How to make the most of learning to cook with Swich: 5 tips

You’ve joined Swich (sending you a virtual high five)! You picked your preferences. And you’ve scrolled through some of the submissions. Now what? As you get started on your Swich journey, here are five things to keep in mind to have the most fulfilling and enjoyable cooking experience. 

1.  Be open-minded 

First, one of the most challenging things we’d like to ask all of our Swichers is to be open to changing the way you think about food and cooking. We will be your guide along the way, so don’t worry about how to do this —that’s our job!

We all have it in us to be great cooks. Trained cooks understand the mechanics behind a recipe and can adapt on the fly. If you can’t adapt (yet), then the material we recommend to you on Swich will help you begin to develop this skill. So be patient! It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen. Plus, you’ll get some awesome edible homework along the way. 

2. Share your preferences, dietary needs, and goals   

We listen to you, and we provide the very best learning recommendations that we can based on your skill level, goals, and food interests. This is what really sets Swich apart from other online cooking programs. Our approach is to give you a unique experience that’s customized for you and your goals. It’s not a one-size-fits-all experience! While we may not always get it right, we’re certainly going to try!  

3.  Enjoy experimenting in the kitchen 

There’s a problem happening across the world: humans have to eat, but research shows many people do not like cooking. We’re here to change that! Rather than thinking of cooking as a chore – embrace cooking as a part of your daily routine. Shifting this mindset is crucial to sticking with cooking as an ongoing practice.

Yes, cooking will require some additional time in the beginning as you learn new techniques and develop new skills. But with time, it will become more enjoyable and efficient. So whether you have 15 minutes between meetings or two hours every day – we’re not going anywhere, so come visit us whenever you’re inspired to move forward.

4. Embrace mistakes as part of the process 

The greatest cooks in the world became great because they failed. Expect to practice, learn from mistakes, and practice some more. With patience and persistence, you’ll eventually reach that crucial moment when you achieve the level of confidence that you seek. It’s a wonderful cycle that we’ve witnessed countless times! 

5. Remember, learning to cook is about more than following recipes  

Have you seen the phrase “foolproof recipes” on other websites? You won’t see that here because we don’t trust it – and we don’t think you should either! It can be the very best recipe in the world, from the very best chef in the world, and tested by a team of experts. But if you don’t understand the fundamentals and can’t execute simple techniques, nothing is foolproof—and cooking will continue to be hit and miss.

We aren’t going to show you the “ultimate” or “best” way to do things. We find these words egocentric. As founders of Rouxbe, the world’s leading online cooking school, which powers Swich, we’ve taught hundreds of thousands of people how to cook better through online courses. We’ve realized that there’s always more than one way to do something. Each way yields a different result. Some ways might lead to the desired outcome, and some might not. 

We’re here to help you better understand the different options and approaches. But ultimately, we hope that you will experiment and find what works best for you, your preferences, and your lifestyle.