Cooking Classes
I'm considering teaching cooking classes at local meal prep business. Have any of you attended one? What was did you like or dislike? Are you likely to take another one? What do you consider a reasonable price? Demo or Hands on? Thanks for help!
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7 Comments:
I've taken several boot camps and one day classes at the CIA. Definitely hands on for the best learning experience. Keep the intro lecture brief and to the point, so students can get cooking. Then just circulate around the kitchen to assist and answer questions. Finish with a nice wrap up. Have fun doing this!
ride&cook at 11:14AM on 03/31/08
I agree. I loved the participation courses much more than the demonstration courses that I have taken so far. I really get more out of it if I have to actually do the work. The average price for a one-off, four-hour long course that I have taken (those are the only ones that I have taken, although I would love to take a culinary vacation one day - sigh), is about $65 or so, I think. I always try to take some, if they are interesting, and I have the money to spare for it.
Great luck and have fun! Oh, and be ure to tell us how it turns out!
Traveller at 11:34AM on 03/31/08
I've taken them and given them. In my experience, there frequently are folks there who are more interested in socializing than in cooking or learning or contributing to class. Folks with far more time in such classes than I tell me this is inevitable, and you just have to work around it. My school-teacher genes made it very hard not to just stop talking and wait for them to notice, and then ask them if they'd like to share what they were talking about with everyone else.
Nowadays, though, I think the cell phone ploy would be better: "Excuse me. Could you step outside until you finish your conversation? It makes it difficult for me to concentrate and other people to hear."
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I think how much to charge depends on participation or not, and how long and complicated the class will be. And the other factor is the local cost of living. A 2-hour hands-on class in New York City is going to cost a lot more than the same class in Ames, Iowa. A 1-hour demo class might be $45 a head; a 2-hour participation class might be $75. If you're doing participation, make sure the facility has enough of the tools you need - make an accurate list. And if you're dealing with knives or electrical machines, I'm sorry to be paranoid, but check on liability. Will you be paid by the facility or will you rent the facility and the students pay you directly?
lemons at 11:58AM on 03/31/08
I work in a cooking school and I think most students who take classes (especially deom classes ) come because they want to be "entertained". They look at it like the Food network Live. Before you start teaching, you should take a few classes and see what they are like.
Judyep at 5:25PM on 03/31/08
I would rent the kitchen and students will pay directly. I also have liability insurance. I'm guessing the students are required to bring their own knives?
soirees at 7:15PM on 03/31/08
One of the most fun cooking classes I took was years ago, held in the "home ec" department of a local high school. It met once a week for a few hours, and we learned oriental cooking. We all cooked, and when we were done, we ate what we made.
At the end, we each got a "cookbook" with all of the recipes.
At the time, I know I wasn't earning much, so I can tell you that the classes must have been cheap. We might have paid a fee for the class and a separate fee for ingredients.
Recently, I was involved in a cooking group that was sort of like classes, except that we'd make things with the understanding that we'd be bringing a quantity home to freeze. One night it was tamales, another it was appetizers ... things like that. Prices were based on the cost of ingredients. Some of the people who showed up were good cooks who just wanted to play in a commericial kitchen and talk about food, and others were there to learn how to make whatever it was.
I've also been to a few events that were cooking demos, with one person on a stage, cooking. Those have been kind of hit-and-miss. I prefer the hands-on cooking, and being able to taste whatever it is we're making.
dbcurrie at 1:50AM on 04/01/08
i think you need to do a lot more info gathering...who is going to do your preprep? who is going to purchase all your ingredients? is there enough equipment for the students? such as bowl, cutting boards? who is doing the clean up? If you have to do all of this yourself then I have a feeling by the time you factor in all of your costs, shopping, preprep, clean up you might be working for very little money.
Judyep at 9:07PM on 04/01/08