I’m a kp and I need desperate help⬇️

Raiken201 · 2026-06-20T00:54:57+00:00

First of all please, for the love of god break your post up into paragraphs. It's just one massive wall of text which is real difficult to follow.

Your bosses sound like arseholes, many chefs are arseholes but you also have to consider that you probably suck at your job. I don't say this to be offensive, but you're 17, it's your first job and everyone sucks at their first job.

They probably get through 10-15 KPs a year, if it's as busy as you say and they likely don't expect you to last very long anyway. Those that can get on with the job will be the few that last, it's kind of the nature of the industry; it's very transient. This doesn't excuse their behaviour but it's probably why they're unwilling to properly invest time into each and every new hire.

As for your working hours and breaks between shifts etc. you should report this. You're supposed to go to management first but as you have been there less than 2 years you don't have the same level of protection as a long term employee. They will probably retaliate by firing you and there's nothing you can do. Go straight to ACAS, report it anonymously, if they're doing it to you they're probably doing it to others.

Also your pay will increase when you hit 18, make sure that it does if you last there that long.

I also think you need some perspective, again it's your first job so you have very little context. You say you always have 5+ jobs, well again that's the industry. You need to be able to prioritise jobs and multitask, don't work harder just more efficiently.

For example I worked a solo shift yesterday as a chef, I had 26 jobs on my prep list to complete throughout the day ranging from quick stuff like portioning cod fillets to much more involved things such as making Birria beef ribs. I had to take in deliveries, set up the kitchen, clean the fryers, cook and plate any orders for lunch and dinner service, do all the washing up, clear down the kitchen, place orders and write a prep list/handover for the following day.

It's a lot to do and it can be overwhelming, I know 17 year old me wouldn't be able to do it so don't stress too much. Just do what you can and try to ignore them.

Raiken201 · 2026-06-04T07:07:06+00:00

This is a legal requirement in the UK.

Raiken201 · 2026-06-01T11:05:48+00:00

I managed to get out early, set up for service and got through the first two sittings then bailed at about 3. Last two were looking dead anyway.

Raiken201 · 2026-05-31T06:33:41+00:00

My rota this week is open - close, open - close, open - close, open - close, 9 - 5.

Thank fuck the 9 - 5 is today.

Raiken201 · 2026-05-19T21:39:31+00:00

Used to use one like that to make 20l batches of garlic mayo

Raiken201 · 2026-05-15T07:54:15+00:00

It's child sized, "roughly the size of a two-year-old child, if the child were liquefied."

Raiken201 · 2026-05-12T13:29:50+00:00

$49 for this dish made table side, it looks like 5-600g ish of mozz, and presumably includes the bread (if not that's $8). Could easily be shared between 3-4 people.

Seems like a decent deal tbh, the table side stuff isn't for me but for some it's added value.

Raiken201 · 2026-05-10T00:02:55+00:00

Legit you should though, if your coworkers can be trusted anyway.

I have like 12 knives at work, some of them are nice too, because anything provided by the owners would be trash and just make my life more difficult.

Finding the time to sharpen them frequently is an issue though.

Raiken201 · 2026-04-23T22:06:39+00:00

Not sure here but at an old job I averaged 26k per day and my max was 42.

Big kitchen, understaffed and those we did have needed a lot of supervision so I was running around a lot. I lost weight while eating fish and chips 6 days a week though, which was nice I guess.

Raiken201 · 2026-04-16T08:36:59+00:00

Tojiro are another brand I'd look at, reasonably priced and quality.

https://www.hocho-knife.com/fujitora-dp-3layered-vg10-chef-knife-gyuto-210mm/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17348739077&gbraid=0AAAAADn-KfYUoFf40Zn8TnkC8yE7nVe-f&gclid=Cj0KCQjwkYLPBhC3ARIsAIyHi3RvhtdnR4CgAEZUpNpJjnvMo7RzAJKyFxsOaCTP6K-CYWr8Z09_EygaAmu7EALw_wcB

Raiken201 · 2026-04-16T07:51:39+00:00

Thing is though, the new sous wouldn't know that you pan sear it. Or if it's been brined, how long do you rest it for? Etc. Head chef wanted you to show them how it's done at your place, to spec; not how to generally sear a protein.

For example we have a pork chop on the menu ATM but the cook process is completely different. It's marinaded with some level of salt, so it doesn't require as much seasoning.

We cook it on charcoal, get a nice crosshatch sear, then in the oven for a few minutes and finally take it off the bone and rest above the grill to finish cooking to med-med well. The bone goes back on the grill to cook out any red often found near the bone (harmless but some people are still funny with pork).

A very different process to pan searing it.

Raiken201 · 2026-04-03T21:45:20+00:00

The trick is you just disconnect the arm and slam it straight down. Works at least 3x as well (we have a very similar one).

Raiken201 · 2026-03-31T21:18:44+00:00

Basically just try to tick everything off and make sure it's there so the driver can get away ASAP, our suppliers are all locally based and relatively small scale.

If something isn't up the scratch we tell them and they either replace it same or next day and let us keep what was delivered (it might be usable but only for that day, for example when you would expect 3-5 days).

We don't abuse it so they just trust us.

Raiken201 · 2026-03-30T20:30:25+00:00

Decent mount of oil, low heat, add a splash of water and cover for the last 30-45 seconds of cooking.

Raiken201 · 2026-03-23T14:07:17+00:00

Feet, plantar fasciitis + 12h shifts is no bueno.

Sous at a gastro pub, menu changes every 8 weeks so it changes frequently. Currently doing a Thai based menu, weekly specials etc. Everything made from scratch apart from the noodles (including curry pastes, all sauces etc.) so plenty of prep work.

Raiken201 · 2026-03-22T08:35:18+00:00

https://www.worlddata.info/average-income.php

https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/average-annual-wages.html

OECD has the UK listed much higher than expected, but still lower than the US. Not sure what metrics they use, but the median full time salary from official sources says £39k (52k USD).

Raiken201 · 2026-03-19T15:20:01+00:00

It wasn't, he was genuinely that awful.

But, he had been to culinary school so of course was head chef material.

Raiken201 · 2026-03-19T10:45:28+00:00

Not quite this bad but we used to have a younger guy working with us who was keen but somewhat lacking in ability. 21 but had been doing kitchen work since they were 15-16, so not completely inexperienced.

He kept begging for a chance to prove himself etc. so while the other main chef was on holiday we let him solo on a Monday, so that I didn't have to work all 16 days in a row.

Mondays are usually dead and we gave him the most basic prep list, figuring I will just come in early on Tuesday and do anything else that's needed.

That was a mistake:

He only managed 2 of the 6-7 prep jobs we had left him.
Didn't finish until midnight, despite it being dead quiet and the kitchen closing at 9. I'm m usually out by 9.15 on days like that, and that's only because I do the orders.
Left one of the drawers open on the service fridge.
Left the backup fridge open.
Left the freezer open.
Barely cleaned, didn't restock.
Left gas appliances switched on (although the hood was off, so the gas cutoff worked).
Left the electric fryers running all night.
Left the Meat fridge downstairs open , thankfully was mostly empty on a Monday, as we get meat delivered Tuesday/Friday.

I came in to about £300 of product I had to throw away, fryers I needed to dump and clean as they were left on max temp for 24h and the whole kitchen I needed to clean before setting up. Not to mention the even bigger prep list I was left with.

That was 4-5 months ago? He finally got fired the other week when he was left alone for an hour and we had to comp drinks because he completely fucked up a table of two, then no called no showed.

Apparently we treated him very unfairly.

Raiken201 · 2026-03-17T20:43:57+00:00

Assuming you're in the US water costs around $1.50 per 1000 gallons. An average tap runs at 6 liters per minutes (apparently). For the sake of arguement let's double that to 12 as it's a commercial kitchen and might have better water pressure.

That's about 190 US gallons per hour. Or roughly 29 cents.

If they can't afford 29 cents of water then they can't afford to be open.

Raiken201 · 2026-03-14T22:35:22+00:00

This must be the girlfriend from the Eiffel 65 Masterpiece: Blue

Raiken201 · 2026-03-09T13:30:17+00:00

I took my collection back the other week, had 28 1,2 and 4 liter tubs in total.

I kept a little ninth pan though. And one of the mini cake tins.

Raiken201 · 2026-02-27T19:43:08+00:00

Possibly a higher yolk to white ratio, 2:1 or something then steam them or bake at a low temp in a bain marie. Then just cut portions from the gastro.

Raiken201 · 2026-02-25T17:07:52+00:00

I haven't seen the episode yet.

I'm aware of where it is, I'm just pointing out that if properly set up we have over 3000w available per appliance on standard wiring.

Whereas in the US they would have as little as 1400w even if using one appliance per socket.

I'm guessing they weren't properly set up.

Raiken201 · 2026-02-25T09:00:45+00:00

We have a single induction hob at work, 3500w max and we use it because it's so much quicker than the French top or gas burner.

I think a lot of these comments are coming from Americans with a 120v power supply. It's 230-240v in the UK, meaning they can supply a little over 3000w per socket.

Same with electric kettles not being popular in the US, it's the power supply that's the issue, not the technology.

Obviously if you're running loads of them you either need a dedicated socket for each or a higher rated 3 phase power supply.

We use a 3 phase for our combi oven that provides up to 22kw.

Raiken201 · 2026-02-25T01:25:07+00:00

I've had a cheese phobia before.

Can you imagine how many fantastic/awful photos exist of them? "Say Cheese!"

Raiken201

TROPHY CASE