Should I Buy a Home Chef Cooking Classes for Christmas?
Should I Buy a Home Chef Cooking Classes for Christmas?
Probably not.
Great, thanks for reading! This has been another article by Matthew, lovingly prepared for his Cook’n family.
You’re still here? I thought I’d already made my point pretty clear. No? Okay, fine. I’ll explain a little more.
To start off, let me say that if you want to take a cooking class, have at it. I don’t have a dog in this fight, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself.
However, if you’re wondering whether you should take a class… I’ve got some thoughts.
The short version of this is that in general, there’s not much you’ll learn in a cooking class that you can’t learn for free online, for much cheaper with a book, and from your own experience. Humbly, I make some real good barbecue (a notoriously difficult pursuit), and I learned it all from one blog and one textbook. After that, it just took practice. If you want to do the same, just look up “Meathead” and you’ll be well on your way.
Samin Nosrat, the writer of my favorite cooking book ever (Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat), emphatically argues that you should never go to culinary school. That money would be much better spent traveling the world and gaining broad experience with food. Why? Because exposure and experience matter much more than a chef (often self proclaimed) charging you money to tell you things you could have learned on Google. This sentiment was echoed by my cousin, who did go to culinary school, worked in a professional kitchen for years, and walked away saying culinary school mostly just taught him how to safely store food (everything else, he already knew it beforehand, or it was really taught to him in a real kitchen afterward).
Let’s put it this way… What’s more valuable?
Spend $280 on a beginner’s cake decorating class (that’s a very accurate number; I just googled it and went with the first local class I could find), where they’ll teach you… wait for it… three different icing recipes and give you a bunch of practice with filling and using icing bags.
Or
Spend $280 upgrading your own kitchen gear, GOOGLING a few icing recipes, and then just practicing away in your own kitchen under a trusted source on YouTube or Instagram?
I promise, that second version is much better value. You could probably get away with spending only $30-$50 and you’d still walk away a more experienced baker.
Want proof?
Well…
My wife got into cakes about four months after we got married. She followed a bunch of cake-making accounts on Instagram and fell in love with a local artisan who goes by “Cake by Courtney.”
While nobody starts off perfectly, my wife made a phenomenal decision to focus first on flavor, then slowly work toward making beautiful cakes.
My wife’s craft slowly improved. It didn’t take long—every time she made cake or cupcakes, she would take all of her extra frosting and practice piping it in pretty designs onto wax paper. Within a few practice sessions, she was making the types of cupcakes you would find at the local bakery and devour for $8 each.
Instead of paying hundreds to thousands of dollars on classes, we spent hundreds of dollars on a nice mixer and tons of time learning under Cake by Courtney and practicing in our little kitchen. And with all that cake, we threw parties, made gifts for neighbors, and eventually started making money.
Things got real when a friend’s mom paid her to make a birthday cake for her son. My wife dropped the cake off, the son took a bite, and spontaneously (not even to my wife), he turned to his dad and said, “This is the best cake I’ve ever had.”
My wife started selling her cakes, and she never took a single lesson! Yup, that’s allowed!
We’re at the point now where my wife has made countless cakes for parties and even several wedding cakes, and I couldn’t be more proud of her (actually I could be, but that’s for stuff other than her amazing baking).
Finally, we get to her magnum opus, which is this cheesecake. Every time I bring this cake out in public, someone tracks me down and tells me my wife needs to start a business, and when she does, I need to let him know so that he can buy more of these cakes. I’ve been told that four separate times now.
Am I just bragging about my wife?
Maybe a little bit. But the point is she accomplished all of that without spending a dime on lessons. There’s a jaw-dropping amount of free resources online, and at the end of the day, nothing can replace practice, practice, practice.
However, this brings me to my next section: the times when a cooking class actually makes sense.
Remember my cousin I mentioned, who spent thousands of dollars going to culinary school and then spent years in the food industry?
He emphatically told me culinary school wasn’t worth it, but then gave me an exception: if you have the money and the time, and you have a specific skill you need help with, you should find a class on that. For example, sugar sculpting.
Eventually, he settled on these criteria:
Have you already independently researched the skill you’re trying to learn?
Have you already acquired the equipment that experts online say you need to nail the skill?
Have you already put in hours of practice?
Despite all this, have you simply hit a ceiling that you can’t quite break?
If the answer to all the above is YES, then a cooking class is undoubtedly right for you!
In fact, even in my wife’s case, while I was looking at cake decorating classes, I came across classes for advanced students, and boy, I think she would really benefit from that. But honestly, I’m not interested in bringing it up to her until she’s already researched and practiced advanced techniques herself. She very well might surprise me (and herself) again and be able to master even those techniques from the comfort of her own kitchen.
By the way, are there other reasons to take a cooking class? Sure! For example:
Greatness is within you (and on YouTube. Go check it out). You can achieve your wildest dreams! Now go forth and cook.
Probably not.
Great, thanks for reading! This has been another article by Matthew, lovingly prepared for his Cook’n family.
You’re still here? I thought I’d already made my point pretty clear. No? Okay, fine. I’ll explain a little more.
Why You Probably Shouldn’t Take a Cooking Class
To start off, let me say that if you want to take a cooking class, have at it. I don’t have a dog in this fight, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself.
However, if you’re wondering whether you should take a class… I’ve got some thoughts.
The short version of this is that in general, there’s not much you’ll learn in a cooking class that you can’t learn for free online, for much cheaper with a book, and from your own experience. Humbly, I make some real good barbecue (a notoriously difficult pursuit), and I learned it all from one blog and one textbook. After that, it just took practice. If you want to do the same, just look up “Meathead” and you’ll be well on your way.
Samin Nosrat, the writer of my favorite cooking book ever (Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat), emphatically argues that you should never go to culinary school. That money would be much better spent traveling the world and gaining broad experience with food. Why? Because exposure and experience matter much more than a chef (often self proclaimed) charging you money to tell you things you could have learned on Google. This sentiment was echoed by my cousin, who did go to culinary school, worked in a professional kitchen for years, and walked away saying culinary school mostly just taught him how to safely store food (everything else, he already knew it beforehand, or it was really taught to him in a real kitchen afterward).
Let’s put it this way… What’s more valuable?
Spend $280 on a beginner’s cake decorating class (that’s a very accurate number; I just googled it and went with the first local class I could find), where they’ll teach you… wait for it… three different icing recipes and give you a bunch of practice with filling and using icing bags.
Or
Spend $280 upgrading your own kitchen gear, GOOGLING a few icing recipes, and then just practicing away in your own kitchen under a trusted source on YouTube or Instagram?
I promise, that second version is much better value. You could probably get away with spending only $30-$50 and you’d still walk away a more experienced baker.
Want proof?
Well…
My wife got into cakes about four months after we got married. She followed a bunch of cake-making accounts on Instagram and fell in love with a local artisan who goes by “Cake by Courtney.”
While nobody starts off perfectly, my wife made a phenomenal decision to focus first on flavor, then slowly work toward making beautiful cakes.
My wife’s craft slowly improved. It didn’t take long—every time she made cake or cupcakes, she would take all of her extra frosting and practice piping it in pretty designs onto wax paper. Within a few practice sessions, she was making the types of cupcakes you would find at the local bakery and devour for $8 each.
Instead of paying hundreds to thousands of dollars on classes, we spent hundreds of dollars on a nice mixer and tons of time learning under Cake by Courtney and practicing in our little kitchen. And with all that cake, we threw parties, made gifts for neighbors, and eventually started making money.
Things got real when a friend’s mom paid her to make a birthday cake for her son. My wife dropped the cake off, the son took a bite, and spontaneously (not even to my wife), he turned to his dad and said, “This is the best cake I’ve ever had.”
My wife started selling her cakes, and she never took a single lesson! Yup, that’s allowed!
We’re at the point now where my wife has made countless cakes for parties and even several wedding cakes, and I couldn’t be more proud of her (actually I could be, but that’s for stuff other than her amazing baking).
Finally, we get to her magnum opus, which is this cheesecake. Every time I bring this cake out in public, someone tracks me down and tells me my wife needs to start a business, and when she does, I need to let him know so that he can buy more of these cakes. I’ve been told that four separate times now.
Am I just bragging about my wife?
Maybe a little bit. But the point is she accomplished all of that without spending a dime on lessons. There’s a jaw-dropping amount of free resources online, and at the end of the day, nothing can replace practice, practice, practice.
However, this brings me to my next section: the times when a cooking class actually makes sense.
The Times When a Cooking Class is Totally Worth It
Remember my cousin I mentioned, who spent thousands of dollars going to culinary school and then spent years in the food industry?
He emphatically told me culinary school wasn’t worth it, but then gave me an exception: if you have the money and the time, and you have a specific skill you need help with, you should find a class on that. For example, sugar sculpting.
Eventually, he settled on these criteria:
Have you already independently researched the skill you’re trying to learn?
Have you already acquired the equipment that experts online say you need to nail the skill?
Have you already put in hours of practice?
Despite all this, have you simply hit a ceiling that you can’t quite break?
If the answer to all the above is YES, then a cooking class is undoubtedly right for you!
In fact, even in my wife’s case, while I was looking at cake decorating classes, I came across classes for advanced students, and boy, I think she would really benefit from that. But honestly, I’m not interested in bringing it up to her until she’s already researched and practiced advanced techniques herself. She very well might surprise me (and herself) again and be able to master even those techniques from the comfort of her own kitchen.
By the way, are there other reasons to take a cooking class? Sure! For example:
- You’ve wanted to learn something specific for years, but can’t quite work up the energy to do it on your own.
- You want to support a local craftsman.
- It will be a fun date for you and your spouse or friends.
- You have some money to burn, and the class sounds fun.
Greatness is within you (and on YouTube. Go check it out). You can achieve your wildest dreams! Now go forth and cook.
Matthew Christensen
Weekly Newsletter Contributor since 2023
Email the author! matthew@dvo.com
