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| - 1500th review! Scottsdale Community College's Culinary Program is The Little Culinary Program That Could. While other culinary institutes have larger budgets and subsequently larger tuition price tags, being part of the Community College Program allows a budding chef to get a culinary education at a fraction of the cost. There are full-time student programs as well as evening/Saturday programs for those that work during the week. Along with degree programs they also offer certificates (Your culinary classes without the general education requirements). As you can see there are a good variety of options for those interested in getting a culinary education here.
I took an intro to culinary arts class (CUL 105) which was comprised of people in the industry looking to get the certificate to advance in the field, people looking to break into the industry, and others taking it for fun. In an 8 week intro class you understandably can't cover all that there is to the culinary world, but we did do a "greatest hits" version. We learned about mother sauces, making stock, various ways to cook potatoes, the all important vegetable cuts (If you need anything made into a tourne cut I got you covered), making pasta, butchering a chicken, and various methods of cooking proteins.
The nice thing about the intro classes is that the director of the culinary arts program actually teaches them so you get instruction from the head honcho. As someone that built the entire program from ground up, Chef Collins has worked in numerous restaurants and businesses, holding a degree from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America and has a wealth of information about classical French cooking, healthier alternatives, and international cooking.
The evening classes start at 5 and end when everyone finishes and cleans up, usually around 9 or 10 at the latest.
Tuition for in state students is $84 a credit hour, compared to say, The Art Institute of Phoenix, which charges $481 per credit hour. Since I haven't taken any classes from other (More expensive) culinary schools I can't really say if there is a significant difference in materials, etc. justifying the increase in cost at other schools, but I was happy with the education I received at SCC.
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