A line cook at my old spot told me he preps 40 pounds of onions a shift, and I had to sit down

Ruby Barnes · 2026-09-28T14:45:04.153495+00:00

I was back at the diner where I did my first real kitchen job in 2016, catching up with the guy who still runs the morning prep station. He said he goes through about 40 pounds of yellow onions on a busy Saturday, which stopped me cold because I remember thinking 15 pounds felt like a mountain back then. What got me was a number he tossed out from an old cookbook he keeps in his locker, something about knife work being 70 percent of prepping a dish before anything ever hits heat. I always told new hires to focus on the stove, but now I'm thinking I had it backwards. So what's the real split in your kitchens between prep and the line, and has that changed for you?

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A line cook at my old spot told me he preps 40 pounds of onions a shift, and I had to sit down | Chefs - The Community Guide