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Training log examples: Cook (Koch/Köchin)

A cook’s training log covers the stations and tasks in the kitchen: what you prepared, cooked and plated, and what you paid attention to, such as hygiene, doneness and allergens. In the first year you learn goods receipt, preparation and basic recipes, in the second soups, sauces, meat and fish dishes, in the third events, menu planning and costing. Since the 2022 restructuring the final exam is split into two parts, with part 1 in the fourth half-year of training.

Chamber
IHK
Duration
3 years
Regulation
Training regulation for cooks (restructured version), of 9 March 2022

Example weeks

This is what one week in the training log can look like. Always write your own entries about what you actually did. The form itself stays German, as it is submitted in German.

Year 1 Goods receipt and preparation at the station

Ausbildungsnachweis (wöchentlich)
Name des/der Auszubildenden:
Ausbildungsjahr:1
Ausbildungsbereich:Kitchen, preparation
Ausbildungswoche vom:
bis:
Betriebliche Tätigkeiten*Stunden
Helped with goods receipt: checked the delivery note, checked chilled goods against temperature, checked best-before dates
Washed, peeled and cut vegetables (brunoise, julienne, dice)
Started a stock and a basic sauce from the recipe and seasoned them
Kitchen hygiene: cleaned and disinfected work surfaces, signed off the cleaning plan
38
Unterweisungen, betrieblicher Unterricht, sonstige Schulungen*Stunden
Briefing under the Infection Protection Act and introduction to the company’s HACCP concept
Themen des BerufsschulunterrichtsStunden
* Wie lange wurde welche Tätigkeit ausgeübt?
Datum, Unterschrift Auszubildende/r
Datum, Unterschrift Ausbildende/r oder Ausbilder/in
Datum, Unterschrift gesetzliche/r Vertreter/in
Datum, weitere Sichtvermerke (z. B. Lehrer/in)

Year 1 School week: working in the kitchen

Ausbildungsnachweis (wöchentlich)
Name des/der Auszubildenden:
Ausbildungsjahr:1
Ausbildungsbereich:Kitchen, cold kitchen
Ausbildungswoche vom:
bis:
Betriebliche Tätigkeiten*Stunden
Prepared and portioned salads and starters in the cold kitchen
Mise en place for lunch service at the cold station, stocked the fridge by FIFO
Checked and logged fridge and cold room temperatures
22
Unterweisungen, betrieblicher Unterricht, sonstige Schulungen*Stunden
Introduction to knives, sharpening stones and accident prevention
Themen des BerufsschulunterrichtsStunden
LF 3: Work processes in the kitchen, machines and equipment
LF 2: Storing and caring for goods, keeping stock records
* Wie lange wurde welche Tätigkeit ausgeübt?
Datum, Unterschrift Auszubildende/r
Datum, Unterschrift Ausbildende/r oder Ausbilder/in
Datum, Unterschrift gesetzliche/r Vertreter/in
Datum, weitere Sichtvermerke (z. B. Lehrer/in)

Year 2 Preparing sauces, meat and fish

Ausbildungsnachweis (wöchentlich)
Name des/der Auszubildenden:
Ausbildungsjahr:2
Ausbildungsbereich:Kitchen, hot kitchen
Ausbildungswoche vom:
bis:
Betriebliche Tätigkeiten*Stunden
Started a brown basic sauce and developed a sauce from it
Pan-fried pork tenderloin and measured the core temperature, prepared potato gratin and vegetables as sides
Poached a fish fillet and plated it with a white wine sauce
Checked and completed the allergen labelling of the daily menu against the recipes
36
Unterweisungen, betrieblicher Unterricht, sonstige Schulungen*Stunden
Briefing on allergen labelling
Themen des BerufsschulunterrichtsStunden
LF 6: Soups and sauces, binding agents and cooking methods
LF 7: Cuts of meat, degrees of doneness and cooking methods
* Wie lange wurde welche Tätigkeit ausgeübt?
Datum, Unterschrift Auszubildende/r
Datum, Unterschrift Ausbildende/r oder Ausbilder/in
Datum, Unterschrift gesetzliche/r Vertreter/in
Datum, weitere Sichtvermerke (z. B. Lehrer/in)

Year 3 Planning and costing an event

Ausbildungsnachweis (wöchentlich)
Name des/der Auszubildenden:
Ausbildungsjahr:3
Ausbildungsbereich:Kitchen, banquet
Ausbildungswoche vom:
bis:
Betriebliche Tätigkeiten*Stunden
Put together a menu for an event with 60 guests and calculated the goods needed
Costed the menu with cost of goods and selling price
Prepared the banquet dishes, set up and plated the buffet
After the event, evaluated leftovers and documented the quantity planning
36
Unterweisungen, betrieblicher Unterricht, sonstige Schulungen*Stunden
Meeting with the head chef on the planning and on final exam part 2
Themen des BerufsschulunterrichtsStunden
LF 12: Planning menus for events, costing
LF 14: Organising and assessing a promotion week
* Wie lange wurde welche Tätigkeit ausgeübt?
Datum, Unterschrift Auszubildende/r
Datum, Unterschrift Ausbildende/r oder Ausbilder/in
Datum, Unterschrift gesetzliche/r Vertreter/in
Datum, weitere Sichtvermerke (z. B. Lehrer/in)

Vocational school learning fields

  1. LF 1Shaping your own role in the company and representing the occupation and the company
  2. LF 2Ordering, receiving, storing and caring for goods
  3. LF 3Working in the kitchen
  4. LF 4Preparing and maintaining the restaurant
  5. LF 5Providing guest-oriented service in the restaurant
  6. LF 6Preparing and presenting soups and sauces
  7. LF 7Preparing and presenting dishes from cuts of meat
  8. LF 8Preparing and presenting fish dishes
  9. LF 9Processing plant-based ingredients and mushrooms
  10. LF 10Preparing and presenting desserts
  11. LF 11Making ice cream and baked goods and plating desserts
  12. LF 12Planning guest-oriented menus for events
  13. LF 13Preparing and presenting buffets with fish and seafood
  14. LF 14Organising a promotion week and assessing it commercially

Source: KMK framework curriculum for cooks (resolution of 17 Dec 2021), numbering as in the Bavarian curriculum guidelines 08/2022. School topics go into the block “Themen des Berufsschulunterrichts”.

Tips for this training log

  • Add the dish and the step: “Pork tenderloin cooked pink, core temperature measured” says more than “did meat”.
  • Hygiene belongs in the log: temperature checks, cleaning plans and briefings show you know the rules.
  • Enter only times that match your shift plan. With split shifts and weekends, date and hours otherwise do not match.
  • Also describe what did not work and how you fixed it, for example a split sauce. It shows progress.

Common mistakes

  • “Helped in the kitchen” with no dish, station or step.
  • Copying the same tasks every week although you changed stations. This shows when the log is countersigned.
  • Forgetting overtime, weekends or split shifts, so the hours do not match the shift plan.

Examples for other occupations