What do Chef hats do other than Hide hair?

Question

Baseball players wear baseball hats, football players wear football hemets, Fishermen wear fishing hats, what is the purpose of that wierd white mushroom monstrosity?

Answer 1

The traditional chef's hat, or toque blanche, is what is most distinguishing and recognizable of the uniform, and also the component which often causes the most debate. Chefs as far back as the 16th century are said to have worn toques. During that period artisans of all types (including chefs) were often imprisoned, or even executed, because of their freethinking. To alleviate persecution, some chefs sought refuge in the Orthodox Church and hid amongst the priests of the monasteries. There they wore the same clothes as the priests-including their tall hats and long robes-with the exception of one deviating trait: the chef's clothes were gray and the priest's were black.

It wasn't until the middle 1800's that chef Marie-Antoine Carême redesigned the uniforms. Carême thought the color white more appropriate, that it denoted cleanliness in the kitchen; it was also at this time that he and his staff began to wear double-breasted jackets. Carême also thought that the hats should be different sizes, to distinguish the cooks from the chefs. The chefs wore the tall hats and the younger cooks wore shorter hats, more like a cap. Carême himself supposedly wore a hat that was 18 inches tall! The folded pleats of a toque, which later became an established characteristic of the chef's hat, were first said to have been added to indicate the more than 100 ways in which a chef can cook an egg.

Answer 2

One of the main reasons to wear a chef's hat is to stop any stray hair on the chef's head from falling into the dish being prepared at that moment. Many chefs wear a head net that covers the entire head and then put on the chef's hat on that. This locks the hair in place and provides no chance of that hair falling into one of the dishes about to be served to a customer.

Answer 3

I'm a student at Johnson & Wales University, the culinary school Emrile went to, and here is why we wear really tall chef's hats: the taller your hat the higher up on the food chain (no pun intended) you are. The guy (or girl) with the tallest hat is the executive chef, the person in charge. That tradition is kinda starting to fall to the wayside but still, that's where the tall hats come from. It's also kinda nice to have a taller hat because the heat escapes from your head and you aren't left to suffocate with one of those little skull caps on.

Answer 4

In addition to all entries above the height of the hat also suggests the chef's ranking in the kitchen. The head chef having the tallest hat and downward...

Answer 5

its used for many things. to keep hair out of the food, to be recognized as a cook, to keep your hands from touching your hair (your hair is the most commonly touched when working in the kitchen- statistics show that hair is the most touched.) its a sanitation thing.

Answer 6

in ancient times a hat was made too resemble rising bread, so people could tell who the cook was

Answer 7

It is to look tidy and help keep hair out of the food.

Answer 8

last answer was very good!