How much should I charge to help cook in someone's elses home and serve at their social function?!
Answers: I have become regarded by friends as an excellent cook for the distinctive dishes I have prepared and shared with others. As a result, I'm getting offers to come cook for various people's social events so this is more along the lines of what a professional caterer might do, although I am not providing the food. I typically contribute some of my own special recipes but prepare other dishes according to the host or hostesses own preferences. They are willing to pay me, but I'm not sure what the market rate would be for cooking and serving services in someone's home. This is a town of about 65,000 people in South Texas. We have lots of illegal aliens here who keep the wage base low so I can't charge big city rates, although I don't want to work for peanuts either. What would be a moderate rate to charge, either by the hour or by the job? I'm looking for informed responses from people who do this themselves or have hired others to cook and serve for them in their home.
If you are not providing the food, this is more along the lines of being a personal chef. I did a little research for you and here is some info that I found - it may help with what to charge...
http://www.job-employment-guide.com/chef...
http://www.restaurant.org/rusa/magArticl...
Hopefully those will help a little bit.
By the way - congrats! - that is a huge compliment and an obvious testament to your cooking skills. I have had some of the same offers made to me (although not nearly on as large a scale as you!), but never pursued it, do to time constraints, and such. I wish you the very best, and wish I could have helped further!
Happy Holidays!
Perhaps your best bet would be to call a catering company in your area, or one that would service your area, and ask for an estimate of the proposed job. If someone asks you to cook for 50 people, ask what they would charge as if you are looking around for prices. Don't let them know you are looking to do this yourself, as they wouldn't want to help you because they might feel you are taking their business from them. Good Luck.
Having been in similar situations there are a few things to consider. Letting your host decide the theme/menu ideas is crucial but don't set yourself up for failure by allowing him/her to provide you with items that may not be up to your standards i.e. quality of ingredients. Don't be afraid to talk budgets with people but never advertise your own hourly rate. Try to give them a flat rate figure for a certain amount of time with an extension rate.
That being said, your rate should depend on the scale of the event. When I do backyard grillfests for 30 people I'll usually factor about $1.50 per person/per hour with a four hour minimum just for labor. Higher scale events such as a 14 person 5 course sit down dinner I'll usually charge about $4.00-$6.00 a head again with a four hour minimum.
When I do my own calculations I use the head count method because that's the best way for me to judge how much work I'm really going to be doing. Hope this was helpful.
$15 - $ 20 an hour
it'll be different for each function,just make a short basic list and adjust it accordingly...
