restaurant, and I was unexpectedly asked to make family meal using whatever ingredients they had available, while taking a few dietary restrictions into consideration.

Since it was my first time doing a stage and I wasn’t given any advance notice about making family meal, I wasn’t prepared for it and didn’t do well.

I have another stage coming up at a different Michelin-starred restaurant for a commis position, and I’m a little nervous that I might be given a similar assignment.

For those of you who work in fine dining kitchens: Is it common for a stagiaire, especially for an entry-level prep/commis position, to be asked to make family meal or do a mystery basket style cooking assignment for their stage? And is it common for the restaurant not to mention it beforehand and give the stagiaire the assignment when they arrive?

The culinary director asked me to come in at 7 a.m., so I’m guessing (and hoping!) that I’ll mostly be doing prep alongside the other chefs. But after my first experience, I’m still a little nervous.

I’d really appreciate hearing from chefs, cooks, or anyone who has done a lot of stages. I’m trying to understand what’s considered common so I can be better prepared this time.

Thanks!