Cooking School

Cooking school is ideal for people who love to cook, stay active and work hard, and many of them offer college degrees. For those who dream of a career in the food service industry, culinary school is a must. Restaurant work has long used the apprenticeship model, whereby future chefs are train by more experienced professionals, working their way up through the ranks, from washing dishes to eventually becoming a sous-chef and, then, after more training, a chef.

Now more than ever, culinary school is the first step toward becoming a professional chef. Cooking school students need to first learn the basics: how to prepare meat, vegetables and sauces; choose wine; and bake breads, pastries and more. Restaurants vary considerably in size and function so culinary school can prepare future chefs to work in kitchens both large and small.

Decades ago few cooking schools existed in the United States, but today there are thousands. As the food service industry has grown nationwide, culinary schools have also grown in numbers in order to train enough chefs.

Students can earn either an associate’s or bachelor’s degree at cooking school or enroll in a shorter certificate program. Usually the food scientists and experienced professional chefs with advanced degrees teach at culinary schools, with some of them also running a restaurant simultaneously. Food scientists specialize in molecular gastronomy, the science of cooking on the molecular level, an area that has risen in popularity and is likely to appear in more cooking schools’ curricula.

Cooking School Factors

Many people can cook well, but most employers want to know that an applicant has received proper training. In order to lend credibility, a cook may want to consider attending cooking school.

The following are factors to consider when looking into a cooking school:

A student must decide if he wants a degree in cooking, or would a certificate or diploma suffice? For a degree in cooking, a program offered at a culinary institute is recommended. Most degree programs offer a curriculum designed to teach the business side of cooking, as well as techniques.
Decide on an acceptable schedule and time-frame for completing a cooking program. Most cooking school programs require students to have between 300 and 400 classroom hours. In addition, students must often complete another 200 to 300 hours through internship. An internship offers valuable, hands-on experience that often leads to employment.
What is the reputation of the cooking school? Does the school have any famous or award-winning chefs as alumni? What do area restaurateurs think of the training given at the school? Are current students satisfied with their experience?
Students should choose a school that offers a cuisine focus that is aligned with their own interests. Does the school offer multiple culinary styles for a broader background?
What is the student/teacher ratio? A student benefits more from individualized instruction. Good individualized attention is usually an outcome of the school having a low student/teacher ratio.
Is the cooking school successful at helping its students secure employment upon completion of the program? What is their placement rate?
Is the school accredited?

Culinary Schools

Culinary schools prepare students for careers in the hospitality industry. Students in culinary school learn the art and science behind cooking and food preparation.

A culinary school typically has a wide breadth of programs to meet different student needs and interests. For example, culinary schools may offer certificate programs, diplomas, associate’s degrees, and bachelor’s degrees.

The certificate, diploma, and associate degree programs tend to focus exclusively on the culinary arts. Culinary arts programs prepare students for careers as executive chefs, sous-chefs, and even private chefs. In addition, culinary arts students could pursue a specialization, such as baking and pastry arts. In these chef training programs, students learn a variety of cooking techniques. In addition, students learn how to stock a commercial kitchen by studying inventory management and cost containment strategies. Another important element of the training involves food hygiene and sanitation methods.

The degree programs offered at culinary schools tend to be for management specialization. Culinary arts management programs get to the business end of the food preparation and hospitality industry. Examples of management programs offered by culinary schools include: hotel and restaurant management, culinary arts management, as well as wine, spirit and beverage management. In these programs, students are trained in the culinary arts but also learn what it takes to run a profitable culinary business.

One of the fundamental decisions to make when looking at different culinary schools is the importance of a degree to the student. If a student chooses a career path that would ultimately lead to work as an executive chef at a fine restaurant, a degree program might be the right route. However, a diploma or certificate may suffice if the student simply enjoys baking and wants to perfect his skill and attain credibility for pitching his product to a local bakery.

Other things to research when looking at a culinary school include:

Reputation
Quality of faculty
Facility (does it use state-of-the-art equipment)
Length of program
Flexibility of classroom hours
Teacher/student ratio
Variety of techniques
Internship opportunities
Placement support
Accreditation