Cooking Class or Not

I guess i should add too, that this question, and similar questions regarding cooking classes, seem to show up at least once a month. Do a search on it here, and you'll find several discussions on this topic.

Dale P said:

Good post Ford. Makes sense to me.

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Dale, missed you yesterday.. hooters has $1 drafts all day long. in three hours we had a good bill !

Podge said:

Dale, missed you yesterday.. hooters has $1 drafts all day long. in three hours we had a good bill !

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We wound up working all day and finished a job. I wish i would have been there.

This forum is a never ending class in itself. I wish we had this place back in 2001 when we started. I've learned more here over time than any one class.

The most significant thing that we learned that changed our level of competition came from a class. You can track our shift into the next gear back to the first Lotta Bull class in Lynchburg, March 2007. What we learned is that you gotta have a plan and process that is repeatable each time. You have to minimize what you bring to what you need. Seems so simple, because it is, but we saw the step by step regiment of Mike and Debbie. It hit home in a big way that we didn't operate as a well oiled machine but rather like two monkeys humping a football.

Classes offer more than just cooking techniques.

but rather like two monkeys humping a football.

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Dare I ask how you would know what this one looks like......:biggrin:
Scary thing is, I think I actually had a visual, and didnt say it was a good one.....:icon_blush:

Big Mike said:

The thing the class would be good for is to maybe shorten your learning curve some.

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I hear this a lot, and in fact agree with it. But ...

I think there are examples of teams that competed for many years with middle of the road results. After taking a class, the result changed over night. This does not seem to support the learnign curve theory.

G$ said:

I hear this a lot, and in fact agree with it. But ...

I think there are examples of teams that competed for many years with middle of the road results. After taking a class, the result changed over night. This does not seem to support the learnign curve theory.

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Huh? Seems like that supports the theory completely.

If you are considering classes take them could learn just what need to do better.

Plowboy said:

Huh? Seems like that supports the theory completely.

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Well, not in my mind. Let me explain.

In other words, these teams likely would have done the same thing for many more years, with mediocre results. They were not inexperienced, and were well beyond the curve. The class was more than 'shortening the curve'. It had game changing or eye opening moments that would not have come with just "more time".

That clear it up for you?

DivaHerself said:

...Taking the (QN4U) class for the third time last weekend, we can honestly say we STILL learned new things....

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This is pretty remarkable. A team that had an incredible year, culminating at the Jack, gets enough value out of taking a class 3 times. That speaks volumes.

G$ said:

This is pretty remarkable. A team that had an incredible year, culminating at the Jack, gets enough value out of taking a class 3 times. That speaks volumes.

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We strongly believe that if you ever reach the point where you've closed your mind to learning you're shooting yourself in the foot. Sometimes it only takes one little thing to make a huge difference in the end result and there just isn't any way that a person can learn and/or retain everything that happens at a class so repeating the same class just made sense to us.

Like DivaHerself said, we both got things out of the class the third time around that we missed the first and second times making it well worth the money spent to attend.

I wish there would be a class in Iowa.

I really feel that there is a lot of unnecessary emotion running around here.
Seems like it got "off track" a while ago.
Not a productive way to do things, IMHO.

Here is what I KNOW from first hand experience.

#1--Chad (my former partner) took the class from Myron a couple of years ago.
I was personally there at the end and reviewed his notes and the BBQ they produced.
I have since had a lot of interaction with Myron and Dobie and have even had the pleasure (yeah, sure ) of "washing dishes" for him.
There is no "disconnect" between what Chad was taught and what I have seen in person.
Myron is very open and honest with those who are the same with him.
He teaches what he cooks.
We took a lot of what he presented and adapted it to our cooking.
Great improvement, but still not scoring as well as we wanted. Our consistancy went up.
We just could not make it all "work" for us.

#2--I had the honor of cooking with DRBBQ. I found him totally open and forthcoming to any question I asked. In fact, when I was quiet (most of the time), he offered guidance and information to help me progress.
Call it "guidance" or an "a** chewing", but it really worked and helped me.
A month later, it really helped us at Key Largo with our Brisket and has ever since.
Since then, he has answered any question I asked--fully.

#3--I have cooked with Kevin (HomeBBQ) on three occasions. I have been to one of his classes (most of it anyway). I saw no "disconnect" between what he does and what he teaches. Totally open with those that are the same to him.
Once again, "bits and pieces" of his technique have helped a lot and he is always available and open if I have a question.

#4--I have met Rod (Pellet Envy) and Fast Eddy on several occasions.
I know for a fact that Rod will "share" with you and tell you point blank when you are off base. That is a compliment, Rod.
I feel that Fast Eddy is the same, but have not tried him yet.
But, I will shortly since I am cooking on FEC now. :-D

#5--When Chad and I were first getting started in '04, Jim Minion passed along several tips which I use to this day. He did not have to do that. We just asked and he answered.

What I am trying to say has been stated above,

The guys at the top of the heap have no fear of the rest of us and do not feel the need to hold back.
You can not duplicate what they do since BBQ is still an "ART", and not a "SCIENCE".

Now, there may be some "instructors" out there that short the students.
I do not know.
But I really feel that they are in the minority and do not represent the majority!

Those few are no reason to tarnish the good being done by the professional cooks who teach or make a living at BBQ.

JMHO

TIM

Smoky River BBQ said:

Ok...here is my question. Do you think that a cooking class is a necessity to win at comps, or can just plain ol' trial and error get it done? I am debating about a class, but there are none close to me. Thoughts? :?:

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Let's get this thing back on the right track shall we...

To answer your "original" question sir...NO...I do not think a class is necessary to win at comps...but it wouldn't hurt if you're a rookie (like me) to get the basics down before flyin' solo!

Smoky River BBQ said:

Ok...here is my question. Do you think that a cooking class is a necessity to win at comps, or can just plain ol' trial and error get it done? I am debating about a class, but there are none close to me. Thoughts? :?:

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No I don't think it's necessary but it will shorten the learning curve quite a bit. I think it's important for people to take a class that suits their level of expertise. If your a beginner you should take a beginners class if you've been at this a while then you should take a more advanced class. I think that's the way to get the most out of whatever class you take.

for the record, I want to take a class and have a great one in mind, and have seen the results.I never said anything negitive about any ones class.I just feel that if you can help some one you should, thats what being part of this community is all about (I think). As far as plugging ones products, I may have been off base (a little).

thanks for all of the support via p.m.'s I have recieved!

Sal
I just love BBQ and the friends I have made here and out there!

Smoky River BBQ said:

Ok...here is my question. Do you think that a cooking class is a necessity to win at comps, or can just plain ol' trial and error get it done? I am debating about a class, but there are none close to me. Thoughts? :?:

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We have taken 2 classes – One from Music City Pig Pals and one Rod & Johnny. We drove about 14 hours round trip to take each class. We had 2 hotel nights for each class, meals, gas and vacation time for Friday. Plus the cost of the class – You can do the math. From our perspective it was worth every penny we spent - it made an immense difference it what we do & how we are scoring now. We combined the knowledge & experience we had with the many things we learned from both classes in every comp we go to. I can’t speak for other classes, but these guys are the real thing. They truly do share their knowledge and work hard to help you improve.

As for as the classes being “money makers” - man I hope they are. But again, do the math. They also have travel, hotel & food expenses, products & supplies; hours of travel, prep time and teaching the class. I bet the money is not as big as you might imagine. They have knowledge (product) and they should be compensated for it. Like every product and service - If they were not delivering value people would not be paying them to put on the classes

Are classes necessary to win at comps, not for everyone- but they sure helped us.

This thread has been scrubbed. At one point three of us were taking time out of our day to deal with it. You can either keep it on topic, or play solitaire on your computer. If there is any more personal sniping there will not be a PM explaining why your posts aren't showing up. It will be because all of the moderators are too busy to review and release your post, for the next day or two.

Merry Christmas:mrgreen:

Depend on the class and what you get out of it. I took the ISS class last June. Up until that point I was doing OK but not really walking and losing interest fast in comp cooking. Besides being exposed to such great knowledge the class itself was one of the best times I have had cooking. Fast forward to my first comp on my own August in New Holland PA. I tanked. Like many great cooks have said before, they could give their recipes to 20 different guys at the same comp and result would be completely different for all of them. I went about it the wrong way. I tried to plug the rubs and sauces that they used in to what I always did and it backfired. My next contest was a month away and I had plenty of time to think about. I sat down and wrote out a plan and a time line incorporating what I have always done with what I had learned in the class as far as teamwork, responsibilities , delegating etc. I am gonna guess that it either worked or was pure luck because that contest I was GC and it was a contest that ISS was cooking at as well so I can be sure they held nothing back.
Was it worth every penny? Absolutely. Maybe I would of won eventually but it would of cost me plenty of time, trial & error and at $600-1000 per contest you do the math. Would I take the same class again? Absolutely only after this post I would like a discount:biggrin: My only disappointment with the class was that Steve did not teach us how he did the short ribs from the Jack:twisted::biggrin: