Why Study at a Culinary School

Are culinary schools worth it?

Some say that culinary school is unnecessary because cooks can learn “on the job.”

And while there are certain lessons that are best taught in a professional kitchen — like how to work around others on a crowded line, or how to manage your time during service — there are unique benefits to the classroom setting that can’t be replicated in a working kitchen.

Here are some ways students may enjoy the culinary school advantage.

Learning is Your Job

In a professional kitchen, your job is to get those potatoes peeled, or that hollandaise prepped for service. And the executive chef’s job is to get the food out the door to serve hungry customers.

As long as you can complete the tasks assigned to you, your supervisors may not have the time or incentive to help you expand your culinary skills. And even if you’ve found a great chef mentor, you still have to complete your assigned tasks before you can focus on learning.

A culinary student’s job, on the other hand, is to learn as much as possible. And your Chef Instructor’s job is to teach you. Everyone is working toward the same goal — providing students with the knowledge and tools they’ll need to be successful.

This environment lets students ask questions, make mistakes, and practice until perfect, without holding up service or wasting a restaurant’s product. That’s what school is all about!

Understand Why, Not Just How

If you want to be creative in the kitchen, you need to understand why certain techniques give you the desired result.

Why do savory dishes benefit from a hint of acidity? Why do we add eggs to a cake? Without the underlying understanding of these basic culinary principles, you may find yourself unable to make substitutions and alterations, hindering your creativity.

In culinary school, Chef Instructors are available to explain the science behind these techniques, which will become tools in your experimental toolbox.

Travel the Culinary World

A major drawback of the “learn on the job” method is the limited scope of what you may learn.

A restaurant or professional kitchen will have a limited number of menu items, often within one specific type of cuisine. Cooks will make those same recipes over and over. And while they may gain great expertise in that one culinary style, they won’t have the opportunity to learn different world cuisines.

But in culinary school, students will have the opportunity to explore a wider variety of food styles. Culinary Arts programs include courses on the world or regional cuisines, exposing students to culinary traditions from around the globe.

Give Your Career a Boost

Culinary school graduates are not chefs. That’s a title they still must earn.

But a culinary degree or diploma on your resume may provide hiring chefs or supervisors with proof that you take your career seriously. And that could be the difference between winning the interview or being passed over for a more experienced candidate.