Cooking schools /courses

[Kimbear 53]

I love cooking, and baking, and since i moved here i've been more into trying out different things to get my recipes to work out like back home and taste good.

The other day i saw an add on tv for a cooking school, and i thought..hmm..that might be interesting, not that i wanna go all iron chef or anything like that, but i could maybe open a catering place etc on the side later.

So I was wondering if anyone has gone to cookign schools or down that route or similar thoughts. I know its a far cry from the accountant i wanted to be, but my schooling and diplomas are ages old now and my recent job experinces are 2 years old and only in customer service answering phones.I mean i can't even get a job as a bloody secretary here lol.

I have yet to bring it up to hubby, and i dont even know where to start looking at schools etc, or if there is some sort of financing available or if that would affect my LPR status here (ie: would i have to pay any of the stuff back) but its a thought..and i love being in the Kitchen making stuff

[brightskte 18]

I started cooking school this semester and while its a lot harder than I thought it'd be, it's also a lot of fun. Granted, I'm going for Baking and Pastry and that's time consuming in itself just to do at home. The best upside to going to cooking school(at least as my school) is that there's tons of leftovers to take home. I'm not kidding you, I brought home over 5 dozen dinner rolls today from Baking Class.

If cooking is something that you like I'd at least take one or two courses at a local college to see how you like it in a school setting and then decide from there. The only downfall to going to school for cooking for me is the stupid checked pants they make us wear.

[Ontarkie 14,539]

I haven't gone back to school but have been thinking about it. My older two boys are both in college and get financial aid it won't affect anything.

[HannahP 119]

Stay away from the for-profit cooking schools. Cost is way too much for the relative value of the degree. (You don't need a degree to get into the industry and many who are successful in the industry do not have a degree.) Most junior colleges offer degrees in cooking and/or hospitality industry that are affordable, and you'd also have the option of taking classes in small business/entrepreneurship if that's the route you wanna go.

Many places offer cooking classes to the public as well. I know the big community college out here offers ethnic cooking classes to the public for something like $30/class. There's also a private company that does cooking classes -- they're kinda pricey, but they offer an intensive 12-week "basics" class for $600. It's five nights a week and covers everything from basic butchering to sauce making to baking. There might be some of those options in your area, too.

[brightskte 18]

To go to the community college where I go I paid something like $1400 a semester plus your supplies(with my uniform($100), kit($200) and books($200 yay Amazon) it was around $500). I definitely agree to steer clear of the bigger culinary schools you see on TV. They'll charge you tens of thousands of dollars and fill you with promises of a job after graduation but it never happens. My school just had a career fair for the hospitality students so that they could meet with employers and hand out resumes, and I think that's really awesome to help students out like that.

[Kimbear 53]

Wow i see what you mean by charging an arm and a leg at the bigger schools...i mean 35k for a year?? or the other ones that are minimum 15k? I know its been a while since i went to school but damn..is schooling really that expensive nowadays? And david just reminded me we are out in the middle of nowhere so i should wait til we find a place first...sigh. Well that was short lived lol.