Are cooking classes worth the price tag?

[mskerr]

First post!

I've been looking up cooking classes for a while now, mostly one-day or weekend classes on different cuisines (New Mexican, Moroccan, Italian...), bread baking classes, knife skill classes, fermentation, dutch oven camp cooking...

For those of you who have taking recreational cooking classes (whether a 3-hour class or a weeklong workshop), do you think they are worth the $? I've worked a little bit as a line cook, and have been teaching myself about cooking, quite intensively, for the last two years. My goal is to start a food truck in a year or 2. I learn pretty quickly from reading, videos, lots of kitchen experiments, etc, and have definitely improved my skills over the last couple years without any classes or training. When I see weekend workshops that cost $700, or one-day classes that run over $100, I can't help but think I should just spend that $ instead on books, ingredients, some choice kitchen equipment. Then again, a good knife skills class could help me out heaps in the kitchen, and for baking I think it would be great to learn from an experienced baker... I should also note that I have just about no disposable income so I try to make the most of it.

Any insight? Cheers!

[mgaretz]

It really depends a lot on the teacher. Some are good, some not so, even at the same school. You could take one of two approaches: take a class that you already know the subject and use it as a gauge as to whether you know more or less than they do, or take something you know nothing about and see if you learn anything useful.

[ElsieD]

Where are you? If you are in Ontario, Canada I can suggest something for knife skills.

[djyee100]

What recreational classes are you considering? Classes taught by prominent chefs attract both skilled home cooks and professional cooks. Otherwise, recreational classes attract students of varied skill levels, even basic skill levels, and that's probably not where you should be.

If you've already had some professional experience, and you're planning to be a professional cook, you may find the level of most recreational classes to be below your level. Remember, the people who go there want to learn something new, and they want to have fun. Depending on the teacher, the class may not be that careful about technique.

I've known so many superb professional cooks who have learned totally on the job. Is there any reason for you not to take that route? You'll learn, you'll make money, you'll be around other professionals, and you will also meet helpful people for what you want to do.

If you want to be involved in recreational classes at all, I suggest you work them as a sous-chef or assistant, even as a volunteer. Then you'll work more closely with the teacher and you'll get more out of the experience.

If you live near a cooking school, it may be possible to take a cooking class on a particular subject that interests you, without enrolling in the full program.

good luck!

[Shalmanese]

A cooking class is geared at the pace of the average student so if you're significantly above average, you're unlikely to get much out of it. Cooking classes are either short courses geared towards dilettante amateurs or degree length courses geared towards working professionals. The economics of it make it very hard to provide offerings for anyone in the middle.

If you're approaching something as a complete novice, like a new technique or a new cuisine, cooking classes may be helpful. But if you possess a medium degree of cooking skill, most classes are probably not going to be too useful compared to just learning on your own.

Far better than a cooking class is to hook up with a clan of equally knowledgable cooks. That way, you're teaching each other and at a personalized pace. Bonus is it's far cheaper and more fun to book.

[ScoopKW]

And depending on where you live, community colleges and reputable culinary schools might be a better option. But not all of us are lucky enough to live within driving distance of Hyde Park, St. Helena, San Antonio or Singapore. And not every community has a college with a good culinary program. Just watch out for the "schools" that do a lot of TV advertising. Tuition is far too high for what they offer, in my opinion.

But even with school, there's no substitute for actually cooking in a professional environment. You'll learn more nuts-and-bolts technique quicker that way.

Edited November 13, 2011 by ScoopKW (log)

[Jenni]

Can I ask, are you trying to learn general cooking skills and techniques such as knife skills and so on? Or do you want to do classes on different cuisines?

I'd say that if it's the former, then a class may be worth it as you'll get hands on training plus the instructor can check you are doing things right - and this kind of feedback is harder to get from a book.

On the other hand, if it's the latter I would say don't bother. There are loads of "Learn Mexican/ Thai/ Indian/ Morrocan/ etc." classes all over the place these days, and although some may be fun and you may learn a little, you are not actually going to learn a whole country's cuisine in a day or two. You may learn a few tasty dishes but teaching quality can vary and you may end up going home with more misinformation about a country's food than when you started. Far better to invest in some books, researching online and saving up for a holiday to the country itself!

[Lisa Shock]

In the US, many community colleges offer culinary programs. They are affordable and you can often just take the classes you want without having to enroll in an entire program.

[dcarch]

I will pay high price for cooking lessons for information I cannot get from youtube, from Googling, from the hundreds of cooking shows, or from eG Forums.

dcarch

[mskerr]

Cheers for all the replies!

I live near Yosemite in California right now but am also sort of based in Santa Cruz, near San Francisco although I try to avoid the place if I can!

Training on the job would be awesome, but with the recession, there's a helluva lot of people out there with more than 6 months line-cook experience on their resumes, especially in California. My kitchen experience was back in Maine, so unfortunately all the pro cooks I know are 3000 miles away.

As far as classes go, I am potentially interested in three different things:

(1) knife skills and general cooking technique, to save prep time and because I still bungle a lot of my attempts in the kitchen,

(2) specific techniques like rustic bread baking or pasta-making, and

(3) different cuisines, especially American regional ones like New Mexican, New Orleans, etc. I'm interested in starting a food truck that features American regional specialties but also has dishes from other countries (Italy, Lebanon, Morocco...) as specials (to keep it interesting as a cook, and because I love a lot of different food). Nothing too complicated though, especially to start! American regional classes are also a good excuse to travel around and see new states, which is my favorite thing to do when I can afford it.

Can anyone recommend a really good knife skills or bread-baking class in the states? Or a good regional class, esp. in Texas, New Mexico, or Louisiana? I guess I'm aiming for classes that are more instructive than something purely for casual home cooks, but not necessarily CIA level. And I'd prefer to take a less-expensive class from a really solid, non-famous chef than an expensive class from a famous one, unless it was someone I was a huge fan of. But, if I don't find any classes that fit the bill, I'm quite happy to invest the $ instead on cookbooks and ingredients and I'll just get in the kitchen and try to work it out myself! When I was in college, I would look at classes and think they were going to be mind-blowing or something, only to think "I could've just read a couple of books for free" after they were over.

For reference, some of the classes I've been looking up include Cooking Studio of Taos, Santa Fe School of Cooking, and Portland Culinary Workshop.

The places I would most like to visit are: Santa Fe, Taos, and Hatch, NM, Austin and the Hill Country, San Antonio, New Orleans, Savannah, Charleston, western Montana, Portland, and Seattle. I'm pretty much up for anywhere in the western US though (I'm an east coast native, quite happy to be west of the mississippi).

Cheers again for all the input! It's really helpful, especially since I am currently living a bit isolated in the mountains with no fellow cooks to talk to!

[djyee100]

The Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite hosts cooking classes in the winter. The classes are taught by prominent chefs. Those classes are expensive, and for vacationers. However, the program may need some help with the classes (paid or otherwise), and you could check into that. Ideally, you might find some way to attend the classes, assist the chefs, whatever, without paying for the classes. I don't think enrolling in these recreational classes is for you.

The Sierra foothills area is burgeoning with some fine wineries that have people sitting up and taking notice. I suggest you connect with the winemakers there. Where there are good winemakers, there are good cooks hanging around. You could learn from them, and they could point you to opportunities. I'm familiar with the Crystal Basin Cellars. Note the events calendar on their website, which also lists foodie events in the area. Even in the mountains, there are ways to meet people and network.

http://www.crystalbasin.com/pages/cbc_events/events_calendar.html

[mskerr]

Cheers for that, djyee100! I've heard about Ahwanee but didn't know they held classes. I never thought about assisting with classes, that is an awesome idea! I will definitely check out wineries too. I'm not particularly into wine, being a beer-drinking girl, but I know it's ridiculous to live in California without somehow taking advantage of the wine scene.

[mskerr]

I should add, I'm also really interested in wild food/ foraging classes - something I would love to know how to do, but don't exactly want to learn all on my own with a guidebook. Would be way more fun to learn with people! Or maybe join a group instead of taking a class?

[Shalmanese]

(1) knife skills and general cooking technique, to save prep time and because I still bungle a lot of my attempts in the kitchen,

Once you've eliminated bad technique, the only thing that improves knife skills is practice and grinding those pathways into your muscle memory. First, make sure you have a sharp, comfortable knife, it's impossible to build a good foundation of knife skills if you're fighting the knife the entire time. At the minimum, buy a new $25 victorianox and use that as a benchmark of minimal acceptable sharpness. If the knife you're using is any less sharp than this, you're not learning anything useful. Next, read the eGCI Knife Skills class and practice your cuts. If you have someone knowledgeable who can watch you, they can correct some subtle deficiencies in form. But then, after that, instead of taking a cooking class, find the best restaurant in the area and volunteer to work for free as a prep cook for a week. After you're 10th case of onions, you'll have your technique down far more effectively than via any class.

(2) specific techniques like rustic bread baking or pasta-making, and

There are some very good technique based classes and I can imagine bread being one of them but fresh pasta is not rocket science to make and, again, just make it 4 or 5 times and you'll pretty much have it down.

(3) different cuisines, especially American regional ones like New Mexican, New Orleans, etc. I'm interested in starting a food truck that features American regional specialties but also has dishes from other countries (Italy, Lebanon, Morocco...) as specials (to keep it interesting as a cook, and because I love a lot of different food). Nothing too complicated though, especially to start! American regional classes are also a good excuse to travel around and see new states, which is my favorite thing to do when I can afford it.

The problem with most regional cooking classes is that, if you have a single day, about the most you can practically do is babysit a bunch of people through cooking 3 recipes, max. That's not a very broad or deep exposure to a culture. For the cost of a day long class, you could instead buy the seminal cookbooks of that cuisine, eat several times at the best ethnic restaurant to dial your palate in and then enough ingredients to cook a dozen dishes from your cookbook. For the price of a week long class, you could afford to fly to that region for a week and eat whatever you want.

Can anyone recommend a really good knife skills or bread-baking class in the states? Or a good regional class, esp. in Texas, New Mexico, or Louisiana? I guess I'm aiming for classes that are more instructive than something purely for casual home cooks, but not necessarily CIA level. And I'd prefer to take a less-expensive class from a really solid, non-famous chef than an expensive class from a famous one, unless it was someone I was a huge fan of. But, if I don't find any classes that fit the bill, I'm quite happy to invest the $ instead on cookbooks and ingredients and I'll just get in the kitchen and try to work it out myself! When I was in college, I would look at classes and think they were going to be mind-blowing or something, only to think "I could've just read a couple of books for free" after they were over.

Learning to be a good cook is far more expensive in time than in money and there are not many easy shortcuts for trading money for time. Unfortunately, for cooking instruction, time is what's most expensive to provide so they're actually a poor fit. Read voraciously, experiment ceaselessly and always look for ways to improve.

[Will]

Even having read about / seen pictures of the right way to hold a knife, having someone guide me through the motions in person was really helpful (three hour or so knife skills class at Sur La Table in LA), and immediately helped me to understand the way the motion should feel. For me, that $60 or so did a lot to improve my skill in the kitchen. Beyond the basics, though, I agree that practice and patience are more helpful than a class for knife skills. Most of the standard western style knife cuts are variations on a few themes, and you probably don't need an instructor standing over you to know whether your brunoise are up to snuff.

Edited November 14, 2011 by Will (log)

[mskerr]

For the cost of a day long class, you could instead buy the seminal cookbooks of that cuisine, eat several times at the best ethnic restaurant to dial your palate in and then enough ingredients to cook a dozen dishes from your cookbook. For the price of a week long class, you could afford to fly to that region for a week and eat whatever you want.

Exactly.

So regional classes are out, but what about a good bread-baking class? I like the idea of volunteering as a prep cook. I used to do prep as part of a cooking job, including lots of onions, but I basically went at it haphazardly, having no job training or supervision. Do you think a restaurant would find it more of a hassle to oversee a volunteer than it's worth?

[djyee100]

I should add, I'm also really interested in wild food/ foraging classes - something I would love to know how to do, but don't exactly want to learn all on my own with a guidebook. Would be way more fun to learn with people! Or maybe join a group instead of taking a class?

The Mycological Society of San Francisco is pretty active. They arrange dinners for their members and also do demos, etc, to educate the general public. Off the top of my head, that's the only foraging group I can think of. If you contact them, they may be able to point you to mycological or other foraging groups in your area.

For some reason, I think of Slow Food as involved with foraging. You can contact your nearest local chapter. Again, these people may be able to point you to others who share your interests or who can answer your questions.

[ElaineK]

ForageSF does wild food walks. I haven't been on one, but they seem to sell out with regularity. They do plants, mushrooms and seafood.

[threestars]

I think it really is worth the price tag if you really have no experience at all and just starting out to cook your own. Lots of knowledge to gain compare to just reading and learning it just by yourself.

[David Ross]

Tommorrow I'm doing another cooking class at a local kitchenware store. This class is $39 per student. Most of the classes run $25-$40. My classes are limited to 16 students in a display kitchen format---meaning the students sit out front while I cook. When we do interactive classes we limit the class size to 8 so each student has the opportunity to get in the kitchen and gather around the counter. Those classes are much more hands-on and we charge about $10 per student more than a regular class. Typically about half the students spend money in the store after the class. There are about 15 Chefs that come in and teach classes---everything from basic comfort food to pastry, sushi and fresh pasta.

Most of our students fall in the avid, serious home cook level. Certainly not the type of person who experiments with Modernist cuisine or compressed watermelon salads, but they aren't interested in making pot roast. The store is on the level of a Williams-Sonoma, yet locally-owned. Thus the store attracts a demographic at a level of income and interest in cuisine that justfies the fees we charge. In fact, our students see the cost of the class as a bargain compared to the knowledge they gain.

[Jesica]

I also agree with what mgaretz says. Every teaching depends on the teacher who is teaching you. If he/she has good ways of explaining you then you will surely get benefit of classes.

[jrshaul]

I've been to one or two consumer cooking classes, and wasn't hugely impressed. They tend to focus more on novelty than solid technique, and I didn't feel qualified to reproduce the items demonstrated. You'd be better served with some Alton Brown DVDs.

In contrast, the cooking classes at the local tech school are often very, very good. Many of these are geared towards professionals and meet twice a week for a few months, but the cost per class is often lower than some demos and the quality is very good.

[Pierogi]

From my experience (admittedly limited...), I've found that classes with a narrow focus are far more valuable to me than the broader, "laundry-list" classes.

I took a bread-making class when I first started to get into baking bread that was extraordinary. It really lit the fire in me to give bread baking my attention and efforts. The instructor was excellent, and very hands-on working with the students. That was what I needed. I'm taking a class on macaron-making in a month or so that I'm hoping will have the same results, since I've tried to make them on my own with pretty dismal results. Many years ago, I took a series of Indian cuisine classes, as well as a Thai series, offered by the local Parks & Rec department. They were also outstanding, and I walked away with recipes I use to this day.

On the not-so-great side, I took another class called something like "Cooking Without a Recipe". The instructor was good, but the class was too large, and far too general. I learn more reading "Saveur" or "Fine Cooking" than I got from that class.

Small groups and tight focus are key, I think.

[AAQuesada]

Exactly.

So regional classes are out, but what about a good bread-baking class?

The San Francisco Baking Institute Is prolly the top baking school on the west coast.

http://sfbi.com/weekend_workshops.html

[Shalmanese]

Exactly.

So regional classes are out, but what about a good bread-baking class?

The San Francisco Baking Institute Is prolly the top baking school on the west coast.

http://sfbi.com/weekend_workshops.html

It's also $400 for a 2 day course which reflects the degree of commitment they need to put in to offer something worthwhile.