The Duties and Responsibilities of a Baker
The role of a baker is an extremely important one, especially with regard to the culinary arts. There are many different items which a baker creates and the duties and responsibilities of this individual go far beyond the oven. A baker has many daily job duties which must be completed in order to make their occupation a success.
What Is a Baker?
A baker is an individual who prepares specialty items such as breads, cakes, pastries and additional baked goods for the public to purchase and consume. The baker has a wide range of additional activities to engage in as well in order to further their baking abilities.
What Are the General Responsibilities of a Baker?
One of the main general responsibilities which a baker must undertake is to prepare baked goods for sale. This task can be as simple or as challenging as the baker likes and the end result is delicious baked products for sale on the general consumer market. In addition to actually baking the goods, the baker is frequently also responsible for ordering materials and supplies and overseeing subordinates as well.
What Are the Specific Duties of a Baker?
The baker has several specific duties which he/she must complete in order to make their baking a success. The first duty of the baker is to prepare all of the baked goods for sale at the bakery, store or other specialty shop. This involves the preparation, baking and wrapping of the items so that they are ready to go out the door. The baker must cut fruit, concoct fillings and bake breads and pastries so that the final product is spectacular.
Another duty which is the responsibility of the baker is the ordering of necessary baking supplies. There are many items which a baker needs to purchase in order to prepare the baked goods which are sold to the public. The baker will purchase the cooking materials such as pans, cookie sheets, mixers, utensils and more. In addition, the baker will need to purchase the cooking items such as flour, sugar, milk, yeast and edible finishing touches, to name a few. Lastly, the baker needs to have something in which to wrap the finished product and will purchase boxes, wrap and ties.
The baker is also responsible for hiring assistants and monitoring their work. There are many individuals who are needed to aid the baker as the baker is only one person and can only do so much. The baker is responsible for hiring these individuals to help, keeping records of their work hours and paying them for their time. With this responsibility also comes the handling of any employee grievances or issues which may arise on the part of the baker’s aids.
There is also a good deal of research which a baker must complete throughout his/her occupation. There are always new recipes which need to be discovered and a baker who does the appropriate background work can find new and improved baking recipes and secrets to use in their occupation.
Lastly, the baker needs to engage in appropriate planning so that they can adequately orchestrate what needs to be baked and how much needs to be made available to the public. This is especially true when the baker has to fill special orders for customers. Making a plan helps the baker to leave enough time for producing all of the baked goods which they need for the customers.
What Type of Beneficial Traits Should All Bakers Possess?
There are certain attributes and traits that all bakers should possess to enable them to do their job to the best of their ability. The first trait which all bakers should have is good planning skills. Since baking is something which can be involved and time consuming at times, having excellent planning skills will help to make the daily operations go that much more smoothly.
Another good trait for bakers to possess is time consciousness. Those who are timely in nature are ones that will take heed of time constraints and effectively execute fulfilling their orders in a timely manner.
Bakers should also have the positive attribute of creativeness. There are many individuals who can bake certain items yet do not have the creativeness that it takes to be a baker. Bakers need to be creative and come up with new recipes that will wow and impress customers new and old.
Good organizational skill is another positive trait for bakers to possess. Since an organized kitchen may equate with the highest level of productiveness, it is important for bakers to have this attribute. Being organized will enable the baker to focus on tasks at hand in an orderly manner.
Bakers are individuals who should also be perceptive in nature. Having perceptiveness will enable a baker to know exactly what the masses want with regard to baked goods and produce goods which are above and beyond the expectations of the general public. A baker may help in this manner by asking for opinions of regular customers to see what they think of certain baked good items that are for sale.
Individuals who are bakers should also be exact in nature. By this it is meant that bakers should know what type of recipes take which ingredients and how much of each ingredient is needed to complete a recipe. Since there are a lot of measurements involved in baking, it is important that the baker is exact when measuring ingredients and preparing the correct amount of quantities for sale to the public.
Lastly, bakers should also be good leaders. As they will most likely have individuals working with them as assistants, they will need to be able to adequately express their wishes to the assistants. In addition, bakers need to be there for their subordinates so that their assistants can ask advice of them whenever they need to do so. Since one little mistake could ruin the finished product, having a baker who is a good leader will help to bypass some of these issues.
Conclusion
The occupation of a baker is one that is filled with creativeness and originality. The baker has many other duties besides simply producing baked goods and these other responsibilities help to make the overall occupation exciting and fulfilling. If one is looking into this type of occupation, reviewing the previously mentioned duties and responsibilities may help an individual to determine if applying for a position as a baker is right for them.
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