Baking and Pastry Career Training Overview

Have you always been good at baking? Do you watch a lot of those cooking shows on TV? Most of the chefs that have made it that far, went to a culinary arts baking school, or have received education in another area of cooking and baking. Baking is very different from cooking. Measurements have to be precise and a "pinch" or "palm full" could make for disastrous results.

Master pastry chefs have won awards all over the world and some of those TV shows feature complicated and colorful creations involving sugar, cakes and other types of baked goodies. This is an exciting career and if you want to do it right, a formal education in the baking arts is a must. With entrees, many types of food are baked, broiled or fried, or even put into the microwave and parboiled, etc. Baking by itself has come to mean baked goods as in breads and desserts and other sweets.

Baking bread is an ancient art and it's been around for thousands of years. Today's artisan bread trade has grown by leaps and bounds and you can buy bread in hundreds of different ways and tastes and textures. Desserts in fancy hotels and restaurants are legendary and they can make or break a chef's reputation. Learning the trade right, in a culinary arts school, will give you the right groundwork from which you can only grow. A student should check out information of what it takes to get into a school and where they are located and how much it costs and what they teach and how long it will take. There's a lot to absorb, so take notes and gather up info. You can also check out the average salaries that pastry chefs make and what levels they are at. More study means more knowledge and ability and also more money. There are distance learning classes as well, in case that's more convenient. You can practice on your neighbors and family!

If you attend a culinary arts school either on campus or by long distance, then you'll learn about what tools it takes, what ingredients are needed, the many methods of preparing foods of all kinds, and much more. Check around and you'll find the best culinary school to suit you. Who knows, you may get a chance to be on TV! Just watch out for limp fondant and runny icing. Temperature and height above sea level affects baking, so you have to learn about that as well.

Pastry chefs work with sugar, and they have to learn how to boil that. They use fondant and different flours and ingredients. They need to know about fat and liquids and eggs and spices. If you feel the need to practice before you start your lessons, you can always get exotic with a few cupcakes! Those don't need as many ingredients and if they turn out misshapen, then you and your family can always "dispose" of these yummy, but odd, misfits.