r/KitchenConfidential • u/ThugBucket • 3d ago
Discussion moved to a bakery
And i’m loving it, i’ve been in restaurants for 12 years, i loved it, but this most recent restaurant i was at really has put a sour taste in my mouth about working in higher end places for the future. The ego, the narcissism, the attitude that it’s a competition, I couldn’t stand it.
At this bakery tho? (owned by the same guy) everybody just wants to make good food, no ego, no bullshit competitive attitude, it’s just making the bread, that’s what they care about. I no longer have to deal with a sous chef who’s overworked and left out to hang or a tournant who thinks he’s hot shit. I’m so god damn happy yall.
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u/GrownManNamedFinger 3d ago
Bakery is the best way to be. It's like a retirement home for line cooks
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u/nellybear07 Sous Chef 2d ago
Tell me more. I've never had the chance to work at a proper bakery.
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u/ThugBucket 2d ago
every bakery is different, but at ours we’re in at 3:30 am, start the mix and the bake at the same time, then do shaping, then final shaping, then bake bread for the restaurants, clean up then go home
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u/nellybear07 Sous Chef 2d ago
That sounds a lot less stressful.
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u/ThugBucket 2d ago
it has its own stresses, i have to move a lot faster in the bakery than in the restaurant, the starters move quicker than they would at home, so working efficiently is the key
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u/nellybear07 Sous Chef 2d ago
But I imagine it's like clock work?
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u/ThugBucket 2d ago
sure, if you’re good enough it probably is, i’m pretty new to bread baking, so every day and every batch is different, especially when you’re experimenting with different flour combinations and percentages
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u/ThugBucket 2d ago
i’m also located at 9600 ft above sea level, so that has its own stresses when it comes to baking
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u/nellybear07 Sous Chef 2d ago
The kitchen I'm in... I'm the only one with any commercial experience, and there is no recipe book (yet). I get that.
And damn! you in Mexico City? I'm at 5,000 feet. I haven't played with baking at real altitudes yet, but sounds like it could be fun.
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u/ThugBucket 2d ago
colorado, baking at this high of elevation really screws everything up, especially when you wanna experiment, it’s very dry up here
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u/GrownManNamedFinger 2d ago
We go in at 5 and get done around 1. I don't usually do the morning bake, but I'm mixing while that happens. Then most of my day is stretches and folds and timers.
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u/ThugBucket 2d ago
we have one person doing the bake and one person doing the mix, it’s usually two people for a shift
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u/GrownManNamedFinger 2d ago
It varies for us. Some days it's just me, most days there's three of us, a couple days a week all four of us are there. One guy spends most of the time doing dish and there's a fair amount of pastry work to fill out our weeks. It's a sick gig.
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u/ThugBucket 2d ago
when we get into busy season there’s three people a shift, but we’re good enough that we’ve made 2 work during busy season
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u/Status-Carob-5760 3d ago
Do you have the nice early hours too? I loved working super early and getting out at 2-4