Gordon Ramsay MasterClass Review 2024: How Good Is It?

Watching MasterChef I used to wonder if there is a possibility to learn such mouthwatering dishes by those celebrity judges. What if I told you that I did?

While binge-watching cooking videos, I stumbled on Gordon Ramsay MasterClass.

To be honest, I took up the course right away after seeing the name of one of the influential chefs. Also, called the ruthless and straightforward judge.

That is Gordon Ramsay, who is an inspiration to many cooking enthusiasts and MasterChef fans. He covered poaching eggs to handling knives to what not?

His MasterClass was indeed a different experience; hence I decided to take it entirely and write a full-fledged review about it.

In this article, you’ll get to see an overview of Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass (Part I & II), a detailed explanation about the lessons, what I liked, and many more about his MasterClass.

I also answer my verdict – “Is Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass worth it?” in the end.

Gordon Ramsay: Who is he?

Gordon Ramsay is one of the most popular and influential chefs worldwide.

Known for his savage judging persona in the famous cooking reality show MasterChef, Ramsay quickly garnished thousands of fans worldwide. I’d proudly say that I am one of them.

His cooking and personality have gathered him several awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a National Television Award, a British Television Academy Award, and more.

He has also broken into the film fraternity and starred in movies/series like The Simpsons, The Smurfs, Love’s Kitchen, Top Gear, and more. I’d say that he is more than just a chef.

Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass: An Overview

The MasterClass handled by Gordon Ramsay comprises various aspects in learning how to cook, from diverse cooking techniques to the usage of different ingredients to cooking his exclusive recipes.

Like every other course in MasterClass, Gordon gives out downloadable PDF formatted workbooks for effective learning. Indeed, they are helpful to understand the teaching in a better way.

Note: MasterClass has courses in almost every genre and it has courses more than 100. That’s why we have done a thorough review of this platform.

Although he teaches only cooking, his MasterClass is cut down into two parts wherein Part I covers the principles and techniques used in cooking, Part II covers learning how to cook using his recipes.

Part I is around 4 hours, covering 20 lessons, whereas Part II is also around 4 hours but has only 15 lessons, which is appropriate. I am sure with two parts, you can learn 70% cooking.

A community hub dedicated to students is available, which is a great way to interact with fellow cooking enthusiasts or raise a question directly to Chef Ramsay.

Gordon Ramsay “Teaches Cooking” Part 1 & 2: Lessons Explained

There were many takeaways from Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass but let me quickly highlight the best ones and brief the entire course for you. Shall we begin?

1. Knowing Gordon Ramsay

In the introductory lesson, Gordon Ramsay talks about his journey into becoming the chef he is today. If you say that it is just another self-introduction, I’d disagree with you because, in the course, it felt something authentic where Gordon literally spoke from his heart, which is quite rare.

"I don't like looking back. I'm always constantly looking forward. I'm not the one to sort of sit and cry over spilt milk. I'm too busy looking for the next cow."

I would sum up the introduction as a motivation class. I mean, it was inspiring to know his story.

2. How to Master the Kitchen

Followed by the introduction, Ramsay shows his kitchen and quickly dives into the lesson, where he lists out all the essentials that every kitchen should own. More like “must-have” items.

"If I can give you one strong piece of advice, when you go away for that romantic weekend, whatever you do, do not accept or take the upgrade to the honeymoon suite."

He casually says that you don’t need expensive things to cook good food, to which I instantly agreed.

NOTE: All the essentials listed by Gordon Ramsay in his MasterClass are covered towards the end.

3. Understanding Vegetables

In Lesson 4, Gordon reveals his secrets on checking a vegetable’s freshness and making the best use of vegetables that you’d probably throw in the trash can. I didn’t know you can reuse carrot tops until he pointed it out.

"If you want to become a great chef, you have to work with great chefs. And that's exactly what I did."

You’ll also be exposed to be learning to understand herbs better and specific techniques to know the flavor as well. The entire lesson consisted of valuable points; hence I was taking notes of everything. I’d suggest you do the same too.

Though the rest of the course is practical, you might want to take notes of all the theoretical parts where he teaches crucial things to remember about vegetables.

4. Only Eggs

There is a dedicated lesson to only eggs, which was fascinating to watch. Most of us know how to scramble eggs; at least, that is the only basic egg knowledge we know how to do precisely.

"I cook, I create, I'm incredibly excited by what I do, I've still got a lot to achieve."

Well, in Lesson 5, Gordon talks about eggs, from poaching to cooking to pairing; he covers it all brilliantly.

You also get to learn luxury pairings with eggs in a more straightforward way, which was interesting.

5. Handling Knives

Knives play a vital role in cooking. Be it vegan or not, you need knives to chop things off, and Ramsay teaches all the unique ways you can handle a knife for a smoother workflow.

"Cooking is about passion, so it may look slightly temperamental in a way that it's too assertive to the naked eye."

He also talks about safety throughout the course, which is something to remember when handling knives. Later, he demonstrates using various kinds of knives and the body’s coordination with them.

You’d feel that you are learning from someone incredibly patient and not Gordon Ramsay because the way he chopped the vegetables was relaxing to watch.

A great tip from Lesson 6 is that handling knives is not just with hands but full-on coordination with the entire body.

6. How to Cook Non-Veg

In Lesson 8-10, Gordon teaches his students about cooking meat, lamb, pork, and fish, like analyzing a whole chicken, looking for bone marrow, adjusting cooking techniques to the requirement of the meat. The teachings about cooking meat were well-put and neatly arranged, which I loved.

"When you cook under pressure you trade perfection."

Next comes the chapter on mastering seafood which includes fish. Again, Gordon teaches the freshness test with fish as he did in Lesson 4 for vegetables. 

Overall, you’ll have a great experience in learning how to cook non-veg properly without any doubt.

7. Learn Restaurant Recipes like a pro

Have you ever had something so good at a restaurant and tried to replicate it and miserably failed?

"I've had a lot of success; I've had failures, so I learn from the failure."

Well, let me tell you that there will be no more such failures because, with the help of Gordon Ramsay’s effective teaching, you’ll be able to master restaurant recipes like a pro in Part II.

There are 14 exclusive recipes in Gordon Ramsay’s cooking collection, from Pomme Puree to Szechuan Roasted Whole Chicken to Raspberry Souffle. You get a variety of recipes with lessons.

The best part is that these are not something you’d just look at but something you can try making.

Along with this, the workbook comes in handy where it offers incredible alternatives for specific ingredients, helpful notes for each recipe, plating techniques, and many more in-depth.

Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass: How much does it cost?

It is evident that you might be baffled that the pricing is prohibitive. Even I was too, but there is a healthy twist to the plan that MasterClass offers.

Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass comes with a subscription plan, recalled as All-Access Pass, priced at $180/- per year, billed as $15/- per month, allowing users to take multiple courses at once.

You can take as many courses as you want in various niches from writing to singing to cooking.

All the courses are handled by celebrities who are professional expertise in each field of work like Christina Aguilera teaches singing, James Patterson teaches writing, and many more.

Even if you are looking for cooking courses, there are other options where Aaron Franklin teaches BBQ cooking, and Thomas Keller teaches cooking techniques, which are excellent options.

In MasterClass, there are 100+ courses on 10+ niches which is the best part about the platform. With the All-Access Pass, you can take all the courses handled by different instructors worldwide.

Alongside Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass, I took up Aaron Franklin’s MasterClass to learn more about BBQ cooking styles, for which I even wrote a review. Likewise, you can do the same and make the best use of your MasterClass experience by taking several courses with the pass.

Learn Cooking With Gordon Ramsay

What Could be Improved in Gordon Ramsay MasterClass:

There are not a lot of things that I didn’t like about Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass, but there are few downsides to it that I feel can be improved.

Already cooked recipes

As obvious as it sounds, most of the recipes in Part II are pre-cooked, which means the primary processing of the dishes is already done well in advance so that Ramsay can skim through it.

That was something I was not okay with because, as a student, you’d want to see the dish from scratch with questions like “how did he start? What did he mix? what’s the essence?”

If you are a beginner, you will face this as a problem while practicing your recipes.

Absence of timings

In the workbook provided along with Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass, the timings for specific recipes were missing, and that is something every student would want to know. 

For instance, imagine you are cooking a meal, and you don’t know how long you should cook the meal? That is how it was. 

Along with the timings, few parts in the recipes were also incomplete, which is not okay for a product purchased at the price of $180/-  

Confusing procedure

In the Part II workbook, few steps are not appropriately structured, which immediately led to confusion. I mean, it can be easy for an experienced chef to poach an egg at last, but in the workbook, it was mentioned to be done at first. 

If the flow was accurate, he would have done it first, but he didn’t.

Who is Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass best-suited for?

Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass courses can be targeted to various audience sets because the course is broken down into two partitions where one teaches the principles/techniques; the other teaches about his recipes and how to cook them properly with guidance.

Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass Part I is best suited to:

• Anyone wanting to learn the basic knowledge about cooking from a legend
• Amateurs wanting to explore the various aspects of cooking in general
• If you are someone who wants to learn Gordon Ramsay’s techniques

Enroll In Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass (Part I)

Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass Part II is best suited to:

•  Experienced chefs who’d want to pull off Gordon Ramsay’s recipes
•  Cooking intermediaries who want to try different styles in cooking
• Anyone with a cooking background wanting to experiment with new recipes

Enroll In Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass (Part II)

Although the MasterClass is universally recommended to fans of Gordon Ramsay because it does pretty feel like one of those episodes in MasterChef, except he does not swear in the courses.

Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass: Essentials

You might want to cook with whatever you have or be budget-friendly; Gordon Ramsay uses few things considered essentials in a kitchen. Although you don’t need to have it, you can take note of it and maybe purchase it in the future if you are in desperate need of it.

The essentials include

1.   A great set of knives

2.   Proper cutting board

3.   Non-stick pans

4.   A knife-steel

That’s it? Yes. Did you think that I might be recommending a list of 20 items? No way. Gordon is the kind of chef that aims to reduce the number of resources and make the most out of minimal tools.

He uses few things in his MasterClass: a toaster, kitchen scissors, parchment paper, cutting board, stainless steel pan, filter, and few knives of various kinds.

What People Are Saying About This MasterClass

“My favorite Master Class so far. Chef Ramsay is amazing.”

Joe F.

“Gordon Ramsay has me excited about cooking! I love cooking for my family and friends and am ready to take it to the next level.”

Cynthia M.

“I’m no cook, but loved watchin Gordon’s mastery. Tried a few recipes and they turned out great.”

Sam B.

“Beautiful ideas, presentation inspiration & uniqueness that can be learned from this class.”

Zen Q.

Alternatives to Gordon Ramsay MasterClass:

If you had taken Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass for his personality and are not satisfied with his teaching, here are few alternatives to his MasterClass.

• Aaron Franklin MasterClass “Teaches BBQ Cooking.”
• Thomas Keller MasterClass “Teaches Cooking Techniques.”
• Yotam Ottolenghi MasterClass “Teaches Middle Eastern Cuisine.”
• Massimo Bottura MasterClass “Teaches Modern Italian Cooking.”
• Niki Nakayama MasterClass “Teaches Japanese Cooking.”

There you go. You have alternatives from BBQ to Middle Eastern to Japanese. You can take all the alternatives listed above simultaneously with other courses using the All-Access Pass at $180/-

Gordon Ramsay MasterClass Review Verdict (2024)

Are you wondering if you can master a restaurant cooking from scratch by taking the lessons taught by Gordon Ramsay? That is just some unrealistic dream.

I mean, certain recipes require time and practice with complete guidance. The best part about Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass is that it is not some YouTube video that you have to follow up while cooking but a well-structured course that adds value and produces simple techniques for you to try out.

With the provision of workbooks, I was able to take simple assignments for practice-even if it was for fun purposes only. The Annual Pass allowed me to take each lesson diligently for a year, which is appropriate for a beginner to learn cooking from a professional. I am that beginner.

However, few things like missing timelines and incomplete recipes were frustrating; it was great learning from the inspiration and excellent teaching.

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