Essential Skills: Breaking Down a Chicken
$125 per person
Instructor
Our Essential Skills classes are intensive, 90-minute sessions that focus on mastering one key kitchen skill. We believe repetition with lots of hands-on practice is the best way to learn something new, so roll up your sleeves and come prepared.
What You'll Learn
By the end of the class you will:
- Break down a whole chicken, with lots of practice
About This Class
If you’ve ever stared down at a whole chicken, raw or cooked, and found yourself stumped as to where to even begin to cut it up, we want to change that. Being able to break down a chicken into legs, thighs and breasts will save you money and, frankly, it’s something every cook worth their salt should know how to do.
You’ll choose three whole chickens when you walk in the door and gather around our kitchen island with your chef instructor front and center. He will, slowly and methodically, walk you through every step of making sure you know how to break it down, and then you’ll do it all again, and again! Third time is a charm – you’ll have it down pat by the end.
Class finishes with you wrapping your chicken pieces to take home, and leaving with a few recipes to put them to good use. We’ll even encourage you to take the extra pieces home for homemade chicken stock.
Details
- Wine not included
- No meal provided
FAQ
The average duration of our cooking classes is 4 hours, and they are broken down into three segments: Introductory lecture or demo, hands-on cooking, and eating.
The class will begin with a short discussion or demo from your instructor. After, you can expect to work either on a team or individually to prepare the class menu. As a group, your class will prepare the selected menu in its entirety. In most classes, not every student will make every dish.
Learning happens throughout the class, and your instructor will often call out key techniques as they happen in each recipe.
Most classes conclude by sitting down as a group to eat what you’ve prepared, followed by a discussion of each recipe. You will leave with a copy of the recipe packet and a working knowledge of every dish that was made so you can recreate them at home.
Doors open 15 minutes before the class start time.
You do not need to bring anything with you to class, unless otherwise noted in the class description. The kitchens at SFCS are fully equipped and aprons, recipes, equipment, food and wine are all provided for you.
In most classes, you will be sitting down to eat a complete meal that you have prepared along with your classmates. Since this typically occurs towards the end of the class period, an appetizer or small plate is usually prepared early on in class. However, you’re welcome to additionally have a snack before you arrive or bring one with you.
Please note, for our Baking & Pastry classes, a light meal will be provided for you.
We suggest wearing casual clothing you can easily move around in, and highly recommend wearing comfortable closed-toe shoes. Long hair should be pulled back.
Cancellation Policy
Anthony Strong
Anthony Strong is the former chef of the Delfina Restaurant Group in San Francisco. Anthony cut his teeth on French technique, working as the sous chef at Vincent, a contemporary French restaurant in Minneapolis, and from there at NYC’s world-renowned Le Bernardin. In 2005 Anthony moved to San Francisco for fresher ingredients as well as a fresh perspective on cooking and landed at Delfina working with James Beard-winning chef Craig Stoll who has since taught him to be humbled by the simple things, from the art of pizza dough to an appreciation of housemade ricotta.