Reply to How much should I expect to pay for a private chef?

Forum Index » Money and Finances

Reply to "How much should I expect to pay for a private chef?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]You all seem to be looking for an Alice on the Brady Bunch.  Someone who makes a full-time salary working 11am-7pm, doing laundry, dusting, vacuuming, cooking dinner, and cleaning up after. Finding someone to just cook dinner seems like it would be difficult and/or crazy expensive because it’s quite specialized work tied to one spot for only a few hours daily. Talented & in-demand people really don’t work for just $40k/year nowadays, especially a job that they’d have to show up for daily. A chef share, like a nanny share, among neighbors could be interesting but still sort of unrealistic with the logistics involved.

I “cook” the next day’s dinner right before I go to bed when all’s quiet in the house (which is the key). Takes ~20 minutes to set up a tray with meat/chicken/fish to thaw, chopped veggies/salad/etc., and measured out ingredients that I slide into the fridge. Then I write up a cheat sheet wrt cook times so that everything finishes at 6pm on the dot.  I also prep a grab-n-go breakfast and the kids’ bento lunchboxes then as well, plus hardboil a dozen eggs every couple days to keep in the fridge. When dinner time comes, it’s a quick mix and slide into the oven or a toss into a pan, while sides warm on the stovetop. Soooo easy and peaceful, while the kitchen smells so good as the kids are doing their homework.

Prep is where all the time and effort is. Buying meat/chicken in massive bulk at Costco, breaking it down into exact portions for each dinner, and then freezing is a huge time-saver. If you’re really into red meat, consider buying a quarter or half a beef. The best trick I learned in Asia is to save and freeze your leftover cooked rice…when you accumulate a full Tupperware of rice, add veggies, meat, and eggs for a super-easy stir fry. Also making a dozen pans of lasagna/casserole/chilis/soups at once and then freezing is how you pre-cheat on days you don’t feel like cooking. A chest freezer is essential. And then there’s thousands of crockpot recipes that simply require planning ahead.

Gonna let my wife know that my hour of kitchen work daily is worth $50k-100k/year to some of you, and then ask for a raise![/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics