Personal Chef Training

Personal chefs sometimes have experience in the industry of hospitality or food service, and anyone who likes helping people as well as cooking can become a successful chef.  Due to a higher rate of turnover in the industry, opportunities for becoming a personal chef are high and are expected to remain so.  Many chefs make as much as $200.00 to $500.00 every day that they work.

Features Of Personal Chef School

When you want to learn how to become a personal chef, you will need to engage in personal chef training at any of the reputable personal chef school options available.  Some schools allow you to get into training with top chefs as you learn to become a certified personal chef.  As you complete your education, you will learn skills so you can make fantastic meals for couples, families with children, career oriented individuals who have little time to cook, elderly individuals, and you will also learn about special dietary needs and how to meet them.  Today, there are about 9000 personal chefs serving more than 72000 clients; it is anticipated that this figure will double in five years.

Your personal chef education will teach you how to create and execute personalized meal plans and menus.  You will also learn about meal pricing and some training schools teach you how to establish your own personal chef business.  Courses for those interested in learning to become a personal chef include mastering skills related to meal planning and customization, shopping for food selections, techniques for preparing healthy foods in the home, heating and cooking methods, food storage techniques, and sanitation.

Quality personal chefs earn a Personal Chef Certification through the United States Personal Chef Association (USPCA).  The certification expresses that the personal chef has met or exceeds the standards established by the USPCA in terms of competency and that the USPCA recognizes the individual for their commitment and professionalism.  To become certified, a personal chef must complete at least two years of industry work thereby gaining necessary experience in cooking, serving, meal planning, and preparation.  For more information visit http://www.uspca.com/association/.

How To Become A Personal Chef

There are a number of ways you can become a personal chef and no two personal chef schools are exactly alike.  If you are looking to become a personal chef,  you can begin personal chef training online or through a home study program.  There are also personal chef school opportunities that involve your participation in two to five day seminar courses, or virtual seminar courses as well.

A personal chef home study course will cost around $500.00 and includes books and multimedia materials that you can work through at your own pace.  You can expect to learn about time management, what a personal chef does each day, media relations, advertising, business establishing methods, food terms, financing, sales, cooking, web design, and if you get the course through a quality personal chef school, you can eventually earn a certificate of completion.  Some schools also train you so you can become certified through the American Culinary Federation as well.

A live seminar program costs around $950.00 to $1,000.00.  This type of program includes everything you would get in a home study course, except you can work up close and personal as you train with working personal chefs.  A virtual seminar course for personal chef training allows you to train online; this type of program costs about $100.00 less than a live seminar option and provides you with access to video tutorials and seminars accessible via online access.  Whatever course you choose, everything you learn will eventually prepare you for the written certification test required of the professional personal chef.  In addition to training through a personal chef school, you can sometimes find a personal chef coach who will allow you to train via an apprenticeship.

Personal chef training can ready you for operating your own business or for working within a company offering personal chef services.  It can also ready you for a variety of positions in the hospitality and food industry.  While in training, you can gain additional food handling and preparation experience working in cafeterias, restaurants, hospitals, and alternative food service positions.

Popular Personal Chef Training Schools Online

The Culinary Business Academy

The Culinary Business Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Atlanta, Georgia, has been in the chef training industry for twenty years.  This school is popular because it offers myriad methods of study including an a full immersion, five day Undergraduate Course, a Business Dynamics Program, an Ultimate Personal Chef Course, a Quick Start Program, Mentor Program, and a Home Study Program.  Many of the programs include online training and testing.  For more information visit
http://www.culinarybusiness.com/personalchef/.

Kendall College

Kendall College offers a certificate in Personal Chef and Catering.  Courses are broken down into four quarters and include classes on professional cookery stocks, sanitation, nutrition, soups, and sauces, Garde Manager methods, baking personal chef practicum, nutritional cooking, and more.  The program consists of 24 credit hours and it can be completed in six quarters.  For more information visit http://culinary.kendall.edu/academics/certificate-programs/personal-chef-catering-certificate/.

Personal Chef Coach Information Online

A personal chef coach is a person that trains people to become a personal chef. If you desire hands on training and a one-on-one education, you may want to add the services of  personal coach chef to your schooling and work experience.  A coach can offer branding information, and help with client interviews, mailing list creation, networking advice, personal chef tools, onsite training, pricing, catering tips, and more.  Kendall SummerHawk is a coach offering such services.  You can find out more information at http://www.gourmetbourget.com/specialty_services.html.  Kitchen Sublime is another service offering personal chef services and coaching.  The company offers classes on grilling, braising steaming, poaching, sauté cooking methods, baking, and pan roasting.  They also teach menu planning, pantry and kitchen organization, how to shop, and recipes.  For more information visit http://kitchensublime.com/main.html.