# The Chefs Jacket



## theculinarykid (Mar 21, 2014)

I love the way black jackets look on chefs. Here at school we are not aloud to wear them unless we have a level 200 class. I guarantee when I step into a 200 class I will be wearing the full black. What do you wear chef whites or black? Or is their so many stains on it that it just doesn't matter?


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Meh...

Once you get a real job in a real kitchen and stand in front of a broiler or a 12-eye range for 8 hrs a day, you won't be thinking that black is such a hot colour for clothing in kitchens.

'Course, once you fork out 40 or 50 bucks each for a jacket, you'd like them to stay nice.  Black fades, especially after washing--multiple times, white never fades.    And you'll only try it once to bleach a stained black chef's jacket, I can guarantee you that.

The hobby cooks and wannbees can have all the black jackets, chilli pepper patterned ones, the single breasted ones, snap-button ones, "anorak" style ones, and all the other weird-azz "improvements" designers have made. 

They're just not practical in a professional kitchen.....


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## theculinarykid (Mar 21, 2014)

foodpump said:


> Meh...
> 
> Once you get a real job in a real kitchen and stand in front of a broiler or a 12-eye range for 8 hrs a day, you won't be thinking that black is such a hot colour for clothing in kitchens.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the reality check! If you haven't picked up I am just in school ...a tech school at that but we learn a lot their. I will keep that in mind thanks! I think im just into the black jacket because of the status symbol it has at our school.


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

I wear white. I am of the "form follows function" train of thought as stated here...


foodpump said:


> They're just not practical in a professional kitchen.....


I care about what is on the plate...status not so much. For me the heart of the matter is the cuisine, not me.


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## beastmasterflex (Aug 14, 2013)

Cornflower blue, but only on Tuesdays.


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## youngchefkarl (Dec 12, 2013)

I have all different kinds. I know chef's that are worth their weight that wear pepper pants and stuff like that but i agree its not for everybody. I have white short sleeve, black long, red and blue medium sleeve jackets. A white chalk stripe bib apron always goes over that. Everyone is different.


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## powerviolence (May 19, 2012)

If you do wear black always wear a black apron. Or be covered in white hairs everywhere. White is the best IMO. 

Currently at my current job we wear red and black... It's just the color theme the owner choose


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## laurenlulu (Sep 9, 2012)

I prefer black, only flour and powdered sugar show on them. I disagree that black is impractical in a professional kitchen, if I can go between the dining room and kitchen without needing to change it saves me time.


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## chefbuba (Feb 17, 2010)

I wear black dickies work shirts, only enemy is flour, after a busy day I still look clean.


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## redbeerd cantu (Aug 7, 2013)

Wear a black coat in my kitchen, must wear black top. I spent a lot of time finding the right one. I am a profuse sweater and needed the one most likely to help reduce heat retention.

Found one with a heat-release mesh on back/shoulder area. Helps a great deal.

Found a hat with the same mesh on top, as well. Also great help.


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

OK. I'm not sayin' ... I'm just sayin' ...

I think you should wear whatever makes you happy. That is of course if it goes along with whatever is in the kitchen, or what the boss says he/she wants. Mostly I wear whatever coat is on top of the clean pile. I've got white, black, red and green. I've got one(1) boss that likes everyone in black, that's why I've got a black coat. A coupla my white coats are 10+ years old. They've got a very nice "stain patina". My red and green coats separate my visually from the students in the classes I teach. One(1) thing that sucks about my black coat is that it doesn't have a breast pocket. That brand just doesn't have pockets on black coats. I think that is kinda stupid.

$40-$50 per coat?!? WOW. I wish I could afford that. Mine are all $19-$23, depending if they're on sale at the time. I forget who it is right now, but some company has sent me a whole bunch of "SALE" emails. _"Happy Chef"_ I think maybe. You might wanna check out some better prices.


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## phaedrus (Dec 23, 2004)

No one that actually does any work in a kitchen wants a white coat.  Unless there's a laundry service. I have a dozen black coats and a smattering of other colors.  But I only ever wear the black ones.


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

Phaedrus said:


> No one that actually does any work in a kitchen wants a white coat.


I thought that what I did for 12 hours in the kitchen today was actual work, but I guess I was mistaken.


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## phaedrus (Dec 23, 2004)

cheflayne said:


> I thought that what I did for 12 hours in the kitchen today was actual work, but I guess I was mistaken.


Hahaha! No offense meant. I just mean I can't fathom how anyone that works for a living and wears a white one can ever get it clean. Maybe I'm just a pig./img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif I'll readily admit I'm pretty crappy at laundry; I deliberately own civilian clothes that can be washed together. Since I don't toss pies or do a lot baking a black one looks clean longer and stains don't show up. To me whites are for clipboard chefs. Or ones with some mad laundry game./img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif


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## redbeerd cantu (Aug 7, 2013)

This is my dream coat:





  








harlequin chef coats.jpg




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redbeerd cantu


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Sep 27, 2014








If I could find this with the cool vent, moisture-wicking, I'd be in cook shangri-la...


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## spoiledbroth (Sep 25, 2014)

Hahaha. They have coloured chefs jackets that are available now, ie. red, green, blue, yellow, with matching pant and apron: have seen open kitchens with "rainbow brigades". Pretty funny.

I like the black ones just because they tend not to show stains and if you work relatively clean and use detergent specially made for black dyed clothing and wash your jackets without any other clothing they usually don't begin to fade for a good 6-8 months... I find anyway. They do get quite hot. I like  the ventilated ones but that's about it. Ventilated pillbox is nice too.


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## phaedrus (Dec 23, 2004)

I dunno, I don't find a black coat to be any hotter than a white one. Are you guys and gals cooking while standing out in the sun?/img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif


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## spoiledbroth (Sep 25, 2014)

Phaedrus said:


> I dunno, I don't find a black coat to be any hotter than a white one. Are you guys and gals cooking while standing out in the sun?/img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif


Thermal radiation (ie. heat) can essentially be thought of as very low frequency (infared) light...


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## phaedrus (Dec 23, 2004)

Yeah, I get the physics of it. Infrared will be absorbed by a darker color not but not _*heat* per se_. I haven't noticed any difference in real terms. Then again, I'm always sweating like a pig no matter what color I'm wearing.


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## cheftorres87 (Sep 7, 2014)

I like that black hides stains, but I like that white forces you to be a cleaner chef.

I use to just wear a White Chef Coat, with a Black Apron.

What you wear at school is irrelevant though. You're there to learn culinary arts, not fashion.


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## spoiledbroth (Sep 25, 2014)

Phaedrus said:


> Yeah, I get the physics of it. Infrared will be absorbed by a darker color not but not _*heat* per se_. I haven't noticed any difference in real terms. Then again, I'm always sweating like a pig no matter what color I'm wearing.


??? Infared radiation = heat, that's my understanding anyways. I can notice a pretty significant difference.


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## phaedrus (Dec 23, 2004)

Good for you./img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif If you notice a diff and have an option, wear white. I don't notice a diff but I can't wear white at my current gig anyways. I took a Sous job and when that one starts I'll be able to wear whatever, but I will stick with my blacks since I have a ton of them. And my (very warm) blue denim ones for showing off.

At any rate, infrared radiation is light at a wavelength too low for human eyes to see. Heat is an energy level. I suppose many hot things emit infrared but sub-red radiation isn't identical to heat. For instance, infrared can move through a vacuum (eg outer space) but heat cannot. That's why a thermos can keep hot coffee hot- it has a vacuum liner.


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## spoiledbroth (Sep 25, 2014)

Whoops, I meant thermal radiation. Blame it on the IPA. Not trying to get into an internet argument! Have no idea how you would ever wear denim, I'd be swimming.


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## alaminute (Aug 22, 2013)

I'm a geek for the classic look: good white coat, blue apron, and black pants. Makes me feel like more of a craftsman (who knows why).


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## nicko (Oct 5, 2001)

From the archives by Chef Joe George
[article="6618"]Jackets And Toques The History Of The Chef Uniform [/article]


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## oldschool1982 (Jun 27, 2006)

This is definitely very subjective to one's personality and taste from what was once required but personally, I love the white coat especially the dress one. I would keep a couple clean and starched for the Dining room and actually had or now have several varieties in the closet; black piping, black collars and cuffs and solid white all with a variety of buttons or studs from pearl to cloth. There are only a couple that the remnants of a catastrophic spill or splatter haven't left a mark. They looked clean when I packed them away 12 years ago but time brought out the dinginess but we're working on how to remove that.

Anyhow, in school back in the dark ages (can't believe it's been almost 35 years), we could only wear white; pants, coat, undershirt (if you chose), neckerchief, apron, tall toque (first year was short) and socks with black polish-able shoes. This was only in the kitchen-classroom but I do remember lining up for inspection when we had kitchen class to make certain we had no stains or soil and everything was cleanly pressed. A note about the apron, I remeber it being longer and heavier than those we had in the work kitchens. Actually helped to keep the pants clean too but it had no bib. I know hounds-tooth was available since that's older than snot but we didn't wear it. Plus there was nothing even closely resembling Chefwear and Happy Chef since they were a few years from being thought of.

Nicko that was a great link!


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## sandsquid (Dec 23, 2013)

For baking I love black for hiding flour sugar and frosting stains, but I can feel eh difference wearing black vs white loading and unloading the ovens.

And there is no escaping the feeling of putting on freshly pressed and gleaming whites at the beginning of the day...


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## spoiledbroth (Sep 25, 2014)

What I want to know is how many of you are breaking out the iron before your shifts /img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif


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## phaedrus (Dec 23, 2004)

I'm on the line with the whole coat thing. To some it's tradition but I see it as affectation. Sometimes I just wear a T-shirt and my cooking doesn't seem to suffer for it. There's a lot of putting on airs in the kitchen, this strikes me as one of those things. If you're in a display kitchen or at a carving station maybe people expect it. I've had Exec jobs where I wore one and ones where I didn't. The one thing I do miss if I'm not wearing a coat though is having a couple Sharpies in the pen pockets on my sleeve./img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif


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## sandsquid (Dec 23, 2013)

SpoiledBroth said:


> What I want to know is how many of you are breaking out the iron before your shifts /img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif


I iron all my jackets, and yes even my baggy houndstooths on laundry day, right before they get folded for my locker.
But I'm funny like that. The Military trained me to take pride in my uniform.


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## spoiledbroth (Sep 25, 2014)

SandSquid said:


> I iron all my jackets, and yes even my baggy houndstooths on laundry day, right before they get folded for my locker.
> 
> But I'm funny like that. The Military trained me to take pride in my uniform.


Yeah I've always been trained that taking pride in your kit (and the state thereof) will help you take pride in your work.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Iron?  Isn't that what most steels are made of?

Seriously though, I never iron, take the stuff out of the dryer when it's about 95% dry and stick it on a coat hanger, it'll look "freshly ironed".  I learned that trick from a waiter.......


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## spoiledbroth (Sep 25, 2014)

Yeah I know that trick or you can just not put them in the dryer and airdry if you don't have high humidity where you live. Save on electricity! Learned that one hand washing washing the one jacket I started out with at my first job.


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## sandsquid (Dec 23, 2013)

And don't think the staff Chef/Instructors don't take notice.

Let me relay a cool little story that happened to me that puts this into perfect perspective:


Way back in my second week of Culinary School, we were standing outside our lab waiting to go in, and one particular student say's to me:
"You actually iron your aprons??? I would never waste my time..."  I looked at her already rumpled and stained uniform and replied: "Yes, I can see that."

So, fast foreword about a year: someone from the front office approaches me and asks: We need a student to accompany one of the Chef's to do a live TV spot, would you be interested, you'd need to leave in 5 minutes and go straight to the studio."  I grabbed a freshly ironed jacket from my locker and headed out.  By the time I returned word had passed around the school where I had taken off to, and lo and behold that very same student literally stomped on up to me all indignant and said "I don't know why they asked _you_, when any one of us could have done that."   Now, this little tantrum, that she was pretty famous for, took place in the middle of a crowded student lounge and she was being quite loud and obnoxious about it... So since she was being a real snot about it, I just as loudly asked her if she remembered back to the second week of school when she asked me why I bothered to iron my aprons. She said "Yeah, so... ???"   I replied: "This is a perfect example of  _exactly_ why I bother to iron my aprons."  Granted, I was being a total ass to her at this point, but I really just couldn't resist, it was such a perfect opportunity.  Karma has no time limit, and it sure is a bitch.


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## alaminute (Aug 22, 2013)

On the whole 'air-drying' topic, I live in phoenix with high temp, and low humidity so when I hang my coats outside they always dry in 10-15 minutes lol


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## beachchef22 (Oct 19, 2011)

Interesting subject, as everyone comes to work it seems dressed in what makes em happy/comfortable....That is unless, you're required to wear specific attire.....I'm of the opinion that you come to work mentally and outwardly prepared to get the job done in the best way you know how.  Outwardly prepared meaning you either wear the required uniform, washed, not wrinkled and dirty from last night's shift...or, being the Sous, Executive, Head Chef, whatever you want to call those in a management position, you come in looking as professional as you. One, you set an example for those around/below you and you're telling others you take pride in your position. Lol, now whether your choice is white or black, paisley, tye-died, ect...doesn't really matter....And if you work in a particularly hot kitchen, they make some spiffy, moisture-wicking shirts and coats that look rather dapper in my opinion....I've long been perplexed by seeing how some of my co-workers have come to work in the past....swim trunks, old t-shirts, non-conforming, non-nonslip shoes....I tend to dress, as I've said, in a fashion that sets an example for my co-workers.....Oh, and I've been a head chef for the last 3 years at my current job, and I'm still the best-dressed person in the restaurant...Just my two cents.....carry on folks....

Tony..


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## alaminute (Aug 22, 2013)

Someone once told me 'you should dress for the job you want to have, not the job you have' so I've always been willing to spend a little extra time and money on my coats etc.


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

OK. Here's what I was talking about. NO, I don't work for these guys, and this is not any sales pitch. I don't even wear these coats. But still however, I will consider them when I am looking to shop.





  








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Iceman


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Oct 1, 2014







http://www.happychefuniforms.com/800-347-0288/

_examples:_
*Royal Blue CookCool Chef Coats*




  








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Iceman


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Iceman


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Oct 1, 2014







MEN's: Closeout Price $11.99 / WOMEN's: Closeout Price $12.99

*White CookCool Chef T-Shirt*




  








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Iceman


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Oct 1, 2014







Closeout Price $9.99

*Women's Pink Zip Pocket Lightweight Chef Coat*




  








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Iceman


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Closeout Price $15.99

So *foodpump* ...
_I'm not sayin' ... I'm just sayin'._


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## spoiledbroth (Sep 25, 2014)

I like the short sleeved ones with the breast pocket. I think that's about as far as I would go. I have worn the tunic style but I find them to be alot hotter because they don't actually open they just fold over. I don't like wearing a t-shirt I have done it before, even the Dickies twill buttonups and I think it looks too casual.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Yeah, try cleaning/scrubbing down a flattop or straining a fryer with short sleeves.  You'll only  it once.....


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## madewithnotepad (Sep 10, 2014)

I exclusively wear khaki chef coats. Brown, gray, slate, maroon. They're the only ones I can get to not show stains so badly. I've thrown away about 10 white chef coats and have just given up on them.

Personally, I prefer to just wear a button up dishwasher shirt, but I feel like there are expectations on me professionally and for my cooks to take me seriously.


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## phaedrus (Dec 23, 2004)

foodpump said:


> Yeah, try cleaning/scrubbing down a flattop or straining a fryer with short sleeves. You'll only it once.....


I take my chef coat off when it's time to clean up, and this includes cleaning the flat top (if I'm the one doing it). Done it this way for 25 years with no problems.


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

I just posted the pics from an email ad that I got. Go look at the site. They have a nice enough selection.

NO. I don't work for them. I don't own any coats from them either. They're just a nice company.

_I'm not sayin' ... I'm just sayin'._ (You know ... conversation.)


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## youngchefkarl (Dec 12, 2013)

foodpump said:


> Yeah, try cleaning/scrubbing down a flattop or straining a fryer with short sleeves. You'll only it once.....


Actually we all do it in short sleeves....i guess it could depend on the size of the flat top however.


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## spoiledbroth (Sep 25, 2014)

foodpump said:


> Yeah, try cleaning/scrubbing down a flattop or straining a fryer with short sleeves. You'll only it once.....


I've cleaned many a plancha... no problems. I can stick my hands in a fryer, it's just a matter of wicking off the oil before it cooks your skin. Never had splashback spidering a fryer though... might want to be a bit more careful! My arms are all burned up, my hands have very little feeling left in them. I'm not really concerned with the condition of my forearms, I wear my scars with honour and pride  I do not, however, wear the heat rash around my elbows with the same kind of vigour.


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## jwjohnson (Dec 23, 2014)

Greetings,

I only put my white french knot chef coat on when I go into the dining room, lounge or ballrooms. Other than that I will not wear one in the kitchen. Hounds tooth or black exec pants, white t-shirt. I have been asked why I do not wear one in my kitchen, my reply is that I find the chef coat to "binding" on me and restricts my focus on multitasking, especial line cooking when I need to. I do not worry about food or sauce splatters from prepping/cooking. I have my days with red sauces and carry a spare shirt in my office.  Back in the day a chef broke me of my sloppiness, and has always stuck with me. I tell my cooks, sloppy coat/apron, sloppy food.

I would like to add something off topic. To all culinary students, keep your hands and fingernails clean and trimmed. Please wash your hands with a nail brush. Especially if you are in a dining room carving or whatever. People notice dirt under fingernails. Do not wear soiled uniforms of any sort outside where the client sees you.

You are blessed


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## chef hanz (Jun 2, 2014)

I have wore many colors don't care for white while working In the kitchen but think it's nice to have a new one for meetings and such I personally wear a t-shirt and shorts while online you need to be comfortable while cooking and I keep pants and a coat for if 8 have a meeting or working a buffet. I have hard water and any grease turns yellow on white ones. If I must wear one while cooking I get the mesh back and short sleeve.


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## mini chef (Jan 4, 2011)

White. Don't be dirty. Stay neat.


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