Do you put your hair up?

[CaliPoutine]

I work for a caterer and I cook for senior citizens. I ALWAYS put my hair up, in either a clip or a ponytail. Furthermore, I always put my hair up when I cook in my own kitchen too.

However, I noticed that most of the female "chefs" on the food network( both in the US and here in Canada) don't bother putting their hair up.

I'm curious? Do you?

Edited February 16, 2007 by CaliPoutine (log)

[Luckylies]

I put it up when I'm really cooking, like for other people, but if I were to do tv...I might not for aesthetic reasons...Not if I were simulating being in a restaurant, but if I were pretending to be in a "home kitchen" set. If I'm having a dinner party, just before the guests arrive I untie my hair, and finish the plating etc. ...I hope I've never grossed out my guests...

[rich]

If I had hair, I would put it down.

[petite tête de chou]

I definitely pull my hair back if I'm cooking. Between the oven, burners, dishes and a bit of stress it's just too damn HOT to keep my hair down.

[annecros]

Up and secure. My own hair in my plate would gross me out. Animals in the home on the floor as well, though they get busted from time to time.

The stuff on TV is just for looks. They really don't eat what they are cooking with the hair down anyway. Its been prepared behind the scenes.

[Chris Amirault]

When I had long hair down my back, I started putting it up after I saw one of them in a dish I had just served to a guest.

[K8memphis]

I hate it when they cut my hair too short to put up in one rubber band or clippy thing. And what is that deal about cutting one row of hair real real friggin short underneath the rest of it. So you have to basically tape the bottom layer to keep it out of the soup or whatever. grr

[markk]

When I took "cooking", we were taught to be mindful of things that can catch on fire when you bend over a stove. I assume that's why you'd put your long hair up in a kitchen with gas burners. (Also, no undone shirt cuffs, sweaters with baggy arms and cuffs, etc.)

[purplewiz]

Since I only cook at home, not generally as a rule. I will if it's hot in the kitchen or I'm going to be doing a lot of intense work, but since my hair really isn't that long and is of a consistency where it doesn't tend to fly all over, I don't do much about it.

I think I'd pull it back if I were cooking professionally just to make sure it stayed out of the way.

Marcia.

[Domestic Goddess]

I echo what the others have said about pulling/tying the hair back. I usually braid my hair or tie it in a pony tail.

[YummyInMyTummy]

If I had long hair I would put it up... I dont think my customers would appreciate hair in their food haha

[Lilija]

When I'm big cooking, like dinner or something, then I do, of course. Not so much when I make a quick omelet, or sandwich, though.

[jeniac42]

I always put my hair back into a ponytail thing when I'm working in the kitchen. Also for housework. I kind of hate having long hair because it gets all in my face and makes my nose itch, but I'm told it looks nice. Plus the time I cut it all off, I almost kind of cried (but also, I was working in a bakery with no air conditioning, in the summer).

I also hate finding hair in food, so that's another reason.

[scottie]

I always put my hair up and tuck it under my hat at work. But what's the deal with sous chefs? For some reason, they don't have to wear hats. I don't understand why being a sous chef makes your hair either cleaner or less likely to fall into a plate of food.

[Jake]

Always up in a professional setting, hat too. Any chef I've worked for insists, and frankly, it's too damn hot to have it hanging down my back! Often up at home too, habit and convenience.

[Kris]

I definitely pull my hair back if I'm cooking. Between the oven, burners, dishes and a bit of stress it's just too damn HOT to keep my hair down.

←

Ditto.

[Tweety69bird]

I have long hair and besides it being a better practice in the kitchen - hygienically, it's just easier to work when it's all up in a bun or ponytail for when you're moving around and bending over etc..

As for the Food Network ladies, you don't see them taking off their jewelry either, do you? Or when they taste from the stirring spoon and put it back in the pot? That freaks me out.

[hummingbirdkiss]

the cack factor of the vision of watching someone pull a hair out of their mouth while eating is enough for me ..hair up always I would die if someone found a hair in something I made!!!!

[Susie Q]

I've pulled it back and up ever since I was a kid and was responsible for making my dad's lunches.

The fourth time he found a hair in his sandwich he brought home a bunch of rubberbands.

[Pam R]

At home, I pull it back. At work, it's pulled back when I'm working in the store - back and under something (hat, bandanna) in the kitchen.

Yet, when I do TV spots, it's down. It looks better down - and if I'm on TV, I want it to look better! Sometimes my food is prepped by a food stylists for me, sometimes I do it all on camera - and I've never had a host (and especially the crew) not eat the food. Mind you, they usually help with the prep and their hair is never pulled back.

TV is not the real world.

[Reefpimp]

When I had long hair and was cooking professionally, I either used scrunchies every 3" down the length of a ponytail or asked one of the waitstaff to put it in a French braid for me, and wore a bandanna over that. Later, when I had it in dreadlocks, I stuffed it all into the floppy part of the puffy beret. I finally took it all down to scalp (lately, it's *just* long enough to comb on top, in military specs) and I've been happier about it ever since.