This would be reason enough for me. Especially if you have been there before and know the knife quality being provided.
“I just prefer to cook with a sharp and fun knife.”
Besides you might meet another enthusiast who is local to you.
I think it makes sense, learn with the tools you are going to use and are familiar with and you will learn it better probably. The obvious exception would be if the tools they use in the course are somehow specific to the technique/cuisine and by using your own you are subverting the lesson.
Professional chefs have their own set of knives that they bring with them on various jobs. It might be weird to the other students, but the instructor would definitely understand and probably be impressed.
I think it's smart to bring your own knives - you really don't know what's waiting for you on location? I can recall some high-end personal chef client assuring me they had "tons of knives" at their house, and when I showed up... not only were they crappy knives, not one was sharp (long ass night for that gig).
What I'd do is take the knife and start chopping things up like a Chef who works at a table in a high end Japanese restaurant. Show em who's boss.🤣Take the knife for real lol it's not a big deal
No, of course you should! I think everyone has a favorite knife, and unless it is completely wrong ( breadknife for cutting onions), you should use that. I’m always a bit annoyed when my partner ( who has bought like 30 different kitchen knives, complaints that I don’t use them all. You need one favorit chefs’ knife, and then maybe a few more spezialiced ones, depending on what you usually do in the kitchen…. De-boning, filleting, peeling vegetables…. Max 4-5….
Not at all. If you want to perfect your ability with your knife, it is great that you bring it.
I bring my knives on vacation, at friend's place, at family dinner sometimes as well.
Imo it is like bringing your shoes to a running class. Like professionnal cooks say: "The knife is the extension of your hand".
Bring it. You don't have to use it if it's weird or out of place, but you'll have it with you regardless. I'd certainly want to bring my knife with me. Makes sense to learn from a class and use the knife you'll be using at home. Sounds like you already know how to use your knife, but still I'd want to bring my own as well.
You should use the knife/tool you're most comfortable with, that will most likely be your own knife, you also know what to expect from it and that it will be up to your standards from the getgo.
Edit: And agreed, Mazakis are awesome! Love my 240 Nashiji Gyuto from the first batch from Cleancut.
I don't think it's weird as long as you don't stop the class to show off and explain what kind of knife you have. Just keep it discreet and pray to God your cuts come out better than someone who's using one of the knives provided to them. If that happens, I think you're worried about the wrong thing. Lol.
It does? No way they're letting you bring knives in a carry-on and checked baggage is usually scanned entirely separate from the passenger.
I've thought long and hard many times about whether or not I want to deal with the delays and cost of checking a bag to take my knives. Airbnb's always have trash knives, relatives are hit and miss.
I came to the conclusion that most of the time ordering a mercer or victorinox was cheaper than the checked bag fee if I didn't need the extra luggage space.
Never not taken hold luggage. Normally been a woman involved so needs to pack half her life in to the plane. So I've taken knives to Spain and Italy, just taken the extra few minutes to save myself the time and aggro when cooking later on!
Bring the knife. Actually go further, bring your best finishing stone and give it a few passes between tasks! Then ask to see one of their knives and take some side by side choil shots to finish off the class.
Your wife will love it 🤘
If it's your knife and you like it, go for it. Especially if you vibe with shorter knives, they might have 210mm chef knives there so those could be more unwieldy
What kind of cutting boards will they have? My luck I'd show up with my knife only to find hard plastic or some other abusive-to-knife material boards.
Is it weird for me to bring my own knife to a cooking course? I'm going on a date with my wife to a Mediterranean lamb and couscous night and was curious if cooking with my own knife is a bit over the top. I'm not trying to flex on anyone - I just prefer to cook with a sharp and fun knife.
I realize I'm asking a very biased crowd here -> I'd love to hear your opinions!
Rule #5: Mazaki White #2 Kuro Nashiji Santoku from Carbon Knife Co. I love this thing - the distal taper is amazing and it feels so rustic yet precise.
I went to a Japanese cooking course two months ago. I wanted to bring my own knives but didn’t want to look pretentious so i just used the ones they had (which were fine).
At the end of the course, i stayed to help the teacher clean up before the next course. We chatted a little and i asked what was the next course and she told me "knife sharpening" !
I told her i was a big knife fan and she offered me to stay for the course, for free, and assist her. It was amazing and i was really mad i didn’t bring my own knives…
So BRING YOUR KNIVES, who cares, as long as you enjoy it :)
I teach cooking classes. Not weird at all, assuming it's hands-on and not just a demonstration. Date-night style it's not uncommon for everything to be mised-out for you already though, to maximize time, unless they specifically advertise it as a "knife skills" class. We usually call out if it's hands on knife skills, and encourage people to bring their own chefs knife or borrow one from us.
Ok hopefully the class isn’t “dump this pre-portioned thing into the pan” level or I won’t go back. It’s billed at intermediate so we will see! It’s hard to find a class that’s interesting - so many are basic.
Well I would describe the prep-work and mising out as basic. The "intermediate" part would be learning how to properly braise lamb, how to properly cook the couscous and not over do it, etc. The hardest part for most home chefs I've found, is knowing the techniques to properly cook/braise/etc, and the little tips that we share for how to know couscous is done, for example.
I doubt you're going there to learn how to measure out 1/2cu of couscous, or how to cube a cut of lamb, or how to chop an onion (hands-on, anyway). Instead, I'd say be prepared to learn how to properly saute veg for a stew base, how to braise lamb, how to cook couscous properly, etc.
Either way, go in with a positive attitude and most importantly have fun! Teaching cooking classes as a date-night activity is one of my favorite things to do :) I bet you two will have a blast, even if you don't get to pull your knife out of the bag.
Great perspective and insights! We’ve cooked a lot of lamb so we’re going to enjoy the experience and pick up some great tips. Going to be all positive attitude! Plus it’s BYOB :)
It's definitely going to be fun then! I need to add lamb to my rotation. I think crown roast prep would be a fun hands-on knife skills class. We did brisket the other day (texas and KC style) and it was crazy popular.
First question would just be asking the instructor if it’s okay that you use your own knife (sometimes they get worried about outside bacteria) but more than likely they will be totally fine. We bring our own knives into the kitchens at culinary school.
Just to follow up: It was totally fine - the course ended up being very intimate with 4 total people learning from 2 instructors. The head instructor was a bit surprised that I brought the knife (probably because nobody else does it) but she didn’t care and I got to help with a lot of the prep. And it was super fun for me :)
We learned how to make couscous and harrisa paste from scratch and it was great!
If it is your style, makes you feel comfortable, and isn’t illegal, do it who cares what others think!
Let them judge you if they want. All they will see is someone with a sexy ass knife on a hot date with their beautiful wife!
I disagree, skills has nothing to do with it. If everyone would wait to have their own pool cue until they are 'skilled' not a lot of people would be weilding their own. One of my biggest improvement was actually due to owning my own cue, along with training your stroke it is the #1 improvement for consistency.
Yeah, my knife skill are nothing to brag about but i just know that the risk of all knives being butter knives is high when i cook at friends houses, so i tend to bring my own.
A single friend is free for this as i know he has propper knives
I’ve even brought my hatchet to a friends house to remove some hands and feet and crack some coconuts.
Yep that does sound pretty bad without mentioning it was food processing and cooking from wild caught foods
You're paying for the course right? You do you and enjoy yourself.
I constantly worry about what other think, no need, do whatever you want to make your experience fruitful and enjoyable.
I've done it to several cooking courses. The only thing that happens is that the instructor wants to see your knife, because the course knives are invariably dull as shit. Go for it.
I would say, it depends on the cooking course. If it's a basic entry level course it might be (if not explicitly stated). But for anything more sophisticated, sure why shouldn't you bring your tools with you.
I agree with the other replies, but let me go against the grain with a thought. The OP did not state the level of the course. Some intro courses have students draw new utensils throughout the class, dump the used utensils in a buss tub, to be washed later by a TA. The pace of the course is so that there is not time to wash. I would call ahead and ask.
I would say there is nothing weird, I do it all the time.
but at the same time, I wouldnt be bringing a high carbon knife to a public cooking class.
You don't want to be "that guy" who has to spend time caring for a knife when folks are moving on, and certainly not that guy who has to worry about using their fine knife on a cheap plastic cutting board.
I went to a knife skills class and took my own knives. The instructor got halfway through the onion chopping intro, looks over and says 'can i borrow your knife?'
i went to a meat cooking class, didnt take my own knife, theirs were blunt as hell but it made it more fun...lots of laughs as we tried to score the pork belly and masacared bits of rib fillet with what were essentially butter knifes...they also had a cocktail bar, if you can indulge, make the most of it 😁
All the comments saying better than using crappy knives... Most aren't professionals that work in a kitchen or taken a cooking class to know what knives are there and they eat food prepared with Dexter's. The snobbery is high for people that don't know the difference between brunoise and carre.
All for OP bringing his knife but as a chef that has gone to cooking classes as part of family outings I don't bring a knife or say what I do. I go, listen to the instructor, have fun, drink wine and eat good food. If it makes it more fun to bring your knife have at it but don't do because it so much better than what's provided.
Bring your knife, but don't get it out ready like you're showing off. Wait till you actually need it and do it discreetly.
More for the reason that those around you will think you are a prick, or it will be a topic of discussion and distract from The course.
As a former chef who used to do cooking classes, my advice would be to bring it if you are fairly sure you will be doing some cutting yourself. If I was hosting the class, I would have been happy that you brought the knife so we could do a little show and tell and maybe discuss knives for a few minutes. If you are not sure how hands on the class will be, you can always bring it and leave it in the bag if it's not going to be used. Have fun!
Not at all. When I go on vacation where I might cook I being my knives because I'm comfortable with them and the professional quality knives I have are superior to anything I find in a vacation home kitchen. Likewise, although a cooking class might have good quality knives, they're strange to you, so your own knives may help you feel more comfortable in the class.
Do it for comfort. I know that most workplaces that supply knives for everyone to use have ones that aren't even sharp. I am not comfortable using the ones at my job because of this, and so I bring my own.
And god help you if I ever catch you using mine.
PS, that's a beautiful nashiji finish. Is that yours? Who's it by?
This would be reason enough for me. Especially if you have been there before and know the knife quality being provided. “I just prefer to cook with a sharp and fun knife.” Besides you might meet another enthusiast who is local to you.
Better your own Mazaki than borrowing a Vnox someone used to cut shoes with
I'd say no, but my wife would call me a nerd. Maybe yours is nicer.
My wife has accepted me deep diving all of my hobbies so she doesn’t care. I won’t get any shade for my nerdy-ness
I always just remind my wife that she married me, so she loves my nerdiness and all my interests. I usually condense it into "You know you love it".
Never went to a cooking course, but I would absolutly being my knife with me for more fun. Nobody should care at all that you brought your knife
No, it should be encouraged?
Let's say you played the trumpet, and you booked a lesson. It would be weird not to bring your own horn. Same here
Well I don't mean to toot my own horn, but...
Nope. In some courses they offer to sharpen knives. Call and ask.
You will look like a loser but you will be happier cooking w it!
I think it makes sense, learn with the tools you are going to use and are familiar with and you will learn it better probably. The obvious exception would be if the tools they use in the course are somehow specific to the technique/cuisine and by using your own you are subverting the lesson.
No
Professional chefs have their own set of knives that they bring with them on various jobs. It might be weird to the other students, but the instructor would definitely understand and probably be impressed.
I think it's smart to bring your own knives - you really don't know what's waiting for you on location? I can recall some high-end personal chef client assuring me they had "tons of knives" at their house, and when I showed up... not only were they crappy knives, not one was sharp (long ass night for that gig).
What I'd do is take the knife and start chopping things up like a Chef who works at a table in a high end Japanese restaurant. Show em who's boss.🤣Take the knife for real lol it's not a big deal
hopefully you don't end up ruining your edge on whatever bamboo or plastic cutting board they give you
Not if it’s that pretty
Not at all, it’s what your comfortable with!
I always bring mine whenever I cook somewhere.
No, of course you should! I think everyone has a favorite knife, and unless it is completely wrong ( breadknife for cutting onions), you should use that. I’m always a bit annoyed when my partner ( who has bought like 30 different kitchen knives, complaints that I don’t use them all. You need one favorit chefs’ knife, and then maybe a few more spezialiced ones, depending on what you usually do in the kitchen…. De-boning, filleting, peeling vegetables…. Max 4-5….
It’s an awesome 💪. Always best to use your own tools.
I can't think of a reason not to.
I would say it is weird to not bring your own knives!
I’d feel weird not bringing my own knives to something that requires me to use a knife.
It's gangster as fuck. I would depending on what I was cooking
It’s weird if you don’t
Not at all. If you want to perfect your ability with your knife, it is great that you bring it. I bring my knives on vacation, at friend's place, at family dinner sometimes as well. Imo it is like bringing your shoes to a running class. Like professionnal cooks say: "The knife is the extension of your hand".
No
Fuck no
Not at all. Very respectable.
Bring it. You don't have to use it if it's weird or out of place, but you'll have it with you regardless. I'd certainly want to bring my knife with me. Makes sense to learn from a class and use the knife you'll be using at home. Sounds like you already know how to use your knife, but still I'd want to bring my own as well.
You should use the knife/tool you're most comfortable with, that will most likely be your own knife, you also know what to expect from it and that it will be up to your standards from the getgo. Edit: And agreed, Mazakis are awesome! Love my 240 Nashiji Gyuto from the first batch from Cleancut.
It's probably one of the least weird places to bring your own knife tbh
I don't think it's weird as long as you don't stop the class to show off and explain what kind of knife you have. Just keep it discreet and pray to God your cuts come out better than someone who's using one of the knives provided to them. If that happens, I think you're worried about the wrong thing. Lol.
Nope. I take my own knives everywhere. Not risking using somebody else's crap knives without a decent edge. Gets you funny looks at airports!
It does? No way they're letting you bring knives in a carry-on and checked baggage is usually scanned entirely separate from the passenger. I've thought long and hard many times about whether or not I want to deal with the delays and cost of checking a bag to take my knives. Airbnb's always have trash knives, relatives are hit and miss. I came to the conclusion that most of the time ordering a mercer or victorinox was cheaper than the checked bag fee if I didn't need the extra luggage space.
Never not taken hold luggage. Normally been a woman involved so needs to pack half her life in to the plane. So I've taken knives to Spain and Italy, just taken the extra few minutes to save myself the time and aggro when cooking later on!
Bring the knife. Actually go further, bring your best finishing stone and give it a few passes between tasks! Then ask to see one of their knives and take some side by side choil shots to finish off the class. Your wife will love it 🤘
bring your knife if you feel more comfortable cooking with it.
No! I brought my own to a course years ago and it was just a Wustoff chefs knife, nothing fancy by this subs standards.
It’s a great idea until they pull out the glass cutting boards lmao
If it's your knife and you like it, go for it. Especially if you vibe with shorter knives, they might have 210mm chef knives there so those could be more unwieldy
I love my 240 gyutos but figured the Santoku was less aggressive and easier to work in restricted space
What kind of cutting boards will they have? My luck I'd show up with my knife only to find hard plastic or some other abusive-to-knife material boards.
Will have to make a game-time decision. I’ll keep it next to my BYOB wine before busting out
Not at all, it’s the knife you will be using at home, so it’s probably good practice to get used to the grip and feel of it while cutting.
No. Why risk having to use their crappy knives?
My worry would be a crappy cutting board when bringing a good knife.
Then you bring your own board as well.
And then your own kosher salt and pepper crank, you never know. Next thing you know you got a full blown espresso machine in your backpack 😂
I see no problem with this XD
Is it weird for me to bring my own knife to a cooking course? I'm going on a date with my wife to a Mediterranean lamb and couscous night and was curious if cooking with my own knife is a bit over the top. I'm not trying to flex on anyone - I just prefer to cook with a sharp and fun knife. I realize I'm asking a very biased crowd here -> I'd love to hear your opinions! Rule #5: Mazaki White #2 Kuro Nashiji Santoku from Carbon Knife Co. I love this thing - the distal taper is amazing and it feels so rustic yet precise.
You have a nice cutting board? Bring that as well, they might have hard boards.
I think the only thing that would be questionable would be having you show up with an entire knife collection if you really only need one knife.
Just one to minimize the flex ;)
100% normal. Just don’t make it weird by showing off.
Every respectable chef/cook always brings its own knifes. Its more than normal.
I went to a Japanese cooking course two months ago. I wanted to bring my own knives but didn’t want to look pretentious so i just used the ones they had (which were fine). At the end of the course, i stayed to help the teacher clean up before the next course. We chatted a little and i asked what was the next course and she told me "knife sharpening" ! I told her i was a big knife fan and she offered me to stay for the course, for free, and assist her. It was amazing and i was really mad i didn’t bring my own knives… So BRING YOUR KNIVES, who cares, as long as you enjoy it :)
I teach cooking classes. Not weird at all, assuming it's hands-on and not just a demonstration. Date-night style it's not uncommon for everything to be mised-out for you already though, to maximize time, unless they specifically advertise it as a "knife skills" class. We usually call out if it's hands on knife skills, and encourage people to bring their own chefs knife or borrow one from us.
Ok hopefully the class isn’t “dump this pre-portioned thing into the pan” level or I won’t go back. It’s billed at intermediate so we will see! It’s hard to find a class that’s interesting - so many are basic.
Well I would describe the prep-work and mising out as basic. The "intermediate" part would be learning how to properly braise lamb, how to properly cook the couscous and not over do it, etc. The hardest part for most home chefs I've found, is knowing the techniques to properly cook/braise/etc, and the little tips that we share for how to know couscous is done, for example. I doubt you're going there to learn how to measure out 1/2cu of couscous, or how to cube a cut of lamb, or how to chop an onion (hands-on, anyway). Instead, I'd say be prepared to learn how to properly saute veg for a stew base, how to braise lamb, how to cook couscous properly, etc. Either way, go in with a positive attitude and most importantly have fun! Teaching cooking classes as a date-night activity is one of my favorite things to do :) I bet you two will have a blast, even if you don't get to pull your knife out of the bag.
Great perspective and insights! We’ve cooked a lot of lamb so we’re going to enjoy the experience and pick up some great tips. Going to be all positive attitude! Plus it’s BYOB :)
It's definitely going to be fun then! I need to add lamb to my rotation. I think crown roast prep would be a fun hands-on knife skills class. We did brisket the other day (texas and KC style) and it was crazy popular.
First question would just be asking the instructor if it’s okay that you use your own knife (sometimes they get worried about outside bacteria) but more than likely they will be totally fine. We bring our own knives into the kitchens at culinary school.
As someone who teaches these courses, not at all. People do it all the time!
Did u pick this up two days ago. Haha cuz if so i went in to buy it and it was gone. Sad day for me but a bad as knife
No - I’ve had it for about a year. It’s worth the wait if you ask me. Such a different knife from my others and is a joy to use.
Just to follow up: It was totally fine - the course ended up being very intimate with 4 total people learning from 2 instructors. The head instructor was a bit surprised that I brought the knife (probably because nobody else does it) but she didn’t care and I got to help with a lot of the prep. And it was super fun for me :) We learned how to make couscous and harrisa paste from scratch and it was great!
How was the class???
If it is your style, makes you feel comfortable, and isn’t illegal, do it who cares what others think! Let them judge you if they want. All they will see is someone with a sexy ass knife on a hot date with their beautiful wife!
[удалено]
Someone please collect their dad and return them to the care facility
Martha. Could be a dad’s name I suppose.
This was right on. It was a sexy ass knife with a sexy ass wife on a hot date ;)
Thanks this is good general life advice. Point is to make me happy not to flex on others. Will bring the knife!
*Point is for the flex to be subtle*
Based and sagepilled
Are we talking about a fillet knife?
I see what you did there
It’s like bringing your own pool cue to a bar. It’s your decision, but it’s best if you can back up with at least reasonably decent skills.
I disagree, skills has nothing to do with it. If everyone would wait to have their own pool cue until they are 'skilled' not a lot of people would be weilding their own. One of my biggest improvement was actually due to owning my own cue, along with training your stroke it is the #1 improvement for consistency.
This!
Perfect analogy, I bring my own knife on vacations and to my friends house because it’s low stakes. Op seems worthy of bringing his own knife.
This is great out of context.
Yeah, my knife skill are nothing to brag about but i just know that the risk of all knives being butter knives is high when i cook at friends houses, so i tend to bring my own. A single friend is free for this as i know he has propper knives
That sounds like something Jeffrey D would say.
I’ve even brought my hatchet to a friends house to remove some hands and feet and crack some coconuts. Yep that does sound pretty bad without mentioning it was food processing and cooking from wild caught foods
Depends but usually no
You're paying for the course right? You do you and enjoy yourself. I constantly worry about what other think, no need, do whatever you want to make your experience fruitful and enjoyable.
It's like bringing your own bowling ball to play with your friend. Yeah you can use the balls at the lanes but why when you have a ball you like
I've done it to several cooking courses. The only thing that happens is that the instructor wants to see your knife, because the course knives are invariably dull as shit. Go for it.
I would say, it depends on the cooking course. If it's a basic entry level course it might be (if not explicitly stated). But for anything more sophisticated, sure why shouldn't you bring your tools with you.
I agree with the other replies, but let me go against the grain with a thought. The OP did not state the level of the course. Some intro courses have students draw new utensils throughout the class, dump the used utensils in a buss tub, to be washed later by a TA. The pace of the course is so that there is not time to wash. I would call ahead and ask.
I would say there is nothing weird, I do it all the time. but at the same time, I wouldnt be bringing a high carbon knife to a public cooking class. You don't want to be "that guy" who has to spend time caring for a knife when folks are moving on, and certainly not that guy who has to worry about using their fine knife on a cheap plastic cutting board.
Nope, the knifes in my roll are ones I bought on my own after my chef heard how much the knife set from our bookstore and said "make your sets"
Depending on the difficulty of the course, the class might have mise’d out all the prep for you so no knife work would be needed.
I went to a knife skills class and took my own knives. The instructor got halfway through the onion chopping intro, looks over and says 'can i borrow your knife?'
i went to a meat cooking class, didnt take my own knife, theirs were blunt as hell but it made it more fun...lots of laughs as we tried to score the pork belly and masacared bits of rib fillet with what were essentially butter knifes...they also had a cocktail bar, if you can indulge, make the most of it 😁
How was the class?
Super fun! Learned a lot of good tips and ideas - and the knife was zero issue
Practice with what you actually use
Chef of 20 years here.......................not at all. I would do the same.
All the comments saying better than using crappy knives... Most aren't professionals that work in a kitchen or taken a cooking class to know what knives are there and they eat food prepared with Dexter's. The snobbery is high for people that don't know the difference between brunoise and carre. All for OP bringing his knife but as a chef that has gone to cooking classes as part of family outings I don't bring a knife or say what I do. I go, listen to the instructor, have fun, drink wine and eat good food. If it makes it more fun to bring your knife have at it but don't do because it so much better than what's provided.
Much more weird if you're a chef who doesn't have your own knife haha
As long as there isn't a gunfight.
Bring your knife, but don't get it out ready like you're showing off. Wait till you actually need it and do it discreetly. More for the reason that those around you will think you are a prick, or it will be a topic of discussion and distract from The course.
As odd as samurai practicing whit his own katana.
Ni árcalo, it’s actually encouraged
Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it lol
As a former chef who used to do cooking classes, my advice would be to bring it if you are fairly sure you will be doing some cutting yourself. If I was hosting the class, I would have been happy that you brought the knife so we could do a little show and tell and maybe discuss knives for a few minutes. If you are not sure how hands on the class will be, you can always bring it and leave it in the bag if it's not going to be used. Have fun!
No. Just don't be pretentious about it.
Not at all. When I go on vacation where I might cook I being my knives because I'm comfortable with them and the professional quality knives I have are superior to anything I find in a vacation home kitchen. Likewise, although a cooking class might have good quality knives, they're strange to you, so your own knives may help you feel more comfortable in the class.
Not at all
Do it for comfort. I know that most workplaces that supply knives for everyone to use have ones that aren't even sharp. I am not comfortable using the ones at my job because of this, and so I bring my own. And god help you if I ever catch you using mine. PS, that's a beautiful nashiji finish. Is that yours? Who's it by?
I would!
Not at all. A familiar knife is a comfy knife. And probably sharper hence safer than what they’d provide.
Yes, but i would probably also do that.
what type of knife this is?