Online Cooking lessons

Finding Cooking Classes Online

Do you have a passion for food?  Are you ready to learn how to become a better cook online?

Over the last century, the popularity of the culinary arts soared as numerous reality shows made their way to our television screens. Masterchef, Come dine with me, Hell’s kitchen and Nailed it… These and many more contributed to make the creation of mouth-watering meals and sensational cakes the ‘in thing’ to do.

Online chef courses, online cooking classes and getting your own private online tutor are three different ways of approaching how you can become a better cook. Even though they teach the same principles, they were created for different audiences. Choosing the type that suits your needs will not only ensure you get the most bang for your buck, it will also give you a more satisfying and joyful learning journey.

Online Chef Courses or Online Culinary Courses

The culinary arts, or cooking as most of us know it, is a vocational art. This means that we learn while we’re doing and the best way for someone to professionally qualify as a chef, is to study at a specialised culinary school.

With set-out curriculums, courses and a path of study, the culinary and hospitality schools across South Africa offer some great certifications to help you qualify as a chef.  Some of them also offer online learning as an option, but this will include a compulsory, practical internship to ensure the application of your theoretical knowledge in-practice on the kitchen floor.

If you dream of becoming a master baker, a pastry chef or maybe a head chef at a Michelin star restaurant, an accredited certification at a specialised culinary and hospitality school will be your best bet.

Online Cooking Courses?

The world of online learning has exploded. Educational online platforms are focusing on creating as many courses as possible and even though you can pick up cheap courses, you never know what the quality of those courses will be. Some platforms offer great online courses with quality content, like Gordon Ramsey on Masterclass, but they are unfortunately out of reach for most South Africans due to the higher cost.

Online cooking courses tend to be very specific and to a set curriculum, so you’ll have to be sure that the course plan is exactly what you would like to learn. These are set courses and therefore the pace & curriculum cannot be adapted or tweaked to the benefit of the learner. There’s also no feedback mechanism in most of them, which in vocational careers is quite important for students to excel.

What you Will Learn

Most online cooking classes, courses or professional online culinary courses will cover the same foundations, regardless of your level of experience. You’ll learn some of these skills:

• Food safety
• Recipe reading, interpretation and consequent food innovation
• Healthy food options and menus
• Utility usage, utility skills and types (i.e., the types of knifes there are, their blades, how to take care of them and how to hold them)
• Using the effects of heat on cooking (steaming, evaporation, caramelization, etc.)
• Herbs and spices and creating complimentary flavour profiles
• Various cooking methods that include
  • Grilling
  • Roasting
  • Broiling
  • Baking
  • Stewing
  • Steaming
  • Pan Fry
  • Deep Fry

It’s a lot to learn, but if you love cooking you’ll be eager and if you truly want to become an expert you’ll have to put in the hard work to get you there. Knowing the basics will also ensure you can use and incorporate different techniques when you start to look at how you give an innovative spin to an old recipe or dish.

Private Online Cooking Teachers

Our favourite option is for those who want to learn how to cook for the fun of it, using your own online cooking teacher. Food is, and will remain, an important part of our human existence and therefore to cook as a hobby is a fun, practical and creative way to apply yourself. It is also a skill that will continue to benefit you for the rest of your life.

Getting your own online cooking teacher means you can benefit from the following:

1. Convenient - With online cooking classes you can learn to cook and bake in your own kitchen. Not only is this safer, you also don’t have to carry ingredients around and can use your own utensils and appliances. Another great benefit is no one can see how bad it’s going in the kitchen, so you can build confidence before inviting the Joneses over for dinner.
2. Affordable – Online cooking tutors cost a fraction of in-person cooking classes or professional courses. Classes can be scheduled to suit your budget and most of our Superprof online tutors provide discount packages and a free trail class.
3. Customisable – Classes can be scheduled at a time and frequency that suits you. Most cooking teachers will assess what you’d like to learn, and they’ll work out a lesson plan that suits your needs. They will also tweak the classes to exclude the skills you already have and include the ones you are most keen to learn.

Tips to Book Your First Lesson

Booking your cooking classes online is a piece of cake with Superprof, here are some tips and tricks to set you up:

• Browse and compare the various cooking teachers
• Set your goals and define what do you want to achieve out of your cooking lessons (having fun is a given of course)
• Decide on a budget and frequency; how many classes suit you and how many can you afford
• Select your favourite cooking teacher on Superprof and ensure they have the skills that match your personal goals
• Contact them, communicate your cooking goals, why you want to learn and what specifically you are excited about learning
• Have fun! Let go of perfectionism and give yourself the permission to make mistakes. You don’t need to put pressure on yourself, because learning to cook should be fun.

We think that the best online cooking classes for you will be the ones that suit your needs and lifestyle. The flexibility and fun an online private teacher can offer usually suits most new cooks. At the end of the day, it’s about your cooking and happiness, so grab your apron, your pen and notebook and pick the tutor that will help you become the best cook you can be.