To improve my cooking skills...

[Clara_tanone]

Hey guys,

I'm currently ashamed of my cooking skills and so am currently considering improving them through doing a certificate III in commercial cookery. The course goes for 21 weeks and you attend 3 days a week. With government subsidy the cost is $125 ($6000 without).
Though I am not really interested in becoming a chef/cook or looking for work in the industry after finishing the course. Do you guys think that this is a good idea?

 The units I would need to do include the following:

 BSBWOR203B Work effectively with others
 SITXFSA101 Use hygienic practices for food safety
 SITXWHS101 Participate in safe work practices
 SITHCCC101 Use food preparation equipment
 SITHCCC102 Prepare simple dishes
 SITHCCC201 Produce dishes using basic methods of cookery
 SITHKOP101 Clean kitchen premises and equipment
 SITXINV202 Maintain the quality of perishable items
 SITHIND201 Source and use information on the hospitality industry
 SITHCCC103 Prepare Sandwiches
 SITHCCC202 Produce appetisers and salads
 SITHCCC204 Produce vegetable, fruit, egg and farinaceous dishes
 SITHFAB204 Prepare and serve espresso coffee
 SITHCCC207 Use cookery skills effectively (Passport)
 BSBSUS201A Participate in environmentally sustainable work practices
 SITXCOM201 Show social and cultural sensitivity
 SITXHRM301 Coach others in job skills
 SITXFSA201 Participate in safe food handling practices
 SITHPAT306 Produce desserts
 SITHCCC301 Produce poultry dishes
 SITHCCC302 Produce seafood dishes
 SITHCCC303 Produce meat dishes
 SITHCCC307 Prepare food to meet special dietary requirements
 SITHCCC304 Produce and serve food for buffets
 SITHCCC306 Handle and serve cheese
 SITHKOP302 Plan and cost basic menus
 SITXCCS303 Provide Service to customers
 SITHCCC309 Work effectively as a cook
 SITHCCC203 Produce stocks, sauces and soups
 HLTAID003 Provide first Aid

Should I do this course or not? What do you guys think?

Thanks,
Clara Tanone

[spectroscopy]

if you really just want to learn how to cook and not work in the industry you are much better off going to casual cooking classes. there are heaps in the city and around north melbourne and you can just go to the ones that teach dishes you are interested in. i mean in all seriousness you dont even need to do that, just go online and try to find recipes and experiment with them. thats one of the major ways you will get better is to just cook and follow recipes and see what works and what doesnt and eventually add your own twist to things.
alot of those tafe courses are more about efficiently using your time in the kitchen and kitchen processes and that sort of thing rather than how to make a yum dish.

[heids]

if you really just want to learn how to cook and not work in the industry you are much better off going to casual cooking classes. there are heaps in the city and around north melbourne and you can just go to the ones that teach dishes you are interested in. i mean in all seriousness you dont even need to do that, just go online and try to find recipes and experiment with them. thats one of the major ways you will get better is to just cook and follow recipes and see what works and what doesnt and eventually add your own twist to things.
alot of those tafe courses are more about efficiently using your time in the kitchen and kitchen processes and that sort of thing rather than how to make a yum dish.

Yeah, but if you haven't done say the first-aid course, how would you know what to do when you sliced your fingers off into the carrots? Or how would you go with showing social and cultural sensitivity to your multicultural cuisines when preparing them?   A lot of the skills in that course are simply essential to decent cookery.

Nah, but seriously Clara, spectro is right - a course like this would take a HEAP of time for limited benefit; you'd surely be better off thinking about a short course that could improve job opportunities, or getting a part-time job, or figuring out something to do that will actually get you somewhere you want to go.

Just decide to try cooking internet recipes every night for a few weeks, and you'll soon be a pro

[Clara_tanone]

alot of those tafe courses are more about efficiently using your time in the kitchen and kitchen processes and that sort of thing rather than how to make a yum dish.

While speaking over the phone with a TAFE staff member regarding the course, I was told that over time people develop a lot of inefficient/unhelpful cooking practices over the years as well as many bad habits of doing things. Wondering to what extent this could be true? 

[wunderkind52]

While speaking over the phone with a TAFE staff member regarding the course, I was told that over time people develop a lot of inefficient/unhelpful cooking practices over the years as well as many bad habits of doing things. Wondering to what extent this could be true? 

I'm by no means a wonderful chef, but definitely when I watch my sister cook she has bad habits, such as holding the vegetables wrong when cutting etc etc. It's not a major deal, but I think you can pick this stuff up from watching cooking videos/shows! Of course you won't have someone to tell you what you're doing wrong though! These "bad" hanits won't affect the quality of your food much! I think most of it has to do with reaching a professional level, where speed and precision is required. Of course if you're working under time pressure you will need good basics so you don't cut yourself or whatever. But as far as amateur cooking goes, you can just get by by watching videos! And watching other people cook! I mean tbh i think that person is saying that partly to entice you to sign up for the course - it's kind of true, but not a major cause for concern

[heids]

I'm going to put it bluntly and say that you can't afford to waste your time (and government funding ) on things like this.

Thing is, there are a million trillion things I would love to learn and do courses on.  Heck, if I had a choice, I'd do another VCE year with like 10 subjects because I feel so ignorant about physics and chem and accounting and history and politics and economics and spesh and busman and IT and on and on and on.  But I just have to accept that there's no point going a millimetre in a hundred directions, when you could be going a metre in 1-2 directions.

And if you want to do other courses, be aware that you can only get govt funding for 1-2 per year and $100-200 fees will suddenly become a few grand.

So pick what's most important to you (what are your goals/purposes in life?), invest the bulk of your time in that, and then accept that you can't do the rest and be content with spending a little casual time (e.g. time spent practising cooking basic recipes at home) on learning the amateur basics of other skills.