Kitchen Assistant

Also known as:

Cafe Kitchen Assistant
Canteen Kitchen Assistant
Cook - Kitchen Assistant

Introduction

Kitchen assistants help a chef or cook in a restaurant, hotel or canteen, by doing simple food preparation and cooking. They are expected to keep the kitchen and cookery equipment clean and tidy.

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Work Activities

Kitchen assistants help chefs and cooks with the simpler, routine jobs in the kitchen.

They help to prepare food - cleaning, peeling and cutting up vegetables, chopping meat, plucking poultry and gutting and skinning fish - using either sharp knives or food processing machines.

Keeping the kitchen clean is a large part of the job. This includes washing up the dirty dishes and cutlery. Some of the washing up may be done in a dishwasher, but the pots and pans are usually done by hand. Kitchen assistants also have to get rid of the rubbish.

In some kitchens the assistant might also help with basic cooking, for example, making hot drinks and toast, or heating up soup.

The range of jobs a kitchen assistant does is likely to depend on the size of kitchen they work in. In a small kitchen with fewer staff they might do things like polishing glass and silverware, and helping to unload food deliveries and put them away in a storeroom. In a large kitchen, with a lot of specialist staff the kitchen assistant might only prepare food.

Kitchen assistants who work in a factory or office block may take round a trolley serving tea, coffee and snacks to the staff. This might mean handling cash and giving change.

All kitchen assistants must follow strict hygiene, health and safety procedures.

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Personal Qualities and Skills

To be a kitchen assistant you need to be fit and have a lot of stamina - you'll spend a lot of time standing and lifting and carrying. Also kitchens are often hot, steamy and noisy, so you must not mind this.

You'll need to cope with messy and repetitive jobs but be flexible enough to do whatever you are asked to do. You have to keep calm under pressure. Personal hygiene is very important because the job involves handling food.

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Pay and Opportunities

Wages vary depending on the type of employer.

The pay rates given below are approximate.

Kitchen assistants earn in the range of around £220 - £280 a week.

Kitchen assistants work 37-40 hours a week, which may include shift work, split shifts, early starts, late finishes, weekend work and public holidays. Overtime may be available. Part-time, temporary and seasonal employment is also possible.

Kitchen assistants work throughout the UK, in hotels, restaurants, works' canteens and in hospitals. Holiday parks and other leisure centres, both indoors and outdoors, also employ kitchen assistants.

Vacancies are often advertised in the local newspapers and at Jobcentre Plus.

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Adult Opportunities

It is illegal for any organisation to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits.

Some entrants have relevant skills and abilities gained, for example, in food preparation, cooking or another area involving practical hand skills.

Colleges will usually consider applications from candidates who don't meet their usual entry requirements. You should check the admissions policy of individual colleges.

Modern Apprenticeships, leading to SVQ level 2 may be available in some areas.

• 64% of people in occupations such as kitchen assistant work part-time.
• 2% have flexible hours.
• 8% of employees work on a temporary basis.

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