>>22032269
If you want to become a professional in a high end restaurant it is worth it. If you want to cook at home its not worth it.

>>22032273
this, but with the contingency of where you go as well
i'd wager the vast majority of culinary schools border on being straight up scams that will leave you MUCH worse off than having just worked at a decent restaurant for that same amount of time
culinary schools can fast track you to a trade certification (in countries that have it) which is immensely valuable and required for many upper-echelon corporate positions in said countries
that aside, they open up the chance to participate in culinary school competitions which provide notoriety on your portfolio as well as immense scholarships
then there's the sheer prestige element. will a bunch of restaurants all around the world take a no-experience stage/intern just on your willingness to give what it takes? 100%. will you have a drastically higher chance of getting into those same positions (or even starting above bitchwork and being paid to stage/intern vs for free) - absofuckinlutely
just make sure you research the program you're looking into, see where their graduates have ended up: are 90% of graduates working at pubs, volume gigs e.g., hospitals, and shitty bistro joints? avoid like the plague. are they getting placements in bib gourmands and top 100s? go for it

the #1 most vital advice you will probably ever hear, in my opinion - if you haven't worked in a professional kitchen before, DON'T FUCKING GO TO CULINARY SCHOOL. i have personally overseen a good dozen or more culinary students during their work placements and over half of them quit and gave up on the idea after 1 week of working in a real kitchen. it is not glamorous, it is difficult and sweaty and hot and loud and unrewarding unless you are personally driven and self-rewarding for your progress and passion. it's not hard to land a prep bitch job with 0 experience, so please, for the love of god, work whatever gig you can find for 1-3 months before you commit to 2-6 semesters of cushy hand-holding, and be willing to relocate

>>22032269
It's mostly useful for learning terminology and kitchen tools/machinery that you'd never have at home. I've worked in chain restaurants with people who have culinary degrees and I've worked at a michelin star steakhouse with people who didn't finish high school. If you care enough you'll become good enough.

>>22032282
>the #1 most vital advice you will probably ever hear, in my opinion - if you haven't worked in a professional kitchen before, DON'T FUCKING GO TO CULINARY SCHOOL
this 10000x my class had to merge with another because of mid 30s-60s women dropouts who initially joined because they thought it would teach you how to cook even though the course structure is priming you for the food industry or for people already in it.
For me it was getting my red seal in leafland, networking and getting sick job placement and drowning myself in alcohol and banging a cute ginger in the afternoon class

>>22032291
yeah the red seal is a huge factor in canada, you're barred from so many set-for-life career positions without it to the point you could thug it out in any shithole a la fanshawe/niagara and be better off just for the fuckin sake of having it

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>>22032300
It's more of a piece of toilet paper here in Vancouver, i legitimately cannot think of a single time it helped me since most hires are word of mouth and my current job when i got hired a decade ago was more concerned with me getting the temps for beef doneness correct over doing the ITA autism lel

>>22032312
absolutely, doesn't help either that all the fuckin hotels in that area are hiring american culinary graduates out of seattle, shits rough out west

>>22032319
yeah ive been at a casino for a while as a sous and half the staff are TFWs or americans fresh out of cia derivative schools
industry sucks and the michelin guide only made it worse

>>22032269
Anthony Bourdain
>went to best culinary school in the world
>dead/cucked

Guy Fieri
>did not go to culinary school
>alive/happy

>>22032273
do you have any proof to back your professional faggy claims up? no example. nothing? That's all you got?
OP here, do have a story but its kinda unique.
I just posted this because i imagine its getting flagged by big culinary and being taken down.
I

>>22032402
he's right that's why former industryfags make the best home cooks

>>22032418
The two people I know who went to culinary school are the best home cooks I've ever met. They know technique and timing and how to layer flavors,.how to bake, and a whole lot of other things self taught home cooks don't really do right including myself. Even the good home cooks I know who didn't go to culinary school can't cook at the level of the people who did go to culinary school.

I'm at culinary school but it was free for me
It's ok

>>22032440
baking was probably the most integral part of culinary school that alot of people did not put the effort in because we had a beyond insane german teacher who bullied the fuck out of people who cared and ignored the ones who didn't but he forced them to read sports magazines of his professional tennis player child.
that aside him and another scottish guy probably taught me more than any chef i have ever worked with in my entire career (since culinary school is a job)
also it taught us equipment safety because we all got to witness a girl break her arm in 36 places because she reached into a hobart mixer

>>22032491
My son worked as a baker for a few years. They were pretty much trained to save time by just reaching in with it on. I told him he was a little crazy, but he made it out with both arms intact, so...

>>22032496
yeah the cage on 25 qt+ stand mixers usually gets tripped with shims because you do need to add certian things to the bowl but no reason to stick your bloody hand in it

>>22032269
Its good to get hands on, however if youre lucky you might get this on the job

I knew this girl who got a job at a retirement home after graduating. You don't have to go into the restaurant game.

>>22032269
>scam
Mostly this. The cooking schools are parasites on government unemployment program "retraining" budgets. If the states didn't pay to train niggers in how to prepare food for wypipo, there would be very few culinary schools.

>>22032418
>>22032440
my dear olde mom and my ded granny were the best homecooks. they never went to school or work as an industry faggotron.

yes i am biased. but also because every pro cook i met was a fat retard who will drink himself one day. or a skinny retard who smells slightly better. or get cucked like Anthony, because no one loves those MOSTLY fatass faggotrons.

>>22033159
>fat retard who will drink himself TO DEATHSU one day

>>22032396
this is truth n cuckchecked

Honestly most guys I know who work line were never trained to do anything their employer didn't want done and spend 15 years waiting for their employer to die even though they will never inherit shit , or start their own businesses which collapse almost immediately because they didn't spend even a week in business class during their 20 years in a kitchen.
Many employers actively and deliberately keep any business information and skills from even their most trusted workers. That's class, the basis of class. The bosses shit head kids inherit a business workers have put a collective hundred years of their lives into.

That's why study isn't a meme, culinary school teaches you how to challenge established businesses for market share, working for established businesses teaches you not to challenge the business class.

It's also a totally realistic idea to study business while you work in a kitchen, you're less likely to go mad, and why compete against your colleagues at work if there's no reward? Might as well wash dishes.

I know guys who've been washing dishes ten years because they don't care what they do to pay bills and they can wear headphones, i know guys who broke their backs for business owners and were simply rendered unemployed forever.

I swear the only people I know in the industry who got anywhere, they started their own business, married the bosses daughter (or son, 2026 and all) or joined the mafia. Why join at all? Lack of economic opportunity. Basically.

>>22033172
>Many employers actively and deliberately keep any business information and skills from even their most trusted workers
huge trvthnvke unfortunately
the mafia/organized crime thing is really understated too. you REALLY think your small town has 3 greek restaurants with awful food because they're savvy? you REALLY think that one ethnic restaurant getting their windows busted in every few weeks is just bad luck? people are super sheltered and disconnected from how pervasive this is in the restaurant business

>>22032291
>>22032300
>>22032312
Whoa...wtf? This is the very first time after working 17 years in the restaurant industry i have ever heard of this red seal thing can someone explain? I live in the us btw

>>22033338
basically here in leafland we have an official trade designation (similar to apprenticeship/journeyman status for electricians etc in the USA, which we also have here of course) and this applies to several more trades than you would conventionally imagine in the US

you can see the list here: https://red-seal.ca/eng/trades/trades-list.shtml

for most restaurant jobs it doesn't super matter, but corporate/unionized places (hotels, casinos, universities, retirement homes, etc) will require it for managerial positions (head chef, food services manager, sometimes required for sous) as in they very literally can not hire someone for the role without it

this is only really a big deal for a long-term career where you value your sanity and pay over the artistry, because outside of nicer hotels/casinos this is just cafeteria volume work. however, you get the benefit of union pay, benefits, and anything over 40 hours is overtime instead of per diem bitch rates. it's a pretty amazing feeling in those gigs after working normal restaurant jobs, and the reason why a ton of americans come up here for culinary work. my first union job in a non-red-seal prep role was $24 CAD per hour (~17.5 USD) with a $2/hr bonus for the whole shift if it started before 6:00 A.M. or went past 6:00 P.M., instant 1.5x overtime after 40 hours, 2x default overtime for all Sunday hours, and 2x overtime on all holidays (these all were additive, i cleared a $1000 single day paycheck for a holiday shift that was on a sunday) and then you get guaranteed annual/2x annual raises with private healthcare, dental etc