Here’s what Culinary School Didn’t Prepare You For

collaborative post

There’s something wild about that first moment a culinary graduate steps into a real working kitchen. Well, it’s honestly any new graduate of any type of school who got a job in this sort of job market. So, all that confidence from practicals and exams just evaporates the second service hits, and the place starts moving at a pace no one warned them about. Again, it’s anyone freshly graduated and has their first real job. 

But for kitchens, well, it’s totally different, sure, you can watch The Bear, but then, actually watching someone in a real kitchen, for a real business, well, there are no pauses. As you might know, it’s loud, it’s hot, it’s a whole orchestra of pots and pans banging in every direction, and it’s this instant “okay, so this wasn’t in the textbook” moment. Now, sure, culinary school teaches skills; the same goes for any school of any teaching, they teach skills. But real kitchens teach survival techniques.

The Inventory Issue

Well, maybe “fiasco” would be a better word for it. But in school, ingredients magically appear for every lesson, almost like someone snapped their fingers. But in real life, stock turns into this tricky puzzle that always seems to go wrong at the worst time. Just think about it; one delivery’s late, another supplier sends the wrong item, and there’s always that one ingredient that disappears into thin air the minute it’s needed. And of course, there’s shouting and anger because of these types of issues, too. You don’t really get those extreme reactions in school, right?

There’s a Lot of Behind-the-Scenes Maintenance

Nope, this is nothing like how it is in your personal kitchen, either. And while yes, sure, culinary school does cover hygiene, but it doesn’t exactly prepare graduates for the long list of weird and slightly gross maintenance tasks that keep a kitchen safe and functional. Again, you learn skills, but you don’t learn everything in class. And of course, real kitchens need constant attention.

You have to keep in mind that grease builds up everywhere, vents clog, fans get coated in who-knows-what, and the whole ventilation system needs attention more often than anyone expects. Sure, there’s ductwork cleaning, and this usually isn’t something you’re going to learn about. Well, that, and how thorough auditors are during hygiene inspections. But the same goes for maintenance on machines, which tends not to be something covered often, and yes, that’s one of the more stressful aspects of running a kitchen. 

Staff Management is a Whole Different Skill

Students leave school ready to cook, plate, and perform; that’s what they’re taught in the first place. So they aren’t exactly prepared for navigating staff moods, shift swaps, last-minute cancellations, or the general unpredictability of humans in a busy kitchen. Actually, The Bear probably did a fairly decent portrait of that. 

Some people run on caffeine, some run on adrenaline, and some run on pure stubborn energy. Lots of people are running on different things, some including running on empty (and everyone gets to that point, too sadly). So, just keeping everyone working together becomes this balancing act that no instructor ever managed to teach properly (if it was ever taught at all to begin with).

And of course, the kitchen only works when the team works, and getting to that point takes more patience than any knife skills exam.