Choosing Chefs Uniforms – Pants

Chefs uniforms serve a variety of purposes and it is important to choose the right styles and individual pieces of clothing to ensure your kitchen runs smoothly and everyone is happy in their working environment. This article will look primarily at choosing the trousers or pants in a chef's uniform, but the same principals apply to other parts of the outfit. The two main requirements for pants are that they are easy to clean and provide some degree of protection to the wearer.

A high standard of cleanliness and hygiene must always be maintained in every restaurant kitchen, and chefs uniforms are instrumental in holding up this standard. The pants are generally white as this allows splashes and spills to be instantly spotted and laundered out completely when the shift is over.

This is important because unwashed chefs uniforms can harbour rotting juices from raw meat as well as a whole range of thriving bacteria and germs. Accessories such as hair nets and rubber gloves also aid cleanliness in the kitchen by limiting contact between the chef's body, and associated pathogens, and the food.

White chefs uniforms are also useful because these can simply be washed with bleach to kill off any germs instantly, whereas coloured and dyed fabrics need to be treated more gently. The cleaned pants look extremely presentable as well as being totally hygienic and sanitary. Presentation is onviously important when the cook is working in an open, viewable kitchen, and depending on the role of the cook, the clothing can become quite elaborate and ostentatious. In formal situations cooks wear hats of different sizes to display their rank in the kitchen and many restaurants, catering companies and hotels have their cooks wear clothes with the company logo displayed on it.

Generally, however, chefs uniforms are chosen for comfort and ease of movement. Professional cooks often have to move about the kitchen rapidly, and they don't need anything weighing them down or getting in their way. Common features of standard issue chefs uniform pants are loose fits, elastic waists, adjustable cuffs and deep pockets. The adjustable cuffs and drawstring waists ensure a snug and comfortable fit on any cook in the kitchen and eliminate any loose ends to trip over.

The baggy design is also a safe option in the case of a fire or burn in the kitchen. You should choose pants that are easy to pull off in an emergency, will not cling to the skin and are made from heavyweight cotton to provide significant protection from hot liquids and surfaces. Cotton is also a very breathable fabric, meaning that the cook should not get too hot in their chefs uniforms even in high pressure situations.