This apprenticeship is in the process of being revised. In the meantime, the version below remains approved for delivery. Further details of this and other occupational standards and apprenticeships in revision are available in the revisions status report.
Preparing food and basic cooking tasks in a kitchen under the supervision.
This occupation is found in the Hospitality industry across a range of sectors including hospitality, aviation and care. Commis chefs may work in different types of organisations and employers such as restaurants, hotels, care homes/hospitals, military establishments and cruise ships. The broad purpose of the occupation is to support the kitchen in providing the culinary offer by preparing, cooking and finishing a range of food items whilst rotating around each section of the kitchen. Commis chefs will work as part of a kitchen brigade to ensure the quality of the food items produced meet brand, organisational and legislative requirements including the completion of food safety management documentation. They receive, check and correctly store deliveries as well as checking and reporting food items and stock levels. Commis chefs contribute to improving the culinary offer of their organisation. In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with a team (brigade) of chefs, the wider team including front of house staff, suppliers and customers. Commis chefs may work unsociable hours, including early mornings, late evenings, weekends and holidays. An employee in this occupation will be responsible for maintaining high standards of personal, food and kitchen hygiene in their section. A commis chef is supervised in their work and reports to a senior chef. In a smaller establishment this may be the Head Chef or Chef Patron or may be a Chef de Partie in a larger organisation using the kitchen hierarchy system.
| Duty | KSBs |
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Duty 1 Prepare food items in line with legislation relevant to this occupation. Follow organisational brand standards and recipe specifications including portion control and waste management. |
K1 K4 K5 K6 K7 K8 K9 K10 K11 K12 K13 K14 K15 K16 K17 K18 K19 K20 K21 K22 K23 K31 K32 K33 K34 K35 K37 K38 K39 K40 K41 |
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Duty 2 Cook food items in line with legislation relevant to this occupation. Follow organisational brand standards and recipe specifications including portion control and waste management. |
K1 K5 K6 K7 K8 K9 K11 K14 K20 K24 K25 K26 K27 K28 K29 K31 K32 K33 K34 K35 K37 K38 K39 K40 K41 |
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Duty 3 Finish food items in line with legislation relevant to this occupation. Follow organisational brand standards and recipe specifications including portion control and waste management. |
K1 K5 K6 K7 K8 K9 K11 K14 K20 K30 K31 K32 K33 K34 K35 K37 K38 K39 K40 K41 |
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Duty 4 Clean and maintain a safe and hygienic kitchen environment including preparation, cooking and storage areas |
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Duty 5 Complete food safety management system documentation |
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Duty 6 Check and report food items and commodity (for example kitchen foil, film, plastic gloves, cloths etc) stock levels following stock rotation systems |
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Duty 7 Operate and clean specialist kitchen equipment following safe handling procedures |
K2 K4 K7 K10 K13 K15 K16 K17 K18 K19 K21 K22 K23 K24 K25 K26 K27 K28 K29 K30 K32 K33 K35 K37 K38 K40 K41 |
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Duty 8 Receive and check internal and external deliveries of food items, equipment and chemicals and store correctly |
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Duty 9 Work with others to ensure dishes produced are of high quality, delivered on time and to the standard required |
K6 K33 K34 K35 K36 K37 K38 K39 K40 K41 |
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Duty 10 Contribute to reviewing and refreshing menus and improving the culinary offer |
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Duty 11 Develop own skills and knowledge through training and experiences |
K1: The factors which influence the types of food items and menus offered by the business
Back to Duty
K2: How technology supports the development and production of dishes and menu items
Back to Duty
K3: The importance of checking food, equipment, chemical and commodity stocks and keeping the storage areas in good order, know the procedures to carry out and how to deal with identified shortages and food close to expiry date
Back to Duty
K4: How to undertake set up, preparation and cleaning tasks to organisational standard whilst working in a challenging, time- bound environment
Back to Duty
K5: Correct ingredients and portion sizes for each dish in line with recipe specifications
Back to Duty
K6: The principles of basic food preparation and cooking; taste, allergens (including intolerances), diet (including religious, cultural and medical) and nutrition
Back to Duty
K7: Commonly used knives and kitchen equipment and their specific function
Back to Duty
K8: Sources and quality points of common food groups including meat, poultry, game, offal, fish, shellfish, vegetables, sauces, soups, stocks, rice, pasta/noodles, eggs, vegetable protein, dough, pastry, cakes, sponges, biscuits and scones, hot and cold desserts
Back to Duty
K9: Traditional cuts of meat and poultry
Back to Duty
K10: Preparation methods for meat, poultry, game and offal including cutting, slicing, dicing, mincing, trimming, boning, tying, checking and preparing cavities, skinning, tenderising, marinating, seasoning, applying dry rubs, stuffing, filling, trussing, coating and portioning
Back to Duty
K11: Categories of fish including white fish round and flat, oily fish
Back to Duty
K12: Traditional cuts of fish including darne, tronçon, goujon, suprème, délice, paupiette
Back to Duty
K13: Preparation methods for fish and shellfish including cleaning, descaling, skinning, trimming, filleting, removing bones, shelling, cutting, marinating, coating
Back to Duty
K14: Categories of vegetables including roots, bulbs, flower heads, fungi, seeds and pods, tubers, leaves, stems, vegetable fruits
Back to Duty
K15: Traditional cuts of vegetables including Julienne, Brunoise, Macédoine, Jardinière, Paysanne
Back to Duty
K16: Preparation methods for vegetables including washing, peeling, chopping, slicing, trimming, grating, turning
Back to Duty
K17: Preparation methods for sauces, stocks and soups including weighing, measuring, chopping, roux, skimming, passing, straining, blending, whisking
Back to Duty
K18: Preparation methods for rice, pasta/noodles and vegetable proteins including washing, soaking, straining
Back to Duty
K19: Preparation methods for eggs (duck, chicken, quail) including beating whisking
Back to Duty
K20: Categories of dough for example, bread, enriched, soda, naan, pitta, pizza
Back to Duty
K21: Preparation methods for dough including weighing, measuring, sieving, mixing, kneading, proving, knocking back, shaping, resting, chilling, piping, rolling, cutting, trimming, glazing, portioning
Back to Duty
K22: Preparation methods for pastry (including short, sweet, suet, choux, convenience) including weighing, measuring, sieving, mixing, shaping, resting, chilling, piping, rolling, cutting, trimming, glazing, portioning
Back to Duty
K23: Preparation methods for cakes, sponges, biscuits, scones, hot and cold desserts (including ice-cream, mousse, egg-based, batter-based, sponge-based, fruit-based, pastry-based) including weighing, measuring, sieving, mixing, shaping, rubbing in, creaming, resting, piping, rolling, cutting, trimming, lining, beating, folding, greasing, glazing, portioning, aeration, adding flavours/colours, puréeing, combining, chilling
Back to Duty
K24: Cooking methods for meat, poultry, game and offal including searing, grilling, griddling, frying (deep, shallow, sauté and stir), braising, stewing, baking, roasting, steaming, boiling, poaching, bain-marie, combination
Back to Duty
K25: Cooking methods for fish and shellfish including frying (deep and shallow), grilling, poaching, baking, steaming, stewing, boiling
Back to Duty
K26: Cooking methods for vegetables including blanching, boiling, roasting, baking, grilling, braising, frying (deep, shallow and stir), steaming, stewing, combination
Back to Duty
K27: Cooking methods for sauces, stocks and soups including boiling, simmering, reducing, thickening, flavouring
Back to Duty
K28: Cooking methods for rice, pasta/noodles, eggs and vegetable proteins including blanching, boiling, frying (deep, sauté), scrambling, poaching, braising, steaming, stewing, baking, combination
Back to Duty
K29: Cooking methods for dough, pastry, cakes, sponges, biscuits, scones, hot and cold desserts including baking, boiling, poaching, stewing, steaming, frying, combination
Back to Duty
K30: Finishing methods for all food groups including resting, garnishing, adding sauce, glazing, gratinating, piping, filling, decorating, dusting, dredging, decorating
Back to Duty
K31: The impact of seasonality on the availability, quality and price of ingredients
Back to Duty
K32: The relevant legislation, regulations and responsibilities pertinent to this occupation
Back to Duty
K33: The importance of following legislation and regulations and consequences of failing to meet them
Back to Duty
K34: How personal and team performance impact on the successful production of dishes and menu items
Back to Duty
K35: How to communicate with colleagues and support team members
Back to Duty
K36: The importance of training and development to maximise own performance
Back to Duty
K37: Professional behaviours and organisational culture
Back to Duty
K38: How all teams are dependent on each other and the importance of teamwork both back and front of house
Back to Duty
K39: Basic costing and yield of dishes and the meaning of gross profit
Back to Duty
K40: The principles of supply chain and waste management
Back to Duty
K41: Potential risks in the working environment, how to address them and the potential consequences of those risks
Back to Duty
S1: Contribute to reviewing and refreshing menus in line with business and customer requirements
Back to Duty
S2: Use technology for the development and production of dishes and menu items in line with business procedures and guidelines to achieve the best result
Back to Duty
S3: Check food stocks, report on shortages, prioritise food that is close to expiry and keep the storage areas in good order
Back to Duty
S4: Prioritise tasks, ensuring food items meet the required quality standard and in the required time frame
Back to Duty
S5: Measure dish ingredients and portion sizes accurately
Back to Duty
S6: Use a range of craft preparation and basic cooking skills and techniques to prepare, cook and finish dishes and menu items in line with business requirements
Back to Duty
S7: Use correct knives and knife skills when preparing food and use the correct equipment when preparing, cooking and finishing food
Back to Duty
S8: Correctly store and use food items and commodities when preparing, cooking and finishing dishes to deliver a quality product that is safe for the consumer
Back to Duty
S9: Apply correct preparation and selection methods when using fresh produce in dishes
Back to Duty
S10: Complete preparation and cooking tasks to a high standard, delivered on time and presented as described within the recipe specification
Back to Duty
S11: Maintain a clean and hygienic kitchen environment at all times, complete kitchen documentation as required
Back to Duty
S12: Work with others to ensure dishes produced are of high quality, delivered on time and to the standard required
Back to Duty
S13: Choose methods of communication that achieve effective team working
Back to Duty
S14: Develop own skills and knowledge through training and experiences
Back to Duty
S15: Deal with team challenges and problems constructively to drive a positive outcome
Back to Duty
S16: Effectively manage resources to meet specifications and control waste
Back to Duty
S17: Follow safe systems of work reporting risks in the appropriate manner
Back to Duty
B1: Is enthusiastic and committed to improving and developing skills
Back to Duty
B2: Has a food safety approach at all times
Back to Duty
B3: Shows accuracy and attention to detail
Back to Duty
B4: Works according to the values and culture of the organisation
Back to Duty
B5: Is fair, consistent, reliable and respectful
Back to Duty
B6: Leads by example to develop individual and team skills
Back to Duty
2
12
| Version | Change detail | Earliest start date | Latest start date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.3 | Funding band revised | 26/06/2023 | Not set |
| 1.2 | End-point assessment plan and standard revised. | 28/09/2021 | 25/06/2023 |
| 1.1 | The funding band for this standard has been reviewed as part of the apprenticeship funding band review. The new funding band is £8000 | 04/03/2019 | 27/09/2021 |
| 1.0 | Retired | 27/04/2016 | 03/03/2019 |
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