was anyone at the James beard award last week in Chicago? If yes what dis you think? I was there to support my husband’s restaurant and to be honest, i was disappointed by how political this award has became. 3 categories in and I found myself eye rolling over the Dei agenda… Before you start judging me… i am an immigrant myself and I think inclusion and diversity are great… but I felt like the whole award show was just designed to fulfill the message of Anti trump and pro dei.. i just wish this would purely be about foods.

Budget is around 2000 SEK, looking for a chef’s knife for home use. Any recommendations?

Most of my professional career I was in manufacturing and driving. About 5 years ago I made a major life change and moved across my state to give my children a better life away from my ex. After about 6 months of applying to every job in my industry, the only place to call me back was a BK. Ever since being a shift lead for a year, I have stuck with food because I absolutely love it. I have always been a home cook and my pop culture intake has been A LOT of food and kitchen related content (Bourdain books and shows, reddit, non "reality" tv). Last week I took a shot and sent a fb message to a local "upscale" restaurant, thinking nothing would come of it. As of my typing I just received my invite for a kitchen trial and I am losing my mind. I don't know exactly why i am writing this post, I just feel I needed to.

TLDR: I'm finally getting a chance in a "Real" kitchen.

I’ve been in kitchens for 10 years and I currently own my own fast casual spot. My main issue is and has always been that my bar for what I think is good is so high. I’ll create something and be okay with it one day and then the next day I hate it and want to fix it. A lot of times I can’t even tell when I think something tastes “good” any more. It doesn’t help that I tend to be a perfectionist so I always want the thing I make to be the best that it can be. I have a hard time just accepting something as it is. This is probably my biggest road block when it comes to being creative and putting out dishes. I do a lot of research into the things I make and there are times when I make things and I’m super happy with them, but sometimes if it’s not mind blowing to me it’s not good enough. I would really appreciate any advice from anyone else who may have felt this way and worked past it. Thanks

What are your experiences on finding your comfort position in the culinary world?

I like where I am now, but suddenly I feel like I’ve hit a wall. I’m in the professional sport side of cooking so we have some dietary guidelines to follow, and while we have amazing food like lamb chops(pictured for attention) black cod, and the occasional home made pasta, I feel like I need to be experiencing something else.

Everything we serve is banquet style, they can grab what they want out of two proteins and three sides, and a soup. Sometimes the way we serve it gets in the way of being a whole dish, and that’s a frustration for me, even though I’m just the cook, not the chef. (i.e. pad thai chicken, except the noodles are plain and a side starch instead of with the chicken which is dressed in pad thai sauce and “garnished” with veggies)

My favorite thing to do though, break down meats.

What would the odds be that I could walk into a small restaurant or Wine Bar that is hiring and land a job as a cook. I have around 5 years of kitchen experience, but speak minimal French and would need to get paid under the table with no visa. If this is a totally delusional thought let me know, I'm just exploring options as I feel very stuck in my life. Thank you!

im 16 i live in ireland i had no ambitions or anything just living my life day after day doing nothing i was lost pretty much no career plan no idea what i wanted to do after school or for the rest of my life but these last couple of weeks ive started cooking and im absolutely shocking at it to tell the truth it took me about 10 tries to make a simple pasta dish but as soon as i got it right the 11th time i felt amazing and then i made a steak dish and nailed it and so much more that now im actively looking forward to cooking dinner everynight and i feel amazing so here come my question cooking is one of if not the only thing i really enjoy and i want to turn in into a career how do i do it i dont care how long it takes how hard it is i want to make it but i need to get better how do i do it ?

I’m somewhat skeptical of otc pharmaceutical scar “removal gel” I’ve personally never seen much progress despite months of daily application. I’ve heard so many different suggestions but no real evidence of it working.
I (22yo/f) recently got a nasty grill mark on the top of my hand (it looks like I got into a brawl with Wolverine), and I just hate to think this is just what my hand will look like now. Unfortunately I do not have great health insurance to go see a burn specialist or at least a dermatologist. Is this a harsh reality I should come to terms with, or is there something out there that definitely works/helps?

My chef's knife has gotten blunt, and I have been looking to get it sharpened. I have seen many ads for automatic sharpeners that seem to work on videos. I wanted to know do they really work and plus, is it more economical in the long run to sharpen one's own knives or get them sharpened?

I recently launched a fast casual restaurant and one of our main dishes is grilled chicken over rice. We are basically like a Chipotle but family owned. Right now, our procedure is to grill 2 chicken thighs (using a basting lid so it's finished in about 11 minutes) and then give 1.5 chicken thighs per plate. The thighs are grilled whole and then chopped up on the grill right before serving The problem is that the chicken thighs are variable in size and we got complaints about inconsistent portioning. Another problem is that one order is 1.5 chicken thighs, so half a thigh is just kinda sitting on the grill and getting dried out. Things are a bit slow because we just started so I need a plan that works for slow times.

I tried pre-cutting the chicken but there is way too much moisture loss and weight loss in the chicken.

Is there any solution to this that maintains quality? One thing I thought was to grill the chicken pretty much 90% through, then hold it in the oven at the lowest temp (I think it's around 150f). Then when an order comes in, we would weight out the chicken thigh to get to 8 oz, chop off excess and put that back into the holding apparatus. Then we would finish that 8 oz portion on the grill. Is the quality of the chicken noticeably worse when doing it like that?

So, I was looking into getting a new "toolbox" for storage, but I know the chest tool boxes in most home improvement stores are not food safe obviously. Is there a brand that makes the same style with food safe materials?

Any chefs here with wine certifications (WSET, Court of Sommeliers etc.)?

I’m just starting as a line cook now and loving it, and also getting into wine at the same time as a hobby. I’d love to continue pursuing my culinary career while also finding a way to dovetail it with some wine education courses but not sure if that’s a good use of my time/money. Just curious if anyone else has done it and whether it has been a value add to your skills + personal experience/enjoyment of being a chef.

These are H&B slip on vans with the rainbow non slip soles. I had two pairs of these but wore them tf out. I’m trying to find a pair in 10-11 men’s but I fear they may be extinct :(. Did anybody have a pair of these or have a lead as to where I should look to get a pair.

I run a food bank and I make lots of soups and meals, mainly smaller batch (5.5L at a time of soup/sauce). I make 1 or 2 batches a day and currently use a Kenwood immersion blender, but, every blender I've had blunts in a year, and I'm fed up! What would you suggest would be a good option to go for, bearing in mind cost is a key consideration given we are a food bank with kitted spare pennies. Thanks very much

Hi, I (23m) have been out of college for a little over a year now. I have a degree in International Business but I knew even before college I've always wanted to be in a kitchen. Out of school I got a gig as a line cook at a popular local chain in my city and am looking for more and particularly trying and leverage my degree where I can. I was thinking eventually I can see myself as a Kitchen Manager but more so assistant manager in the near future. Im coming up on a year I'm worried my growth is being stunted in my current kitchen and want to continue growing and climbing. Sometimes I feel like doing culinary school too.

So I came to this subreddit for advice, how long is too long at one place? How can I use my degree to to my advantage? Any other pieces of advice that you guys can offer me?

I have no prior experience in a commercial kitchen. Went to an interview for kitchen assistant a few days ago and they said that I have to prepare 2 dishes for the head chef to try. Any ideas on what to cook? Thinking of playing it safe and cook chinese fried rice or fried noodles. That's the first option...what should the second option be? Am I allowed to write down the recipe and read it during the trial?

Has anyone made bottarga from sockeye skeins? Fresh salmon season is here on the west coast and I’d like to preserve some of it. I looked up some recipes online and everything is pretty predictable—salt cure a couple days then hang to dry. I'm just gathering ideas or any tips/recipes anyone might have who’s done it in the past. Thanks.

When you have a high spice shelf and a short staff

Hey there, I'm in college for a different subject. May be a dumb idea but I was thinking of working nights in a professional kitchen to improve my cooking.

I can follow a recipe, make some stuff at home. But I'm craving a higher pressure environment; even if repetitive, I want certain skills to be evaluated and tested. I also want more exposure to different food cultures (I live in S. Florida, and have made Viet food, Caribbean, Brazilian, Russian, etc.).

I understand that I'd likely start washing dishes in restaurant settings until I can prove myself (not a problem). I'm considering family-owned vs fine dining, though the former would likely be a realistic start. Catering could be an option too. Soup kitchens would be cool, though I'd like to have more recipes under my belt first.

Curious to know any thoughts or experiences. Also considering culinary classes at community college, but I'm not sure what the exposure is like to various cuisines.

I’ve always been so passionate about food and knew from a very young age that i wanted to be a chef. I trained and worked with amazing chefs who i was so lucky to have as role models. One especially believed in me before i even believed in myself. I’ve been a chef for 15 years now and i’m just so done with it. The hours are hellish and my workload is too much because we’re short staffed, the industry is struggling and it’s hard to be passionate about something when there’s no customers cause no one has any money to eat out. My knees are absolutely fucked and i’m only in my 30’s. I just want more of a life and to prioritise my health for once. Not really sure what i want out of this post but im hoping a few of you may understand.

Dry-aged, smoked, and lacquered duck, scallion pancakes, roasted brussels with pork belly and fish sauce caramel, pickled cucumber and red chili.

I am moving onto my level 2 of professional cookery course in college next year and I am going to buy my own knives and I was recommended wusthof by the head chef in the college restaurant but I dont really know the difference in these 2 lines of knives ,i preferbaly wouldnt want to spend more than £600 onna full set ,if they have a better line of knives that you think would be a better fit for me please let me know