As most of you know, I tend to use my kitchen-aid for most of my recipes. The 5 quart bowl that came with my professional 5 plus was good and all but it had a sharp and uncomfortable handle, it looked something like this.
Me being used to making large quantities of bread and batters, had to carry this heavy bowl by having to rest it on the counter for a couple of seconds before I could pick it back up because the handle as you can see, was uncomfortable, thin, and sharp to hold on.
Trust me no one deserved to be carrying this thing around. So I decided to get a bowl with a nice ergonomic handle that was comfortable and didn’t cut me like this medieval torture device did. I was planning on getting this bowl.
The perfect 6 quart bowl with a nice long handle ensuring comfort to the holder. Trust me, it might look good but if you don’t want to spend money you better not by this. I went on amazon.com to see if I could get this bowl for a reasonable price. 60$! I was not gonna pay 60$ for a crummy bowl that I would only use twice a week.
I called kitchenaid customer service the next day to issue complaint or see if maybe a discount could be made for a dissatisfy product (my bowl).
Now when I was first buying my kitchenaid mixer, I had read a lot of negative comments about there customer service such as it didn’t live up to its expectations or didn’t respect the warranty that came with the mixer.
The complete opposite happened.
The lady was really nice and tried her best to help me. It’s not like I didn’t expect this, when I had called customer service other times the workers were nice but just a bit inexperienced.
The lady was so nice that she decided to send me a free 6 quart kitchenaid bowl! That’s right a free 60$ value bowl just because I was unsatisfied. To top that off, it came within three days so I didn’t have to wait too long.
That’s how it looked by the way.
Overall I would have to say I’m really impressed with kitchenaid. They really did live up to there expectations and delivered the product right on time without any purchase having to be made.
I didn’t even have to trade in my old bowl so now I have two bowls.
I highly recommend if you have one bowl for your stand mixer, consider getting a second bowl. It’s great in case your making two recipes, or need to whip up some frosting for cake batter you previously made and its great for dividing up batters. But one bowl still gets the job done.
This new bowl had a really nice hand that was wide and didnt make me feel like a raccoon when I held it like the first bowl.
Just look how much space the 6 qt bowl gives holder once they held it. Hiwl holding the sharp bowl, my knuckles would bump right into the bowl but this ergonomic handled bowl gave just enough space like the baby bear’s bed goldy locks decided to sleep on.
The other great thing about this bowl was it was nice and hollow so I could hold a ton! look how deep it was.
I decided to test this bowl by making a 8 cups of flour dough ball and the bowl was nice and strong and held the dough in firmly.
Summary:
If you ever have a problem with any of your kitchenaid products never hesitate to call their customer service. The workers were very kind and knew what they were talking about. Also, they try there best to help you in the situation your facing and provide returns and refunds.
Even if my one year warranty for my mixer expired, I know I can rely on kitchenaid customer service to get my machine fixed if it ever broke.
Hey they sent me a free 60$ value I think it’s worth bring it up and raving about 🙂
Are you still deciding to buy a Kitchen-aid stand mixer but not sure if it’s worth it or good enough? Make sure to check out my other post talking about kitchen-aid.
P.S. make sure to check out surlatable.com for the new cooking classes they released. They just released there teens and children five day cooking class catalogs. There are classes for healthy cooking and kitchen fundamentals and much more!
Hey guys! I finally decided to go ahead and make a official video post. If you don’t feel like reading go ahead and click the video above and watch that instead of reading the post or vice versa. Thanks and happy holidays!
Written version:
my new kitchen-aid mixer: pro 5 plus
So, I originally was suppose to receive a kitchenaid professional 600 that I payed an unbelievable $60 for when the original machine cost $450. Some things are just too good to be true, it had been past two months since I ordered the 600 and I figured out the mixer was coming from china so no wonder such a long while. On top of that my seller refused to package me the item so I got a refund and bought this beauty (kitchen-aid professional 5 plus) for $197 on black Fridays at Sears.
Coming back to topic, I just got this stand mixer from mail two days ago and I was so excited to open it! I mean just look at that picture up there, its so tempting! So that’s how the box of the mixer looked and afterwards I removed it from the box and the mixer was somewhat sealed with styro foam.
The professional 5 plus came with the machine, a 5 quart bowl, flat beater, wire whisk, and a spiral dough hook.
Lets move things into the kitchen, the machine was 520 watts by the way so I figured if a machine is going to take that much power out of the walls it has to be worth it. Some of the key features of the mixer was that it was a bowl lift model, not tilt head which I usually use, so I had to rotate the silver lever in a loop to raise the bowl up into place and closer to the attachment so everything can be properly mixed.
As you can see above, the attachments were huge! compared to my tilt head mixer I use to have, this stand mixer came with nice wide attachments since the bowl for this model was more wide than hallow compared to the bowl of the artisan and classic kitchen-aid mixers.
What I really liked about the mixing of the machine was that the attachment you attached, such as the paddle for example, it really was planetary as the box had said it should be. A planetary based stand mixer is when the attachment being used by the machine rotates fully around the bowl spinning and touching different point each minute to assure a proper and thorough mix coverage around the entire width of the bowl.
As my finger can guide below, the place where the top of the paddle extends to the bowl is the actual capacity the machine can mix until since anything higher than the upper middle of the paddle can not be mixed since the very op of the paddle is used for inserting the paddle into the machine, not for mixing.
Still, the paddle reached down and extended to cover most of the bowl, even though it can’t mix everything if the bowl is filled to the top, it’s no problem since I usually don’t triple recipes or fill the bowl to the top.
Although so far the mixer seemed perfect to me, it did have it’s cons. For example, when I got to the part of actually turning the machine on, it was very loud and sounded as though it was one of those heavy weight powered commercial mixers. And this kind of loud sound was just on speed 1! But it’s no big deal at the very least.
Check out the sound of that thing mixing! (It’s a short clip trust me)
Although the bowl was wide and generous and at least came with a handle, unlike my other mix, the hand was contoured. When I say the hand was contoured I literally mean it was bend out and was very very uncomfortable to hold. If you hold that handle for too long or while the bowl is heavy, your going to have to rest the bowl down because that shit sharp. But I really do appreciate
But I really to appreciate Kitchen-aid customer service as they were kind enough to inform me the handle on the bowl was meant to be like that and a bowl with a nice comfortable handle is $60 bucks. But that’s not the best part, out of there own self respect brand and holiday joy, they shipped me a free 6 quart bowl with a nice ergonomic comfortable handle. Best of all, I get to even keep the 5 quart bowl with the contoured handle as well so I didn’t have to trade it in or give it away, it’s a Christmas miracle! Two bowls could be really handy. So thumbs up for Kitchen-aids amazing service.
That bowl below with the really nice looking handle is the one they shipped me, it’s to be expected to come in 3 days. It’s 6 qt compared to the 5 qt the mixer came with, and the handle for this bowl is extremely wide and comfortable so it can easily be gripped.
http://www.kitchenaid.com/shop/-%5BKP26M1XER%5D-404905/KP26M1XER/This mixer was also very different in the sense that to attach the bowl onto place you had to align the two needles made on the bowl holder to go through the holes and then be snapped into place.
I decided that I should at the bare minimum do at least memo for you guys on my new mixer, so I decided to make some quick really sticky bread dough with just simple flour and water so I could see how well the spiral dough hook works. Considering I make 2 bread dough batches together in one week, I needed a powerful mixer that could really push through and this machine end up being more than capable! The spiral dough hook worked just fine.
Check out this next short clip from the video version of this post from the top of this page,
Lastly, like any other Kitchen-aid stand mixer, the professional 5 plus came with a attachment hub. Unlike tilt head models, in the pro 5 plus you just pull the nob up to insert any attachments into your kitchen-aid. This is really convenient compared to the artisan or classic models in which you had to physically remove the nob to insert any extra attachments into your mixer, on this mixer you can just push it up and out of the way and easily insert any extra attachments such as a pasta maker, food grinder, etc.
Summary:
Let’s do a quick review of all the pros and cons we went over of the kitchen-aid professional 5 plus. Applies to both the video version of the post and the written version.
Pros:
Large and well mixing capable attachments
Bowl lift model
Wide and generous bowl coverage
Large 5 quart bowl for big batches
Powerful 520 watt machine and dough hook
Appreciative Kitchen-aid customer service
Attachment hub; allows mixer to hold many extra purchased attachments
Cons:
Uncomfortable contoured bowl handle
Loud unnecessary sound from mixer when mixing
Pouring shield was not included
I forgot to mention, although this model does not come with a pouring shield, it should have considering its a professional mixer and a pouring chute allows a nice wide chute to pour ingredients into the bowl while it’s mixing.
picture from bedbathandbeyond.com
Overall I give this nice hefty mixer a 4 star out of 5. The mixer mixed very well and I really do like the better and upgraded beater, dough hook, and large whisk it came with along with the bowl coverage the attachments reached when mixing. Though, at bare minimum the bowl should have had a comfortable handle and came with a pouring Shield considering they call this mixer professional but at least I am getting a second free bowl from Kitchen aid.
Looking past the very few cons, I am very thankful for having this mixer and look forward to using it for my next recipe! It’s really a nice and powerful machine that I am satisfied with and wish everybody could have this Christmas.
Happy Holidays everybody and I hope you have a nice warm winter. By the way, if you read this post, make sure to check out the video on it since I was able to show more details on the mixer in the video and cover more in visuals.
P.S. make sure to check out my new recipe coming out within two days, I will be covering how to make apple bread pudding in my first recipe video ! I will be using the mixer we just reviewed to make the recipe so make sure to look out for my next post. Also watch the video above the page if you haven’t!!!
This was not the case for me and a bunch others who had decided to have a calm Thanksgiving dinner and take our time to go shopping. Unlike many others who had made tents out in the cold weather to rush inside of a store by the time the clock struck 6:00pm.
No but seriously, what’s the point of calling it Black Friday if they started all the sales and door openers at 6:00 pm on a Thursday. It should be called Black Thursday if you ask me.
Moving back on topic, Black Friday is one of those great events that shows people what a good idea it is to be thankful for what they have on Thanksgiving and then afterwards run into a store and fight over some TV that was marked off.
Electronics are usually the most targeted items on Black Friday and some have very nice and reduced prices. As do cooking supplies.
Story Time!
My family and I decided to go Black Friday shopping at 11:00 so that the crowd had died down and plus we were in no rush. We went to our near by mall and checked some of the stuff out.
The mall, a place where I usually want to leave as soon as possible
Ya and that girl in the picture, a stranger by the way, thought it was funny to photobomb my picture.
Moving on, when we reached the cooking supply section, I was both amazed to see that prices actually were marked down on some of the items, while others were just phony.
Let’s use an Artisan kitchenaid stand mixer for my example. Any website or store you go, they will always and I mean always will have Artisan Kitchen-aid stand mixer at a price of $350 average, even Williams-Sonoma does and we all know how overpriced and cheap they are!
But when I saw that the stand mixer had a tag claiming the original price was $499 and that it was marked down to $350, I was outraged! What a shame from such a reliable store…
Tip: If you want to buy a Kitchen-aid stand mixer, don’t buy it on Black Friday, even websites sham about discounts these so called sales offer.
But, Black Friday is a really good opportunity to save some major bucks on pans and cookware if not stand mixers.
Their are so many great deals someone could get on skillets and nonstick scan pans if they decide to buy on Black Friday. Lets look at some examples below.
Considering from the research I have done and all the different outlets I have seen, most ceramic cookware sets for some reason are overpriced and always in the $300 dollar zone. But a set of 11 ceramic cookware, that too from a leading brand like Calphalon, is a big save.
Stainless steel cookware pans, we all know how fancy those are. According to Sur la table, a set of 10 stainless steel pans are $499.95. Our friends back at Amazon had the same set of Cuisinart pans for $226 while Walmart sold the set at $199.85. But on that Black Friday, cuisinart was selling a set of 11 pans for just $79.99! Wow that’s a keeper, if I didn’t already have a set at home that box would have been the first thing in my shopping cart.
Summary:
If your going to buy some cookware and equipment from Cyber Monday or Black Friday or to be honest on any sales day, it is drum roll please….. Worth it. But as I had even said in my Kitchen-aid rating article I did before (https://bakedtothebone.wordpress.com/2015/11/10/kitchen-aid-stand-mixers-are-they-really-worth-it) , everything Worth it is to an extent. Even Black Friday Shopping.
There are some brands that you should just avoid and stay away from when it comes to shopping from sales. Avoid contact from buying Kitchen-aid product. Kitchenaid is a good brand don’t get me wrong, but don’t go running into a store when a sale comes around and be expecting Kitchen-aid to give a discount. I couldn’t even find discount on most of there stuff online! Buy their supplies on a given basis or when there is a coupon you get but don’t use the energy to only go into a store expecting sales on Kitchenaid, it just doesn’t happen. Plus lets be honest, a lot of their stuff is overpriced. I am not paying $200+ on one of there food processors! We all know Cuisinart food processors are better. Ooh I should write a article on that.
Other overpriced and sale shamming major brands to look out for and avoid on Black Friday or Sales areFood Network, Staub, or Le Creuset. They will repeat the process of stating a higher price the product supposedly was and claim the sale is what their original price is.
I was not born yesterday, I know that is not a Sale! who would pay so much for so little.
As you could obviously tell from reading the article so far, major brands that are worth shopping for and actually are generous to give even and fair sale prices are Cuisinart, Calphalon, and Hamilton Beach.
I might not have had picture from Hamilton Beach products that were on shelf on Black Friday, but their were many coffee makers, breakfast makers, and much more appliances that Hamilton Beach was having reasonable sales on. A fancy $20 coffee maker with included accessories is definitely worth it!
Here are the rest of the pictures I took from shopping that day on cooking supplies.
Thanks again everybody for viewing and helping me reach 120 total views on my blog it really means a lot and if possible try to spread the word so we can raise the number of views. You can always contact me at zubairmuhammad827@gmail.com and check out my about me category at the top of the page to learn more about me.
If your a cook, like me, most likely this will be sitting on your counter
Now some of you know what this beautiful piece of contraption is and others are thinking ‘what the damn am I looking at”, but I’m sure most of you know what a stand mixer is especially if your a passionate cook.
Stand mixers are made to assist consumers and cooks for they are able to mix large quantities of batter, knead dough, whip egg whites, and much more. Pretty much like a third hand in the kitchen.
Many companies have produced stand mixers such as Cuisinart, Breville, Vonchef, Europrep, Hamilton beach, etc. But what is it about Kitchen-aid stand mixers that’s so popular? Why so praised? Why often bought? Obviously there needs to be something special about it besides its 200$ plus price.
Story Time!
Once upon a time, I really badly wanted a Kitchen-aid stand mixer. So I asked my dad if I could buy one since I’m constantly baking something. We came to a agreement and decided to purchase a Kitchen-aid mixer.
Now ,you have to know that Kitchen-aid has 4 different modeled stand mixers: Classic, Artisan, professional 5 plus, and professional 600. There are like 6 million other kinds, but those 4 mentioned are the most popular. The pictures below show the mixers in order of list (first picture is a Kitchen-aid classic(black), second artisan(red), third picture 5 plus (red), fourth picture professional 600 stand mixer(yellow))
continuing with story, My dad of course went for the cheapest option, a kitchen-aid classic. I was happy at first because I was getting a stand mixer, the classic was’t too different then the artisan, and because we found a good deal to get a new black kitchenaid classic for $199 considering most classic mixers are $250. Amazon gave us a great deal.
Skipping ahead and reminding myself this is a reviews and opinions page, not personnel experiences, I got my mixer. Behold, that’s how it looks un-boxed, amazing and awesome. Now lets talk about some pros and cons.
Obviously the mixer looks amazing and if you purchase any stand mixer in your life, they all will come with three attachments: dough hook, flat beater, wire whisk.
Pros:
The classic mixer is well capable of mixing together ingredients for cake batters, cookies etc
Whisk attachment properly beats air into mixture while whipping
4.5 quart bowl allows making large quantities
Easy to clean and dishwasher safe bowl and parts
easy to operate and lock/adjust bowl into place
Note all these pros even apply to a kitchen aid artisan in case you were planning to buy one, with the exception that the artisan bowl is 5 quart and can yield more. Cons do no not apply to the artisan.
Cons:
Classic model bowl comes without handle
Mixer shakes and heats up quickly when making bread dough
25o watt motor is not capable of dense mixtures
Struggles to make bread dough, sugar cookie cough, etc
If your more into making cakes or anything besides making bread, definitely go for the Kitchen-aid classic mixer, its not too expensive and it makes a great appliance for any cook. Even though the mixer on me I must admit it’s a very good machine and will last you a very long time, unless that is you are constantly making bread, which brings me to my next piece.
Bread I made using my kitchenaid mixer
Kitchen-aid’s can get really expensive but it’s not worth paying for one that can’t knead dough, though this is a problem many stand mixers face. After making bread once in my mixer, the top began shaking even when I had locked it in place and the machine got so hot I almost got heat stroke!
If you plan on making bread this is not your mixer. Instead I would recommend buying a artisan stand mixer. The artisan mixer comes with a bigger bowl with a very comfortable handle, powerful 325 watt motor that can knead bread more easier, comes with a pouring chute that allows to swiftly add ingredients while mixers on, bigger machine in general. Also, you can get it in more than 20 colors! a classic stand mixer only comes in black or white…
The artisan could cost you up to $350 dollars if you are buying from kitchen aid website or store and could cost the same if purchased from Walmart, sears or Target.
That’s why I recommend buying it from amazon for $270 dollars or at Sur la table for $350 but by using a 20% coupon they provide to every customer online and in stores, plus if you buy an Artisan from Sur la table, they add in a free food grinder attachment to go with it, now that’s a good deal!
The only time I would recommend buying one of those heavy duty professional stand mixers (such as the professional 5 plus or professional 600), is if you are use to making large quantities and are constantly baking or starting a bakery.
Currently I have ordered a professional 600 kitchen-aid mixer and it has yet to arrive, but this is a picture of the package that was sent to me. Usually a Kitchen-aid professional 600 would cost $450 … even on Amazon or Walmart! But I was able to get a split deal for a new one for only $60!
Up close, a Kitchen-aid professional 600 looks as so. Note that the handle with black tip is used to raise bowl into place since the mixer is a bowl lift model vs. the Kitchen-aid classic and artisan styles that are tilt head.
Answering our big question, is a Kitchen-aid mixer really worth it?
I’ll make it simple since I had been looking for an answer for that question 3 months ago when I was purchasing my first mixer.
If your only going to bake once a week or not too often, it wouldn’t be a good idea to pay so much for any stand mixer regardless of company or brand.
Stand mixers are very useful and advised if your constantly cooking. If you do end up planning to buy one, get a Kitchen-aid stand mixer.
There’s a reason Kitchen-aid stand mixers are bought more than any other stand mixer brand and are very popular. These mixers are great quality and are made of pure metal and are sure to last you a long time.
Besides Kitchen-aid’s great quality in mixers, they look very attractive on a counter and really do help with kitchen needs and are far more majestic compared to other mixers.
So the Answer to the question is: Yes, a kitchen-aid stand mixer is worth it. With the exception of being a inactive chef or rarely cooking, then it’s not worth the money, These things are pricey! Also if you do end up deciding to buy one of the 4 mixers I discussed above, I highly recommend the artisan or professional 600 models, they are strong and even able to knead dough compared to the professional 5 plus or especially classic model.
Last thing, If you think you cook every now and then and really think you want a great stand mixer that’s nice and cheap but still gets the job done nicely, I highly recommend buying a Hamilton Beach stand mixer. It’s small, nifty, can accomplish many stuff the Kitchen-aid can, an average of only $80, mixes properly, and comes with many key features that will make this mixer last you a good 10 years. Below are pics of the Hamilton Beach.
P.S. if you want a detailed review and video demonstrating Kitchen-aid stand mixers along with reviewing other great brand stand mixers, Visit and watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5mBOGte5Zo
my favorite Sur la table store, Old orchard, Skokie
In this post I will be reviewing Sur la table. This Sur la table in particular that I took a photo of is the one located in Old orchard Skokie. For those of you that do not know about Sur la table, you are in for a treat. Sur la table is a company with many stores spread around the U.S. that sells numerous bake and cookware and are well known for their cooking classes ,which you will constantly find me at. Plus they have the best products ranging from kitchenaid and Cuisinart ,to professional and very kind hearten chef instructors. I will be reviewing both their store and their cooking classes.
The store:
Sur la table may look like a small store from the outside but it is actually pretty big. Through the entrance their is a large store that sells numerous items and in the back there is a door leading to a amazing well geared and equipped kitchen. I will be reviewing the store on 5 pieces , 1. stock and inventory , 2. Prices, 3. quality in product, 4. Staff, and 5. Organization. To start I will post some pictures that I have taken in the store section of Sur la table so you guys get a bit of an idea what we’re dealing with.
So, as you can see above, the store offers a variety of cooking and kitchen utensils… when I first came in here two years ago I wanted to buy everything off the shelves… till I saw the prices.
1.For our first rating piece, Stock and inventory. I personally believe Sur la table has a large inventory of kitchen tools. From balloon whisks and spatulas you can choose to stand mixers neatly sitting on the shelves, this store has it all. I have even came when their have been lots of customers and the store is always freshly stocked and reloaded with new equipment to make sure no shelf goes empty! I give this piece a 10 out of 10!
2. Prices. OK trust me I like Sur la table, they have nice products and all that cooking jazz but… they are way too pricey! if you go in with only a 10 dollar bill I can guarantee you will only be able to get like a small 8 dollar worth garlic peeler or a couple of cookie cutters that are a $1.50 each. Even for a store with good quality, Sur la table kind of pushes it here. did you know a small bottle of vanilla bean paste is $12! You can get a kitchenaid artisan mixer for $270 dollars off of amazon that includes every part in the box but if you buy the same mixer at Sur la table , its $350. But one thing really nice about them is that every month, Sur la table always and I mean always will give customers 20% off deals. Plus they are always having promotions and sales everyday, for example when I was in their one day they were having all day sales where mini food food processors are $30 or they might have 60% off on cutlery and knives all week. Bottom line, they always have sales so that’s much to appreciate plus they are way way better than Williams-Sonoma. Sur la table has the decency to at least constantly have sales and have reasonable prices on some items but Williams-Sonoma on the other hand, they are just way more overpriced than Sur la table and some of the merchandise they give isn’t as good in product or quantity. For example (and this is true and can be proven if you visit both Sur la table. com and Williams-Sonoma.com), it’s $899.95 for a set of 10 all clad Williams-Sonoma self brand pans, while at Sur la table you can get a 13 piece Sur la table branded all clad set of pans for $479.96. I’ll at least give Sur la table a 6 out of 10 on this part.
3.Quality in product. As expensive as they may be, their tools, however, are pure amazing.
As you can see above, they even sell fine espresso and coffee machines that are great quality, plus the staff always offers a free cup of coffee using one of the machines so customers get an idea how good it is. The pictures for some reason are coming out blurry so excuse me on that. At the top of the page you can even see that they have kitchenaid mixers, which are one of the best quality stand mixers that last for a lifetime as some customers say who have had their stand mixer for more than 10 years! Many companies that Sur la sells and is partners with includes Kitchenaid, Breville, Cuisinart, King Arthur flour, and they sell their own line of well made stainless steel and clad utensils and measuring cups engraved with “Sur la table”. These tools, pans and so on, last a life time and are well capable for balancing heat over stove tops or being the perfect baking dish. I give this piece a 9 out of 10.
4. Staff. Now a lot of the chef instructors are very nice but the staff is a bit different. To be honest a lot of the times I have been in the store their have been many staff members that some I have never seen before so I’m gonna base this on general staff workers excluding chef instructors. A lot of the retail workers and cashiers are very friendly but you have to learn if you are going to shop at Sur la table very often, you have to be rich. and I guess that is sort of a standard they expect from their customers. They were pretty nice to me when I was scoping the area out but I mostly think it was because I had my class apron on so they must have known ‘Oh he’s one of those people who payed’. But some of the workers were nice overall regardless of wealth, while others would try selling expensive goods to you and shun you if you don’t follow through. But no matter what kind of inner person they were, they always provided a lot of information on any product, helped you around in case you needed a specific tool, and always offered a free cup of coffee to promote their new fancy coffee and espresso machines. They even offer in store demos on new grills, toaster ovens and on any new appliance. I give this piece a 7 out of 10.
5. Organization. Sur la table is always well organized every time I have been in their. clad and stainless steel pans will be on one display while nonstick will be on the other.
As you can see above, all the nonstick pan were well stocked on one display while all the other kinds of pans were on the other side of the store in display. Also, if you scroll up to my first 4 photos, you will see all food processors and stand mixers were accordingly lines up on the shelves against the walls where most electrical appliances stayed. Even the coffee machine pictures above this one were all lined up neatly in a coffee machine section. I give this piece a 10 out of ten.
The whole overall store gets a 42 out of 50 with all points added, so that’s a B+ . Regardless of any cons, Sur la table has an amazing collection of kitchen tools and even has some basic baking and cooking ingredients on shelf such as pure vanilla bean paste made fresh from Madagascar vanilla beans instead of vanilla extract. I believe everyone even if they don’t like to cook, should have the opportunity to stop by and take a look into this lovely store/company, it has every pot and pan for home cooks and for starting a restaurant or bakery 🙂 , P.S. Sur la tale is not only in IL, The corporate has stores in 18 states and each of these states has a minimum of three Sur la Tables in them.
Lets move on to talking about my favorite Sur la table topic, Their hands on cooking classes.
Cooking classes:
Besides their very unique and well equipped overpriced store, Sur la table is also very gifted with their cooking programs. I’ll try making this summary short don’t worry… try. I first discovered about their cooking classes when I was looking up numerous cooking day camps for teens. Every summer Sur la table has this program for teens and kids where from the beginning of June to the end of August, you can sign up for a five day course.
You can choose from taking a five day course that either focuses on baking and universal deserts, or you could take a savory and science in the kitchen course. Each course is a staggering $250. I thought it was way too much money but trust me, once you have taken a camp session you will see it’s all worth it.
Anyways, each camp is 2 hours a day for 5 days where each day you make 4 different dishes and work in groups of three to four, everyone still gets a opportunity. Or if you are a adult, everyday, not just summer, Sur la table has one day cooking classes for adults and sometimes kids where usually for one day where you cook for up to 2 and 1/2 hours and it’s $70 dollars but well worth it, they even give you a 10% off coupon at the end of class for in store purchases.
I won’t rate the classes like I did for the store, no point counting 🙂 below are pictures of the fantastic kitchen Sur la Table holds their cooking class in.
Since 5 day courses are only in summer, I still strongly recommend one day classes because they may be expensive but well spent. Plus any class you take is tons of fun!
Usually when stepping in, the kitchen tables (The wooden one above is an example) usually are neatly prepared with recipe packets of what you will be cooking that day along with a chopping board and a professional Wushtof knife if you are chopping any vegetables for the class.
You usually are paired with either 3 or 4 people but the chef leading the class will make sure everything goes just fine. During class you create all four recipes while doing each step at a time. Usually the chef will give you a demonstration before you start and they will usually give out tips, tricks, and teach you something new.
Talking about chef instructors, this Sur la table specifically has up to 7 chefs, I have only had three of them as chef instructors of the classes I have taken, while some other of the chefs I have met. Every chef their is especially nice, gives tips to making the recipe, and are very passionate about their job, which, I find a very good quality. I would especially like to reference two of the most nicest chefs , Residential Chef Amber Lancaster and Chef Beth Welch.
Beth was my first ever chef teacher at the first Sur la table class I ever took and she is really nice and very professional at what she does, if you sign up for a class and she is the instructor for the day, your in for some luck. Also make sure to, if you get a chance, check our her new shop Beth’s little bake shop down in Evanston.
Shortly after I took a break from taking classes, Beth opened her own bakery and rarely taught any of the classes or camps anymore. That’s why when I signed up for a sweet treats making 5 day class, Amber was my teacher. Amber might have been different than Beth but that didn’t stop her from being just as good. Not only is she the Residential and head chef of the Sur la table down at Old orchard, but she is very generous and has a big heart. She gave me a cake decorating nozzle set for free and even signed me and my mom up for a Authentic thai cooking class she will be teaching. Not only that, she even offered good deals to all the other class attendees as well and always made sure everything was perfect. She’s a real gift if you get to meet her 🙂
Back on topic, The kitchen for the cooking classes as I showed above, is always well equipped with the finest kitchen appliances that are up to date just for class uses.
They have a whole shelf in the kitchen just with numerous food processors, artisan stand mixers and much more advance and modern appliances
Lastly, in every class the chef will always make sure everyone is having equal amounts of fun as well as an opportunity. For example, in most classes, The chef will call up three volunteers to work on the stove to make chocolate ganache or for whatever recipe for that day requires a stove top. During this time, other students could either watch the other student at the stove-top and take notes on any advise the instructor gives, or they can head back to the wood work table to get started on the next recipe.
Also… You don’t even have to clean any dish or utensil you use! They take care of it all. I give their cooking classes an A+ for good efforts, passionate chef instructors, and a hell of a good time while cooking 🙂
The summary:
Apologies if this was too long, I just can’t stress enough about what a good store this is. For anyone curious of how many classes I have taken before or what kind of classes such as pasta making, stay tuned for the personnel experiences menu, I will post something on their at Saturday.
Overall Sur la table is a great store for finding any cooking tool you need and it’s one of those stores that always have something new to look at every day. As for their classes, beyond great!. With fine chef instructors who really make sure you understand every recipe, and professional machinery you get to use in class and meet new and hopefully nice people who are their as the same reason you are : to cook.
Next post will be this friday on a Halloween treat making class I will be attending at Sur la table this Saturday on Halloween. Thanks for reading. Make sure to check out the website below, lots of great stuff!
These are Pictures from a French macaron making class I recently took with my first ever chef instructor that I had a while ago, Beth Welch. By the way I’m that guy with the blue sweater, and Beth is the one standing next to me.
Baked to the Bone 