So, do online Culinary Arts courses work? Short answer: anything’s possible. But you have to be really committed. The hardest part about online courses is that they lack the direct supervision of a certified chef, someone who can watch you as you practice and answer any questions you have. There are a number of factors to consider, and they can all influence whether or not an online culinary course will work for you:
- Your own motivation – you have to have the drive to actually do everything that you are assigned. Practice is essential to developing your skills. And the desire to do these things will come from your own motivation – why do you want to learn? What is your goal?
- Time. This ties into motivation. Most people who look to online courses have concerns about limited time. But remember, there are no shortcuts to becoming a real chef! You need to make the time to practice and learn everything.
- Access to a teacher or a good knowledge base to answer questi0ns that come up.
- Course material that is both useful and easy to understand.
Here is my recommendation. If you’re going to invest a significant amount of time and money into an online degree for real college credit, why not go all the way and actually enroll in courses? You may think this is harder, but in reality it will make learning so much easier for you in the end. You’ll have everything you need at your fingertips, including chefs who can help you at every turn. Yes, it will suck sometimes. Yes, it will be hard at times. But that’s what working in the industry is like, too! If you’re serious about getting educated in this field, then the full course is the way to go.
However, if you are one of the many who like cooking but aren’t quite sure if you want to make a career out of it yet, or just someone looking to pick up some new tricks in the kitchen, then online resources might be your best bet. And that is why I started Vicarious Gourmet – to give you access to the lessons that I am learning live in Culinary School, so you can learn at your own pace to your heart’s content. The blog posts give you an idea of the daily tasks and rigors of the program, and I have also begun compiling all the critical information that I have learned in my culinary courses into ebook/video packages for those who want to step it up a notch. The first of which should be done within the next month – Beginning Bakeshop. Keep an eye out for it!