My first job in high school was washing dishes in a kitchen at an assisted living facility.
- It wasn’t too bad and I was proud of the money I earned everyday when I’d go there after school for a few hours.
Some days were really tough, but for the most part it was a good experience for me at the time. I became close friends with the people I was working with at the time because we made a team that was unstoppable, even when there was a holiday and we had five times the amount of dishes to wash compared to usual capacity. Before long, I was given a chance to do some of the duties that were trusted to assistant cooks only. It then became my goal to secure the status of assistant cook, which only took six months when one of the existing cooks left to attend radiology school. I learned a lot of valuable skills working as an assistant cook in that kitchen. For instance, cooking knowledge doesn’t just stop with seasonings, recipes, and experience behind the grill. You also need practical knowledge like understanding the importance of air ventilation. Stop tops and steam tables by nature generate heat and water vapor. When pan frying, you also deal with oil residue in the air. If you don’t properly ventilate and cool a large kitchen, it’s going to become hot and humid in a matter of minutes. You could also risk carbon monoxide levels getting to a point where they could start affecting cookes working inside. Kitchen HVAC is critical to having a successful kitchen whatsoever.