What Every Chef Needs to Know About Culinary Education
The debate between culinary school and on-the-job training is an old one. Which is better, which gives you more connections in the field, which is more likely to land you a cushy chef job -- everyone asks these questions as they try to figure out which way to go.
Taking a look at how each option would guide you to your goal requires more than just looking at the positives. You need to know how something like culinary school would change your day-to-day life as well because, if you decide those changes are worth it, then you've got a good idea of which way to go.
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You'll Get Training Before Being Thrown Into a Kitchen
If you go get a job as a dishwasher, hoping to work your way up, you're in for a heck of a learning curve. In addition to surviving your shifts at work, you'd need to learn everything about how the kitchen functions and how the cooks want things done.
You'd be earning money from the start, but it could take you a very long time, plus extra study on your own, to figure out how to do things like cut vegetables correctly. A restaurant isn't going to want to fully train you -- the staff will just train you on your immediate duties.
In culinary school, however, you might not get paid, but you'll learn those basics and then some. Kitchen etiquette, terms, techniques, secrets -- you get the guided tour. By the time you graduate, you should know your way around a commercial kitchen in general and be able to carry out most typical tasks with skill.
You'll Do More Than Just Cook
Culinary school is an introduction to and training in the food world, and that includes more than just cooking and food prep. You'll find out about ordering supplies, staffing, food safety, and more. This is really where you learn whether or not the whole culinary industry is one that you want to be a part of. Maybe you find out you like cooking, but you can't stand administrative tasks; that's a sign that going into the restaurant business, at least, might not be for you.
But that's the dual beauty of culinary school. Not only do you find out whether or not you really want to continue into the field, but you also find out if there is another aspect of food prep that you could go into instead. Would recipe development for a brand be more your style? You can find that out in culinary school.
You'll Get Over Your Fear of Salt
That sounds like a strange one, but when you start cooking in culinary school, one of the things you'll learn is how crucial the right amount of salt is in many dishes. If you don't know this, and you go to work in a restaurant, you could annoy a lot of customers before you figure out that you haven't been using enough salt. Culinary school gives you the opportunity to mess up before giving that food to customers.
You'll Find out Whether the Schedule Is Really for You
Restaurant work is hectic. You can jump right in and get a low-level job only to find that you don't like what you're doing, or you can go to culinary school, see how busy it can be, and adjust your path from there. If you find a culinary school that has night classes, you can even keep your day job while you see how the new field suits you.
Which Option Are You Going to Choose?
Are you interested in becoming a chef? If you want to earn an Associate of Applied Science in Culinary Arts, consider ECPI University's Culinary Institute of Virginia for the education you want. For more information about this hands-on program, connect with a friendly admissions advisor today.
It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!
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Gainful Employment Information – Culinary Arts - Associate’s
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