Is Pastry Chef right for me?

[mmoody]

I have always had a love and passion for baking. I am currently considering changing my career path to that of baking and the pastry arts. I understand that to work in a kitchen can be difficult - long hours, heavy lifting and the like. Before I jump in feet first and enroll in culinary school - is there a way I can get a hands on feel for the job? I have never worked in a professional kitchen/bakery before so I would like to see for myself that it is an environment I can handle. I have heard of doing a stage. Can anyone offer any advice on how someone such as myself with no professional experience could acquire such a position? I would be interested in putting in one week of work anywhere in the US. Preferably a large hotel.

[reneesuzette]

You can do what I did, and go talk to the chef of a restaurant and tell them you would love to work in their kitchen. Usually chefs will let you stage without pay if they like you. Tell them your situation and that you are willing to do any pastry department work. If they agree, you will probably do a lot of prep work. But at least you can get your foot in the door and maybe they'll hire you. Passion and determination has opened many doors for me in this business. Experience is secondary. I had no experience 20 years ago when I approached the chef of a top restaurant. He hired me on the spot.I am now 20 year pastry chef and instructor. It is very hard, but fun work. Set goals and go for it!!!!! Good luck!

[mmoody]

Thank you so much for the encouraging advice. I don't mind whatever tasks they allow me to do. Getting my foot in the door and seeing for myself what it means to be in the kitchen is what I am hoping for. Now to find the right restaurant and chef. I guess I can look forward to trying a nice selection of desserts to help me in my quest!

[scifimom]

I know this isn't the pastry chef route, but to get an idea if you can stand the stress and hours of professional baking/cooking, I'd volunteer to help with caterings. I am taking classes at the local community college and they cater parties to help pay for our ingredients. I've helped cater parties of 150-400 people. What it gave me is the sense of how tough the food business can be. I figured out I didn't want to open a catering business. Possibly experience like this can help you decide if you want to pursue a baking career. Good luck!

[foodpump]

Uhh... Baking and pastry involve a lot of heavy lifting and countless hours on your feet. A 25 lb sack of flour weighs, well 25 lb, a 50 lb sack of sugar is double that. Somehow those bags have to get from storage onto your workbench or ingredient bin, and then scaled out and into the mixer. An empty Hobart (or similar) 30 qt bowl weighs around 15 lbs empty, add in 20 lbs of bread dough, or even Italian meringue and it weighs...yeah, yeah you can figure it out.

A tray of buns weighs maybe 5-6 lbs, but you might have to tray up 20 trays of buns on a rack, and then load each tray into an oven, then pull them out of the oven, then remove the buns from each tray.

I guess what I'm saying is that jut because the job involves the word "pastry" doesn't mean you'll be putting delicate chocolate garnishes on desserts all day long.

The grass is never greener on the other side.....

[foodpump]

Uhh... Baking and pastry involve a lot of heavy lifting and countless hours on your feet. A 25 lb sack of flour weighs, well 25 lb, a 50 lb sack of sugar is double that. Somehow those bags have to get from storage onto your workbench or ingredient bin, and then scaled out and into the mixer. An empty Hobart (or similar) 30 qt bowl weighs around 15 lbs empty, add in 20 lbs of bread dough, or even Italian meringue and it weighs...yeah, yeah you can figure it out.

A tray of buns weighs maybe 5-6 lbs, but you might have to tray up 20 trays of buns on a rack, and then load each tray into an oven, then pull them out of the oven, then remove the buns from each tray.

I guess what I'm saying is that just because the job involves the word "pastry" doesn't mean you'll be putting delicate chocolate garnishes on desserts all day long.

The grass is never greener on the other side.....